Harassed Teacher Withdraws from KIPP Charter School Unionization

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Monday March 16, 2009 · 5:46 PM PDT

2009/03/16 · 17:46

Teacher Kashi Nelson, a leader in the push for Unionization at KIPP-AMP in Brooklyn, NY, has withdrawn her support of unionization at her school.

jenbie44

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Friday January 09, 2009 · 2:27 PM PST

2009/01/09 · 14:27

Yesterday Bush helicoptered in to General Phillip Kearney Elementary School in Philadelphia to declare both Mission Accomplished and Stay the Course in the "last policy address" he will give as president. All that was missing was his flight suit as George W. Bush declared: "Now is not the time to water down standards or to roll back accountability."

jenbie44

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Tuesday December 16, 2008 · 8:11 AM PST

2008/12/16 · 08:11

The Chicago Tribune and New York Times have reported that President-Elect Barack Obama will announce on Tuesday that CEO of Chicago Public Schools Arne Duncan is his pick for Secretary of Education. Based on the comments and poll results of DKos posts on Duncan here and here, I realize that many dKos readers feel they don't know enough about Arne Duncan to form a strong opinion. Who is Arne Duncan and what has he done in Chicago?

Poll

122 votes Show Results

Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education?

122 votes Vote Now!

Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education?

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

16 votes

There are pros and cons to his appointment

23 votes

I still don't have enough information

24 votes

Horrible choice. I'm moving to another country

7 votes

Let's wait and see before we judge

23 votes

It could be worse- it could have been Rhee or Klein

13 votes

It could be worse - Obama could have asked Margaret Spellings to stay on

16 votes

The Face of Progressive Education Reform

jenbie44

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 14, 2008 · 1:40 PM PST

2008/12/14 · 13:40

There's been a lot of chatter this past week in edu circles. Apparently our president-elect is about to announce a new Secretary of Education or some such thing? Well, two groups, The Educator Roundtable and A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education have been busy rolling out agendas for reform during this critical transition period.

jenbie44

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Tuesday December 09, 2008 · 12:52 PM PST

2008/12/09 · 12:52

A little over a year ago, I left the K-12 classroom. Even though I am still an educator, an education advocate for over 800 children, and an education doctoral student, I cannot be in the classroom until things change. I now work outside the public school system and with school districts to change things within the system. But I miss it terribly.

The conventional reasons for leaving the classroom (low pay, lack of resources, undisciplined students) have been over-reported and overcome by a new impetus. Teachers leave now because of the high-stakes testing environment. It's the working conditions, (stupid).

jenbie44

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 05, 2008 · 11:37 AM PST

2008/12/05 · 11:37

I have watched with great alarm the proliferation of dKos posts about being out of work and/or without housing. Today, several diarists have written about the 533,000 U.S. jobs lost in November and the 1.9M lost this year. With things so grim, it's great that we are a part of a community like dKos where wonderful people get together and create support systems like Kossacks Networking.

This is also a chance to step back to take a look at some conventional wisdom that just doesn't connect with reality. Like the conventional wisdom in education policy that public schools need to "prepare students for the global, 21st century workplace" by making all kids take rigorous college prep courses. But are high-skilled, techno-oriented jobs 'where it's at'? Or is this CW a ploy by big biz to have a glut of skilled workers - and an excuse to outsource if schools don't adopt their agenda -in order to boost their bottom line?

Follow me below the fold...

Poll

20 votes Show Results

I am currently homeless, out of a job, and/or fear a layoff & I

20 votes Vote Now!

I am currently homeless, out of a job, and/or fear a layoff & I

had some high school courses

0 votes

have a GED

0 votes

had some college

4 votes

have an associates degree

1 vote

have a college degree

6 votes

have an masters degree

6 votes

am ABD

1 vote

have a doctorate degree

2 votes

I wish Linda Darling-Hammond had said THIS

jenbie44

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 28, 2008 · 7:42 AM PST

2008/11/28 · 07:42

I guess Newsweek has bought into the propaganda spewed forth by the media wing of the Business Roundtable. From the Dec. 1, 2008 magazine (found online here):

As president, however, Obama will have a chance to greatly improve D.C. schools- and, possibly, inner-city public education across the country. The chancellor of the D.C. system, Michelle Rhee, has proposed an innovative teachers' contract that could allow her to reward the best teachers and dismiss the bad ones. Educators everywhere are watching to see what Obama says and does. If he backs Rhee's proposal, he will send a powerful signal to struggling inner-city schools that reform is possible. If he fudges or says nothing, it will be a signal that little will change for the poor and mostly black children in the capital's nearly dysfunctional apparatus.

jenbie44

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday November 26, 2008 · 12:01 PM PST

2008/11/26 · 12:01

Dear Kossacks,
Last week I posted my first diary, Conventional Wisdom Examined - Public Schools. Fresh from reading Markos' "Taking on the System" I was ready to make radical change through a digital medium! My post gave a brief background on the Business Roundtable,which CEOs are in the Business Roundtable (think your favorites! Accenture, AIG, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae and more!), and the anti-democratic, big-business-based education reform movement promulgated by the BRT. I concluded by saying that my next post would cover "The BRT’s agenda and why progressives should organize a counter-movement". Instead, today I'm changing tack. Follow me past the fold to hear why.

Poll

34 votes Show Results

How can posts on education receive more attention/discussion?

34 votes Vote Now!

How can posts on education receive more attention/discussion?

Give information on members of Obama's education transition team

6 votes

Discuss rumored Secretary of Education candidates

1 vote

Write stories about what it's really like to be a public school teacher

6 votes

Cover special education

0 votes

Stories about kids within the public education system

3 votes

Write about standardized testing resisters

0 votes

Discuss Teach for America

0 votes

Other. Please put your ideas in the comments!

3 votes

Include the word "pie" in the title

4 votes

All of the above

11 votes

Conventional Wisdom Examined: Public Schools

jenbie44

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 21, 2008 · 9:25 AM PST

2008/11/21 · 09:25

In the 1980s, corporate CEOs slowly and systematically began taking control of our public schools by pushing current major education reform known as "High Standards for All" or "High Stakes Testing". CEOs from Accenture, American Express, AIG, Exxon Mobil, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, General Motors, Morgan Stanley, and 145 other big businesses currently serve as members of the Business Roundtable, the association pushing the agenda for our public schools.

I've created this diary to examine the conventional wisdom regarding public education in the U.S., starting with this C.W.: "Businesses Know Best What Kind of Schools We Need".

RSS

Harassed Teacher Withdraws from KIPP Charter School Unionization

Bush on War Against Children: "Stay the Course"

What You Need to Know About Our New Secty of Education

The Face of Progressive Education Reform

Confessions of an Ex-Teacher

The link between Kossacks Networking and Ed Policy

I wish Linda Darling-Hammond had said THIS

Kossacks: Help me make education 'sexy'! (with poll)

Conventional Wisdom Examined: Public Schools