School Tech Connect

Charterworld

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:14:00 +0000

This is unbelievably vile. It's the world we're living in-- Rahmworld.

Look, I know that everyone, every single person, is a credentialed expert in urban education, but this one little tiny thing bears repeating.

Teaching kids is not the same thing as selling advertising or building vacuum cleaners.

When you're teaching, you find yourself advocating for things that help the kids, because you're confronted with policies day after day that are actually bad for young human beings.

And in charterworld-- Rahmworld, ArneWorld, Romneyworld--- as soon as you organize yourself to have a voice, they shut down your school and then lie about it.

Just Let Them Go Already

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:39:00 +0000

I think we could all use a little levity.

Squirrel Duty

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:07:00 +0000

I'm busy with the General for a few hours; meanwhile, Jim Broadway has the best updates for what happened in Springfield today. I wish I had seen the bullying stuff--- I missed it entirely. Go read.

The General

Daniel Biss and Poverty Plus®

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Wed, 30 May 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Here's the delightful and charming Daniel Biss, Democrat of Evanston, during today's committee meeting. I forgot to point the yellow arrow of identification at him; he's sitting on the far left, I think.

Anyway, Biss also voted for the amendment, creating a tax increase not only for the people he represents now, but also the people he hopes to represent in the future, as the future senator from the 9th District.

Someone from that vast tract needs to pin him down and ask him if about the cost of moving from Tiers I and II to his program, Poverty Plus, also known as a "cash balance" program. It's basically the same thing Republicans are describing when they try to privatize Social Security. It's the end of the pension system, and just like the end of the Social Security system, there are enormous mid-range costs involved, the costs of getting from here to there.

Biss wants to shift those costs to the local school districts. Is there nobody capable of getting him on film with questions related to this matter?

Anyway, here he is with his plan, Poverty Plus. In some quarters it's also called Serfdom in a Drum. I once heard it called The Two Nickel Shuffle. It's got a million names.

Biss is the future. He's going to become Senator Biss, and then he's going to run statewide. We all need to be cognizant that this is the exact sort of Democrat who will some day privatize Social Security. And all because he's tall and good looking? He just gets anointed because of that?

I like the guy, personally. It's just that our Democratic party used to be distinguishable from the Republican party, but it isn't with this kind of legislator. What we already can assume from certain stealthy reports is that his education ideas are in line with Rahm Emanuel and Arne Duncan and Jonah Edelman and Robin Steans and Michele Rhee and Newt Gingrich, and now we know his tax ideas are in line with John Boehner's. What's next? Does he have to advocate waterboarding before we think about running actual progressives?

You know how President Obama challenged the base to "make" him do the right thing as President? Biss hasn't even made that offer. I say gong him. We need better Democrats. Any PAC money spent on this guy is like paying for trouble.

Elaine Nekritz, Speaking For The Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:59:00 +0000

This is fascinating.

First of all, as I've blogged before, I respect Elaine Nekritz--- she's one of the few people in the House to respond to my questions in a timely manner.

However, she's carrying Madigan's water here, and I think she has to answer for that. Watch this clip-- and by watch, I mean listen. She totally doesn't understand the coerced choice concept, and her deployment of platitudes rivals that of Arne Duncan.

I always get nervous when someone relies on platitudes. You know there's not a lot of critical thinking going on under the hood.

The groovy part is at the end, where Elaine advocates the inane, insane, money-down-the-drain cost-shifting plan, essentially asserting a powerful argument for a local tax increase in Des Plaines. If you searched the world over, you would not be able to find anyone who has made a more passionate argument for a tax increase on Des Plaines.

I don't know the area. It sounds boggy to me, hard to reach. Can the school districts out there survive the cost shift? The cost shift which is utterly unnecessary, I might add?

Here's Elaine. I'm sorry that Madigan gave her so much rope here; she seems to know what to do with it. Note: I'm not sure I've accurately identified her in this clip with the little yellow arrow. I think that's her. Can we not pay for a real camera in the capitol?

