“We Now Know Students Cannot Be Tested Out of Poverty”

Three activists for racial and social justice take issue with the position of several civil rights organizations that opposed opting out of mandated tests. Pedro Noguera of New York University, John Jackson of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project support the right of parents to opt their children out of state tests.

The NCLB annual tests have not advanced the interests of poor children or children of color, they say.

“Schools serving poor children and children of color remain under-funded and have been labeled “failing” while little has been done at the local, state or federal level to effectively intervene and provide support. In the face of clear evidence that children of color are more likely to be subjected to over-testing and a narrowing of curriculum in the name of test preparation, it is perplexing that D.C. based civil rights groups are promoting annual tests….:

“We are not opposed to assessment. Standards and assessments are important for diagnostic purposes. However, too often the data produced by standardized tests are not made available to teachers until after the school year is over, making it impossible to use the information to address student needs. When tests are used in this way, they do little more than measure predictable inequities in academic outcomes. Parents have a right to know that there is concrete evidence that their children are learning, but standardized tests do not provide this evidence….

We now know students cannot be tested out of poverty, and while NCLB did take us a step forward by requiring schools to produce evidence that students were learning, it took us several steps backward when that evidence was reduced to how well a student performed on a standardized test…..

The civil rights movement has always worked to change unjust policies. When 16-year-old Barbara Johns organized a student strike in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1951 leading to Brown v. Board in 1954, she opted out of public school segregation. When Rosa Parks sat down on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 she opted out of the system of segregation in public transportation. And as youth and their allies protest throughout the country against police brutality, declaring that “Black Lives Matter,” we are reminded that the struggle for justice often forces us to challenge the status quo, even when those fighting to maintain it happen to be elected officials or, in this case, members of the civil rights establishment.

Mike Klonsky: Hanging Out in Chicago

How do you cope in Chicago when you have a newly elected mayor whose claim to fame is that he closed 50 public schools, mostly in black neighborhoods? And you have a governor from the 1% who wants to cut the budget for the most vulnerable?

Mike Klonsky describes a night at the Hideout with Karen Lewis, writer Ben Joravsky, and principal Troy LaRaviere. I wish I had been there.

Troy offered this bit of data:

““Of the 50 highest-performing schools in Chicago, all 50 are public schools that were here before he [Rahm Emanuel] arrived,” he said in the four-and-a-half-minute video, referring to NWEA scores. “Of the 20 lowest-performing schools in Chicago, 13 of them – over half – are turnaround and charter schools, which are cornerstones of the Rahm Emanuel education reform agenda.”

The gossip of the night? Troy for mayor. Mike’s brother Fred Klonsky was there, and he loved the idea. Think about it.

Holly and Steve’s Monument Avenue and Byrd Park Engagement Session

Zephyr Teachout Has a Powerful Idea: Teachers Should Run for Office

This just in from Zephyr Teachout, the upstart who ran against Andrew Cuomo as a total unknown with no money yet won 1/3 of the vote, sweeping many upstate counties. She played David to his Goliath and stunned the media. Cuomo refused to meet her, shake her hand, or acknowledge her when she ran against him.

Right now, as public education is under attack in Albany, I have an idea about what we can do: recruit teachers to run for public office at every level.

I’m doing an 18-day, 17-event tour to find candidates and talk about how we can wake up some sleeping politicians in New York politics. (Event list below).

Public education is the heart and soul of democracy. I’d love it if teachers could stay in the classroom, but they may need to bring some lesson plans into the broader public.

For this tour, I’m collaborating with the Working Families Party and NYSUT on their project to build a pipeline of great candidates.

We want to build a pipeline of power and joy to take on Pearson and the privatizers.

We can also get a message to lawmakers right now. This year Governor Cuomo and the Republican Senate went on an all-out attack on public schools. As I write this, they are trying to pass a tax giveaway to wealthy New Yorkers clothed as “Parental Choice.” We want to be ready with a slate of pro-education, anti-corruption candidates so if lawmakers feel like joining the giveaway, they realize they might get a challenger!

Also, if we’re going to get more women to run for office (which we desperately need in New York), we should target professions where women are heavily represented.

I’m starting today in Syracuse, and then traveling to Auburn, Woodbury, Kingston, Elmira, Warwick, Ithaca and the Rockaways, among other places. (Yes, Greenwich Connecticut is on there–I’m interviewing Pussy Riot, extraordinarily courageous political women).

The final event is a great honor, and focused on the central role of labor in democracy. I’m the keynote speaker at the North Country Salute to Labor on June 18th in Altona—prior keynotes have included Attorneys General Spitzer and Schneiderman, Senators Gillibrand, Clinton, Schumer, and Comptroller DeNapoli.

Lets flood the future of new york politics with hope and hard work!

Zephyr Teachout

Events

1. June 2nd, 5 PM – Why Educators Should Run, Syracuse

Syracuse Regional Office 4983 Brittonfield Parkway, East Syracuse

With: Mayor Stephanie Miner, Common Council Member Pamela Hunter, Jesse Lenney, moderated by Ian Phillips. Organized by NYSUT and WFP.

