tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post57367802105258942..comments2024-03-29T04:34:05.185-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Clinton-Induced Charter Freakout ContinuesPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-26801802454273806122015-11-26T05:33:04.574-05:002015-11-26T05:33:04.574-05:00I assume that I am the "oh-so-pleasant" ...I assume that I am the "oh-so-pleasant" gentleman that you refer to. And I have no idea what Hillary would do. But if she did "close up the nation's charter schools", it would reverse one of the first things we have found in 50 years that significantly improves education for our disadvantaged children.<br /><br />You can see this in action if you look at New York City. Like Hillary, De Blasio came in with money from the teachers unions pouring out of his pockets and other orifices. He tried to deny them a place to learn. Fortunately, education reform is a bipartisan issue. Governor Cuomo (a Democrat) supported the charter movement and forced De Blasio to find them space. And the movement is growing - not due to a dictate from unionized bureaucrats intent on expanding their reach ... but from the far more righteous source of families (especially poor families) trying to find a good education for their kids. <br /><br />A record 70,000 kids in New York City now attend nearly 200 charters. And there's another 50,000 kids on wait lists trying to get in. Are you union supporters the least bit ashamed ? There are 50,000 kids in New York City alone trying to leave a failing union led school. But you will not them go ... because their dollars are more important to you than their education ... See link.<br /><br />http://www.nyccharterschools.org/content/record-number-studentsalanbackmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16174033131550945945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-90078975650846280142015-11-25T21:41:22.033-05:002015-11-25T21:41:22.033-05:00Come on, Petey ! You can do better than this ! Hi...Come on, Petey ! You can do better than this ! Hillary is bought and paid for by the NEA and AFT teachers unions. Those unions see the floor falling out from under them given the reform sweeping the country even with a Democrat (Obama) in the White House. And their Alamo is coming up with the Fredrichs decision pending at the Supreme Court which would basically eliminate the union monopoly. <br /><br />But Petey doesn't stop there. He goes on to rehash all the union propaganda. So let's have at it:<br /><br />1.Acceptance - "they don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids" ... Actually, Greene contradicts this himself. "No, that's not true, either, unless I suppose you are comparing charter schools to all the public schools in the country." Uh, yeah. This is America. And has Greene got himself out of that pretzel yet ?<br /><br />2. Suspension - "if they do, they don’t keep them." Actually, according to the Dept of Education, charters suspend less (4% compared to 6%) and suspend less (0.1% compared to 0.2%) than traditional schools. See link.<br /><br />http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/infographics/charter-discipline-infographic.html<br /><br />3. Money - Greene tries to refute Juan Williams who notes that the students don't have politicians at their beck and call because "they do not give money to politicians". It's not even close. Look just in the 2014 election. Teachers unions are the 3rd and 7th largest contributors to to the Democratic party totalling $50 mm. See link.<br /><br />http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=2014<br /><br />4. Cherry Picking - Think Greene is having an off-day. "When charters start taking randomly selected students from the public school system-- including students who didn't even express interest in attending a charter-- then you'll have a point." Ever hear of a place called New Orleans which has seen incredibly leaps in test scores, graduation, college matriculation. And they can't cherry pick since it's all charters. As for the rest, a lottery is not cherry picking no matter how much unions wish it were. <br /><br />5. Performance - "It takes an extraordinary amount of laziness not to locate the research that shows that charters do no better than public schools, and often do worse." Amazing how union shills never want to actually say they do BETTER than charters ... Instead, they prefer the charters "do no better". How brazen ! Unfortunately, the gold-standard studies show charters doing far better for disadvatnaged kids:<br /><br />Stanford University's CREDO - "Across the 41 cities studied, students in charter schools learned significantly more than their peers attending traditional public schools – 40 more days worth of learning in math, and 28 more in reading."<br /><br />http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/2015/03/19/new-study-shows-charter-schools-making-a-difference-in-cities<br /><br /><br />Mathematica - "In our exploratory analysis, for example, we found that study charter schools serving more low income or low achieving students had statistically significant positive effects on math test scores<br /><br />http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/PDFs/education/charter_school_impacts.pdf<br /><br />6. Accountability - And this is where Greene really steps in it. "And for the gazillionth time-- teachers do not oppose being held accountable for what we actually do." If by "what teachers actually do" you mean make excuses, yes, you have no peer. Unions don't want to be accountable. They don't like tests. And they don't like families having a choice where to send their kids (which is the highest form of accountability). They just want to collect their union paychecks. alanbackmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16174033131550945945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-1570669472958153662015-11-23T23:40:09.438-05:002015-11-23T23:40:09.438-05:00I knew you would have something to say on this sub...I knew you would have something to say on this subject! (When do you have time to eat and sleep?)<br /><br />Every teacher in my building was given a copy of "Rigor in the Classroom" by Barbara Blackburn as a gift from my principal. She's so proud of starting a school-wide "reading club." (participation not optional.) That's where I first came across DoK and just couldn't wrap my head around it. But when I read this in the book: "Since Webb's DoK is an integral part of the Common Core State Standards, it is important to fully understand their meanings," I had a sudden "uh oh" moment. And immediately thought to raise the question here.<br />Reading your writings the past few months, I've found myself questioning the origins or true intent of everything. Nothing is what it appears to be.<br />And when I tried to understand what was what at each level of Webb's, my head began to spin.<br />It doesn't seem to matter what the purpose of this stuff is - for alignment (whatever that means) for instruction, or just to make teachers feel important if they can throw the language around at a staff meeting or infuse it into their observation lesson plans. The bottom line is it smells like doodoo. If we need to "unpack" the depth of knowledge and dissect it for meaning, then it really is of no use in a practical way.<br />Unless you can persuade me otherwise.<br />(By the way, how was it that John Walkup was reading your blog?)<br />this world o' education is getting stranger by the day...alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05884675744680873676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-41297072562936642042015-11-23T18:46:39.798-05:002015-11-23T18:46:39.798-05:00Believe it or not, I've written a little about...Believe it or not, I've written a little about DOK<br /><br />http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2014/10/depth-of-knowledge-youll-need-hip-boots.htmlPeter Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-69590550518158499252015-11-23T18:28:22.156-05:002015-11-23T18:28:22.156-05:00I, too, await a response to Dienne's questions...I, too, await a response to Dienne's questions...<br /><br />and I have another one - totally different topic. But smart people show up here and I thought maybe someone would have an answer - <br />Where did "Webb's Depth of Knowledge" come from? Anyone know the history/intent? (was it designed for use with children?)<br />inquiring minds long to know...<br />thanks.alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05884675744680873676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-41013399224570025552015-11-23T16:35:19.954-05:002015-11-23T16:35:19.954-05:00What would the educational world look like if the ...What would the educational world look like if the Evil Unions did buy Clinton? Would she ban or significantly rework Common Core (I mean, other than rebranding it)? Would she oppose or reduce BS Testing or test based "accountability" (VAM and similar nonsensery)? Would she start closing up the nation's charter schools? Considering that the national unions have and continue to support all of the above, I don't see why not. In fact, if Randi or Lily were nominated to be Secretary of Education, how would education policy look any different than if, say, Bill Gates or Whitney Tilson were nominated?<br /><br />I really wish some anti-union type, including that oh-so-pleasant gentleman from last week, would explain these things.Diennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04570040547158789834noreply@blogger.com