Madigan Vs. Morrison, In Committee

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Here's another "video" clip from the House Committee on Pensions and Personnel. It's toward the end of the commentary. You'll hear Speaker Madigan give the strangest lecture about responsibility, which is ironically not followed by his resignation. But it gets good at 4:26, where Republican Tom Morrison nervously explains his "no" vote. Morrison has to vote no because the stupid cost-shifting provision would be a tax-hike on Palatine, like it would be everywhere else in the state.

I've met this representative, and he has my respect because he's a true believer in the things he says. And I mean that. This bill is not extreme enough for him-- he thinks legislators should all give up their pensions, as he has, even though as a young man with a family, he might want to plan for retirement some day. I believe this representative is an honest, died-in-the-wool evangelical, and he not only believes that Social Security will not be there for his generation, but that the whole concept of tomorrow won't be there for his generation.

I'm serious. I wish someone would just ask him if we're living in the End Times and get it over with. I mean, there's either going to be a future or there isn't--- people should know where you stand on the issue. And like I say, I say these things with respect. I've never once gotten the remotest whiff of subterfuge from this guy. He is what he is.

This Is Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 29 May 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Just happened on the floor of the House. Mike Bost, Republican of Carbondale, got a little mad at the Speaker today. There's about three levels of chess going on in the pension strategy, causing Bost to go cuckoo for cocoa puffs; I'll try to explain later. Meanwhile, enjoy.

Update: So, this is what's going on. Speaker Madigan feels he can ram through the pension COLA reduction with Democrats alone, or close to it. He's keeping the COLA thing attached to the cost-shift thing, so that Republicans are basically effed no matter how they vote, because they'll be doing a local tax hike if they vote for the cost-shift, and if they vote "no," then they're not for pension reform. So, may as well kill off as many Republicans in November as you can, because you're going to get the pension reduction anyway. That's just me talkin', and I'm just a guy trying to read the tea leaves. Who the hell knows what's really going on--- with Madigan it could be anything. The guy's a malevolent force of nature.

Henry Bayer, In Opposition

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Henry Bayer, during today's committee meeting.
Update: The pension attack passed out of Committee, 6-3. I'll post the roll call when I see it. Opposition is from Republicans, who don't like the cost-shifting portion, which will make it very hard for local districts. I didn't hear any opposition based on the idea that it's unconstitutional or unfair to employees. Good advice right here. Call those senators!

Remember, I don't control the camera! Yes, I realize that these are basically audio files.

Dan Montgomery, In Opposition

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:13:00 +0000

Here's IFT-AFT President Dan Montgomery at today's committee meeting on SB 1673. This is a sub-clip from the long clip posted below.
Update: The pension attack passed out of Committee, 6-3. I'll post the roll call when I see it. Opposition is from Republicans, who don't like the cost-shifting portion, which will make it very hard for local districts. I didn't hear any opposition based on the idea that it's unconstitutional or unfair to employees. Good advice right here. Call those senators!

The Opposition Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:38:00 +0000

Here's the opposition today. Long tape, with representatives from the entire coalition. Half a million people represented by this coalition; if we rally now, we could pretty much replace the governor with anyone who runs against him.

Ty Fahner makes a delightful cameo at the end. I'll break this into smaller chunks when I have time. It's a state video feed, meaning you're looking at the backs of people sitting still. So, it's basically audio.

Pension Alert

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:16:00 +0000

House Pensions and Personnel Committee meeting at 9:00 AM.
SB 1673 on the docket. I'll stream it here.

Update: The pension attack passed out of Committee, 6-3. I'll post the roll call when I see it. Opposition is from Republicans, who don't like the cost-shifting portion, which will make it very hard for local districts. I didn't hear any opposition based on the idea that it's unconstitutional or unfair to employees. Good advice right here. Call those senators!

Charter Commission Payroll Bill Goes Off The Tracks

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Mon, 28 May 2012 22:21:00 +0000

This is a clip of a highly entertaining discussion today about the state charter commission. One of ISBE's employees, didn't get her name, was there to explain HB 2855, which makes technical changes so that the staff of the charter school commission can be paid through the ISBE payroll system.