2. June 2nd, 7:30 PM- Cayuga Democratic Women

Auburn Public Theater, 8 Exchange St, Auburn, NY 13021

3. June 4th, 7 PM, Manhattan Young Democrats, Engendering Progress Awards

Goldbar, 389 Broome Street

4. June 5, 1 PM, Pro-Internet and I Vote: How Can the Net Build Political Power in 2016?

Personal Democracy Forum

Kimmel Center

With: David Segal, Jesse Tolkan, Craig Aaron

5. June 5th, 4:30 PM, The Politics of Joy, Personal Democracy Forum, Manhattan

Closing Keynote, Skirball Center, NYU

6. June 7th, 12 PM, Conversation with Pussy Riot

Moderating a Discussion with internationally renowned political activists, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova and Maria (Masha) Alekhina

Greenwich International Film Festival

1:30pm, BowTie Cinema, Greenwich, CT

7. June 8th, 6pm – Why She Ran, Kingston

Kingston Public Library, 55 Franklin Street Kingston 12401

With: Jen Metzger, Nina Dawson. Organized by WFP.

8. June 9th, 6:30pm – Why Educators Should Run, Woodbury

Nassau NYSUT Regional Office – 1000 Woodbury Road, Suite 214 Woodbury

With: Emily Abbott, moderated by Jeff Friedman

9. June 10th, 6:30pm – Why Educators Should Run, Hauppague

Suffolk Regional Office – 150 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, Suite 306 Hauppague

10. June 13th, 12pm – Why Educators Should Run, Elmira

NYSUT office, 100 West Church Street. Suite 200

11-12. June 13th, 4pm – Tompkins County Democratic Committee Issues Committee Forum on Corruption, and Tompkins County Democratic Committee Spring Wine and Cheese Reception

4 PM: Focus on Corruption, Ithaca Town Hall

6 PM: Reception Remarks, DeWitt Auditorium

13. June 14th, 1PM – Warwick Democratic Committee

Keynote Speaker

Landmark Inn, 526 NY-94, Warwick

14. June 15th, 6:30 PM – Lennox Hill Democrats

LHDC Annual Reception

6 East 44th Street

15. June 16th, 6 PM — Rockaway Wildfire

Organizing meeting

Location TBD

16. June 17th, 5pm – Why Educators Should Run, Albany

NYSUT HQ Auditorium, 800 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham

With: Phil Leber, moderated by Randy Gunther

17. June 18th, North Country Salute to Labor

5:30 PM

Keynote Speaker

Rainbow Wedding and Banquet Hall

47 Woods Falls Road

Altona, NY 12910

New Jersey: 97% of Teachers Rated Effective or Highly Effective

Can you believe how many millions, hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars have been diverted from America’s classrooms in the search for the elusive “bad teacher”? Lest we forget, this was imposed on the nation’s public schools by Race to the Top, and it is a central narrative of the reformster ideology. Find and fire those “bad teachers” and America’s economy will grow by trillions of dollars (so said Hoover Institution economist Eric Hanushek).

Except it turns out that no one has been able to find those hordes of “bad teachers.” They must be hiding. Or they must be good at test prep. In state after state, the hugely expensive teacher evaluation systems–burdened with statistically dubious methods–have been unable to unmask them.

Politico reports that 97% of teachers in New Jersey were found to be either effective or highly effective:

MOST NEW JERSEY TEACHERS RATED EFFECTIVE OR BETTER: Three percent of New Jersey teachers earned a rating of “partially effective” or “ineffective” under the state’s new teacher evaluation system, according to a report [http://bit.ly/1K5q30f ] out Monday. That’s up from the 0.8 percent of teachers rated “not acceptable” under the state’s old acceptable/not acceptable system. The 2,900 teachers rated poorly under the new system taught about 13 percent of the state’s students, or 180,000 kids. “Those educators are now on a path to improvement with individualized support, or will face charges of inefficiency if unable or unwilling to better serve students over time,” the report says. The vast majority of teachers earned high ratings, with nearly three-quarters rated “effective” and nearly a quarter “highly effective.” State officials stressed that teachers are now receiving more detailed and personalized feedback than ever before. “While one year of this new data is insufficient for identifying sustained trends or making sweeping conclusions about the state’s teaching staff, we are proud of this significant improvement and the personalized support all educators are now receiving,” said Peter Shulman, assistant commissioner of education and chief talent officer.

-The New Jersey Education Association said it still has “deep concerns” about the implementation of the evaluation system and the data used in decision-making, but “these results show that teachers are working very hard to meet and exceed expectations.” NJEA is calling for “disaggregated data for teachers with challenging assignments. It is important to know whether the evaluation system is biased against teachers who work in special education, teach English-language learners, or who work in economically challenged communities,” NJEA said. And the union pledged to represent any member who believes his or her evaluation is flawed: http://bit.ly/1AGLG56.

