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March 16, 2016

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Spring important reads.

 

A VERY IMPORTANT look on how little has changed in this spring’s 3-8 Assessments:

 

 

 

We do not call it the “Corporate Education Reform” movement for nothing… you can fail and still move up in the world:

 

A little review of Checks and Balances:  The US Senate approves Cabinet positions such as Secretary of Education.  How did NY’s two senators vote?

Cut Scores on standardized assessments are political tools:

 

I wish the Buffalo Snooze would write editorials like this:

For other people’s children…

 

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January 1, 2016

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2016 – We take back Public Education

Public Education had many ups and downs last year last year as big corporate interests and some politicians continue to hammer away at a system that is vital to our nation.

Here are a few inspiring pieces defending our profession and schools:

 

There have been many reasons people have boycotted mega-corporation Exxon/Mobil, but recent comments from its CEO have brought parents and educators into the movement:

 

Receivership:  Allows Buffalo Superintendent to break collective bargaining agreements.

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November 28, 2015

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A Victory, But the War is Not Over.

Word is slowly coming out that teacher evaluation by test score could be placed in a moratorium or outright eliminated in NYS.  This is incredibly good news but only one victory in a larger war for Public Education and the right of unions continues.

Why will APPR potentially die?  Advocacy on the part of educators and families across New York State.  The parent-led opt out movement certainly played a significant role as the boycotts made headlines in media throughout the Empire State.  We need to unite with parents again to defeat those who wish to destroy our public education system.

The future struggles ahead:

  • Mandated Testing. Congress is poised to approve an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act(ESEA) that will continue to mandate yearly testing for grades 3-8 and once in high school.  The tests will continue to be used to rate and punish schools which is very troubling as the push to raise test scores will still be a priority over a well-rounded education.
  • Computer-Based Instruction.  Technology can be a good tool in our classrooms, but cannot replace human interaction-whether it be teacher-student or student-student. There are several ideas being pushed forward by those with money or political power often under the guise of “Individualized Instruction” or “Competency Based Education“:
    • A huge room full of computers with cubicles and hundred or so students monitored by a pseudo-teacher while children watch educational videos and interact with a questions on a computer-interface.
    • Students being “tested” on a daily or weekly-basis through computers or tablets.  This would be accomplished by using the idea of adaptive instruction based on a student’s abilities and growth.  Would this data be used to evaluate teachers and schools?  Would students be spending a significant amount of time being “tested” on computers?  What would happen with the student data? Would the cost of getting 1:1 technology cause massive staff and program cuts?
  • Standards.  The new ESEA looks to drop any mandate from the Feds on standards. Can NYS create its own standards that can take the good aspects of the Common Core and use the talents of real NYS educators to create challenging, yet appropriate standards that will help all students.
  • Proper Funding. It is likely that the GEA will end in next year’s state budget, but NYS still has yet to meet its legal obligation to fully-fund our schools.
  • Unions. Will Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association destroy the right of unions to advocate for their members?  The Supreme Court has already given big business and shadowy political groups the right to influence our elected leaders.

Celebrate tonight, continue to fight tomorrow…

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October 26, 2015

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POTUS on Testing: No change here.

Reactions from the the blogosphere and twitter on President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s “Testing Action Plan“.

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October 26, 2015

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What’s a Teacher Unionist to do?

Excellent piece from our union brother in the Lower Hudson Valley on the validity of state provided growth scores & VAM.

Lakeland Federation of Teachers

By Michael Lillis
President, Lakeland Federation of Teachers and ST Caucus Hudson Valley Coordinator

What’s a teacher unionist to do?

It’s clear that nothing will be the same in education after last year’s budget vote that completely redefined teacher evaluation in New York, followed by a tidal wave of test refusals.  As a result of this budget, we are expected to negotiate “in good faith” to develop local teacher evaluation systems that are compliant with the law.

I have been president of the Lakeland Federation of Teachers for 13 years and I understand the benefits of good faith negotiations. We have used them to keep education moving forward in Lakeland, despite the fact that we still receive less state aid than we did in 2009.  Putting leaders together in a room to have good faith discussions of what is best for the students, teachers and taxpayers is a very effective…

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