It goes horribly off the tracks when representatives smell a rat. I also smell a rat with this entire commission, which evidently funds itself through private donations, as well as a fee for every charter issued. Of all the madness you see in Springfield, the establishment of this commission is the single worst example of ideological extremism trumping local democracy.

(It's a terrible camera angle. Go full screen. Live a little.)

It starts off with the committee not quite understanding that the commission is already established, but then it becomes clear that not everybody understands what's going on with this entire commission. I myself can't understand why we have a state commission designed to overrule democratically elected school boards, and the commission itself is funded by private donations and fees generated from the charters it approves. It's weird, but I know it's all part of the Race To The Top template that reformers have succeeded in infecting the nation with.

By the way, it's clear that the employees of the commission are state employees, with benefits including pension participation. I wonder if that's all being picked up by the private donors. Here are the members of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. I hope some constituents call up and ask if we little people can find out who the private donors are.

Waiting For The Testing Tide To Turn

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Diane's got a post up about the NYDOE encouraging its teachers to lie to students about the purpose of a new test they're running in June.

It's a field test, which means they're just running the questions through the computers to establish reliability, or whatever. Pearson is entitled to the free time and labor of our already test-stressed kids to participate in product development for new revenue sources.

Last week, the New York State Education Department sent out a memo instructing teachers that they must not tell students that the June tests are field tests. They must pretend that it is a real test.

Parents were aghast that the State Education Department would tell teachers to lie to students.

I’m beginning to sense a trend. Once the public understands that all this testing is counter-productive, that it steals time from instruction, that it has become an end and not a means, the game will change. The bureaucrats are hunkering down. But once the tide turns, there will be no going back.

source

I, too, believe the tide will turn. I can't tell you how many times I lied to students about the purpose of standardized tests, both in Illinois and Arizona. The main lie went something like this: "We use this data in placing you in your ninth grade classes," which was complete and utter horsh*t; we didn't even get the results until after the classes were already established.

Moving forward, we're all going to have to figure out whether we lie or tell the truth on the tests that are being invented to evaluate teachers. When you think of the number of tests that are going to be introduced into the daily lives of our students, and then you realize that each one of these tests will require its own field-testing in order to establish the reliability of the items, it really starts to look like a future of constant testing.

If I ever have to give a standardized test again, I'm going to be perfectly truthful about its purpose, its political nature, and the legality of opting out of it.

Notes From The Red Line Tap

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Mon, 28 May 2012 03:42:00 +0000

Came home early from Fred Klonsky's retirement celebration over at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park. I know better than to stay late at the Red Line. The last time I closed that place, which is right at the Morse CTA stop, I woke up in Hammond, which in case you forgot is in another state.

Long story.

Anyway, what a tribute. The place was packed, and it was a virtual who's who of the people who elected Obama and were to one extent or another left behind by that particular President, whose campaign for the White House started at the Heartland Cafe, next door. There was more accumulated wisdom about teaching and learning and the purpose of public education than in all the new ed reform foundations in DC combined. Plus an open bar, which as far as I'm concerned is key. Key.

It's just so hard for me to reconcile the roots of the Obama campaign with the presence of Arne Duncan in the Cabinet.

None of that matters. It was a hell of a party. If I ever get to retire, and I get half the crowd Fred got at his party tonight, it will be ten times more than I could have hoped for. According to my camera, I took 168 pictures. Here are a few.

Red Line Tap in Rogers Park

Fred makes a pitch for the pension system.

A little ukulele...

The band was on fire.

More teachers than you could shake a stick at.

Cynthia Smith of CTU gives Fred regards from Karen Lewis

Steve Doyle and Matt Farmer

Everything's Connected, and it Ain't Lookin' Good

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:35:00 +0000

Let's not forget the reason Scantron is so interested in catapulting the propaganda around charter schools. Scantron exists to make money for the shareholders of M & F Worldwide, including its celebrity magnate-principal, Ron Perelman, who was so famously cheap to Ellen Barkin, if you recall. But that's a sidebar.