– The results come just days after Gov. Chris Christie denounced [http://politico.pro/1J5ySrL] the Common Core. In remarks [http://politico.pro/1QkQgHX ], Christie also stressed that the state must continue its push on teacher evaluations. “On this we will be unyielding,” he said. “No one should stand for anything less than an excellent teacher in every classroom – not parents, other teachers, administrators or our students. Accountability in every classroom must be one of the pillars of our New Jersey based higher standards.”

It is puzzling to see that 3% of the state’s teachers taught 13% of the state’s students. How is that possible? Maybe the teachers would do better with smaller classes.

The hunt goes on, even though the hunters left empty-handed.

Heavens to Betsy: Arizona Charters Face Possible Budget Cuts!

Arizona loves its charters. It is generally known as “the Wild West of charters,” a state where charters may engage in nepotism and conflicts of interest without sanction because they are not covered by those laws (remember, they are deregulated from such mundane regulations as self-dealing).

But what have we here? The Arizona legislature actually cut millions of dollars from small schools, a bonus many charters were accustomed to receiving. The charters with fewer than 600 students could lose a total of $15 million by some estimate. Some charters kept their enrollment below 600 to get the bonus. The Arizona State Attorney General has been asked to issue a ruling on the legislation and its impact on charters.

The Arizona Charter Schools Association believes the department did not calculate the formula as the Legislature intended.
“The association is exploring every option to lessen these devastating cuts. The total impact is more than double what legislators had been told when they voted for the state budget,” association CEO and President Eileen Sigmund said in a statement.
“The impacts will be real and immediate, as some of our smallest schools stand to lose nearly $1,000 per pupil on July 1. We are engaged with the governor’s office, lawmakers and ADE to resolve this crisis.”
The change in the formula also would affect the amount that the charters receive under the Proposition 301 program, which provides money for teachers through a sales tax. Douglas’ letter asks Brnovich to rule on that as well.
According to a spreadsheet used by the Department of Education to calculate the cuts, 207 schools will face cuts affecting about 85,000 students. About 15 percent of Arizona’s public-school students attend charters.
Many charters cap their enrollment to take advantage of the extra funding for small schools — a model that is now threatened.
Peter Bezanson, CEO of the Basis Schools charters, said that the total cut to his network could be almost $4 million.
“I can say without qualification that Basis will not grow any more in Arizona with this new funding reality,” he said. “We won’t add any more schools.
“We had wanted to give fairly significant increases in teacher salaries this year and those increases are not possible,” he said. Basis has 15 schools in Arizona.

In a state where charters have gotten more or less whatever they wanted, and public schools are underfunded, this comes as a shocker.

Dogwood Dell Festival of Arts 2015

Richmond City Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities has posted the lineup of [free] concerts, shows, and other events that will be held at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park this summer. (see image above) The fun starts this Sunday, June 7, 2015, with a Renaissance Faire and performance of Romeo and Juliet!

Other highlights of the 2015 season include the July 4th festivities, a Latin Jazz & Salsa Festival, a Gospel Festival, Opera in the Park, and Man of La Mancha.

I know the photo is a little tough to read; bookmark this post and I’ll get the lineup transcribed this week Wanted to get the word out since the Festival’s kicking off this weekend

More information about Dogwood Dell & the festival:

Byrd Park
6000 S. Blvd.
Richmond, VA 23220

Dogwood Dell is a 2,400 seat amphitheatre owned and operated by the Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities and located in Byrd Park. Since 1956, it has been home to the Festival of Arts; a summer long celebration of the arts featuring art exhibits, concerts, dance and theatre. In addition to these events, the Festival of Arts also incorporates a children’s series with performances at our Ha’ Penny stage. For more information, call (804)646-1437 or call the Dell hotline at (804)646-DELL.

Festival of Arts

With its eclectic mix of old and new, the Festival of Arts has become one of Richmond’s cultural treasures. Through our programming, the Festival of Arts strives to bring the Richmond community some of the most innovative and avant-garde performers, while also respecting the value and importance of traditional and classical works.

Throughout June, July, and August, a variety of shows can be enjoyed at the “Dell” including classical music and dance; drama, comedy, and musical theatre; reggae, pop, swing, rhythm and blues, rock, jazz and contemporary music concerts. The Festival of Arts is flavored for every taste. Come early for a seat in the amphitheatre or bring a blanket to sit in the surrounding park.

Although the dance concerts and programs presented at Dogwood Dell are normally purchased packaged shows for which we provide technical assistance, our three theatre productions are produced fully in-house. While many of our theatre productions are Richmond premieres, we also stage contemporary favorites. These productions continually prove to be some of Richmond’s favorites and have even won awards.

Ha’Penny Stage

The Ha’Penny Stage behind the Carillon is a center for children’s theatre and entertainment on Sunday afternoons during the Festival of Arts. Programs include music, theatre, juggling, story-telling and more.

Cancellations

The Dogwood Dell does not cancel performances until show time (unless drastic weather conditions exist). Patrons can listen to WRVA for Dell cancellations. Call (804)646-DELL, during the summer for schedule updates.