Scantron's interest is in selling as many bubble sheets possible, along with the attendant bubble sheet scanners, as well as an entire line of reducible-to-bubbles products, including school tests, including the eponymous Scantron Test. I have written about my love of the Scantron Test before, and how at least it's honestly named: it's a test that exists to prop up the company that makes the bubble sheets on which the test is printed. The data the Scantron Test generates is folded into a narrative designed to set urban brown and black people against poorer urban brown and black people and thereby.... you got it, create more tests.

Howe does it work?

Well, Scantron didn't just fall off the turnip wagon. They know that in an America populated with charter schools, with their de-professionalized, non-unionized, itinerant workforce, there will be fewer individual teachers with any kind of job protection --- due process, if you will--- some call it tenure--- to take the actual risk of pointing out publicly that the world has gone topsy-turvy with testing. In a fire-at-will scenario, you can just scoot little Miss Noncompliant out the door when she points out that the kids have been testing for ten days in a row and are in fact regressing into fetal positions.

Or better yet, you just hire a workforce of temporary suburban-grown missionaries, whose five whole weeks of training includes the idea that poor kids, undisciplined poor kids, need a lot of testing because data, data is the be-all.

So that's why it's important to plant a charter school on every block and a charter lie in every head because there's shareholder value at play, and shareholder value trumped democracy long, long ago.

If you are over 14, and you're reading this, you might even remember that your own literacy became what it is without a single Scantron Test, and that you probably went to the library when you were a kid and read books. That's not the world we're living in any more. The library is closed on Sundays, for one thing. And for another thing, reading isn't learned by reading any more; it's learned by direct instruction and test after test after test.

Out-take from this post:

In January, when our city's public school children were fidgeting through the Scantron Test, I wondered what the Emanuel children were doing in their private school. Part of me hoped they were doing a little project around irony.

The Scantron Debacle

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Tip o' the hat to Julie Woestehoff for exposing the recent Scantron test for what it is: the nexus of the corporate testing complex and the privatization/self-segregation movement.

Julie got a hold of a test item that is basically a charter school propaganda piece. There's so much deception, distortion, and misinformation catapulted from the charter movement, and it's so obviously connected to the desire to privatize the public sector, that even today its successes surprise me.

Scantron's entire business model depends on keeping its tests a secret, then letting people make invalid conclusions based on the data its tests generate, in the hope that those invalid conclusions will open up more doors to more tests. It's like a cancer that tricks the immune system to help it out.

Rahm's kids are sheltered from the Scantron test, I might add. He should think about that during his next fake phone call.

Something To Do on June 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:34:00 +0000

This will be good. Pass it along to anyone who cares about what's about to happen to children in early childhood, except in the private schools, which rightly reject all of the testing that's right around the corner in the public schools.

What About Dick?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:26:00 +0000

So, after this is over--- after they pass the court-bound pension reductions, what happens to Dick Ingram? Does he stay on? I'm just sitting here in Rogers Park, so what do I know, but here's what it looks like to me.

The Speaker of the House wants to create an auditor to over-rule the director's state cost certifications.

The same Speaker wants to change the makeup of the TRS Board so that it's "50/50," which is all about reducing any advocacy for the pensions that the Board can provide.

The TRS Board of which I speak has thrown off any number of signals that they feel burned by the director.

The director himself would not win 5% of a confidence vote of the members.

I'm guessing he'll have a soft landing somewhere. And by soft landing, I mean fabulously lucrative next thing.

What's your take?

More Wagging of the Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

So, the cigarette tax/hospital property tax just passed, raising what, $800m for Medicaid? Now it's headed over to the Senate. We'll see.

I'm posting it because in the back of my mind, if the cigarette tax passed, then the pensions were going to be successfully attacked, and I guess I'm sticking with that little prediction. There's a certain momentum in the air, isn't there? It's almost as if the outcome in the legislature is decided and that we should be focusing our phone calls on the negotiators of the We Are One coalition.

Judging from all the little complexities that are being thrown into the pension mix, I'm guessing that it will all be decided in court, pension-wise.

We're living in an age where the dog is being wagged by two easy-to-solve, yet intractable problems: our inability to tax wealthy people in the traditional way (progressively), and our inability to start a national health care system like the rest of the world.

Anyway, I'm glad they were able to raise the cigarette tax because I think its benefits outweigh the fact that it's a regressive tax. There was this weird moment on the floor today in which Jim Sacia, the Republican from Freeport spoke in favor of the cigarette tax, which surely can't be popular with the ever-burgeoning convenience store lobby in his close-to-the-border district. The normal Republican reaction to any kind of tax is a reflexive Taxes are killing us! so it was an interesting speech he gave.

It is followed by the bizarre "I haven't been paying attention" demonstration by Chicago's Mary Flowers, who is clearly laying down her only card-- a "no" vote--- after losing terribly in the Medicaid cuts, which are in fact a disaster for people. I'm not sure why I'm posting it other than that I was rather amazed at her line of questioning.

It's easy to snipe from my blog and on Twitter, but these cigarette taxes, if we just must have them, are the most studied, predictable taxes in the world. You can pretty much predict exactly how many teenagers will not start smoking, how many adults will abate their smoking, how many people will drive to Indiana, and how much money will be raised, and all of this information is widely available to legislators.

A Nose For News

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:50:00 +0000

I can't believe I haven't written about this yet, but I did a little search of the site, and sure enough, I haven't written about it.

This evening I was just reviewing my decision not to attend ISTE 2012 in San Diego, and while I don't regret missing the scheduled video address by Arne Duncan, I do regret missing Yong Zhao's wry observations afterward. Arne Duncan is a talking-point machine; if he were reciting a poem, it would be about choosing for our nation the road more traveled by --- in China-- as Yong Zhao has been pointing out forever.

It's neither here nor there. I'm really writing about my recollection of ISTE 2010 in Denver, where one of the keynote speakers was the guy who was running the big Hawaiian virtual charter school, Jeff Piontek. He gave a speech that was frankly about what a genius he seemed to be and how his school had the highest test scores, and how he was changing the game, or whatever. Maybe he was raising the bar. I can't remember.

He may also have been the guy who said that he "wrote the book on blogging" but didn't blog because it took too much time away from family and friends, etc. I may have this particular detail wrong.

Anyway, I always think of him when I think of ISTE. Mainly because I remember thinking that something didn't smell right. I told myself, "This guy seems like a grifter."

Well, turns out he is one!

Or at least, he kinda sorta seems like one to his former board.

WAIPAHU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – The fired former head of Hawaii Technology Academy and his vice principal spent about $100,000 in state school funds on travel in one year, and an auditor found that "abuse, waste or fraud" likely occurred at the state's largest charter school.

$100K is chump change in the ed reform gold mine, but seriously, read the whole article. You get a feel for his operation and how diploma-millish it all seems. And yet, he's one of the big poster boys for the transformative power of technology in education. The clip below is a minor detail, but make no mistake, this is the future of public education in the hands of the crowd that has rushed in to fill the power vacuum created by our pre-programmed, Manchurian candidate Secretary of Education:

The school is headquartered in a warehouse-like building off Farrington Highway in Waipahu that shares space with a Kirby dealership, a vet clinic and a Sherwin-Williams paint store.

HTA has more than 900 students statewide who take courses via computer using a special curriculum taught and monitored by teachers online.

Nice bit of detail, with the paint store next to headquarters.

Anyway~~, guilty until proven innocent~~, innocent until proven guilty, I always say. But I'm glad my nose still works.

Note: I cant believe I wrote "guilty until proven innocent" and let it stand overnight. While walking my dog later on last night, I wondered if I had botched the phrase, but I told myself that nobody would ever botch that phrase so stop worrying. I regret the error.

Following Up With Senator Lightford

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Since I ran with Sen. Lightford's remarks last night, let me follow up with a necessary clarification.

I like her, and I get it. I get exactly what was going on yesterday in our Senate, and I appreciate the budget. But she overstates the case. Our schools are not failing; in fact, we have pretty much the same profile that our state has always had. We have kids going to MIT and we have kids dropping out, and we have everything in between, all with a single set of standards. The geography of the achievement spread hasn't changed more than an iota in the decade of NCLB-- where poverty is concentrated, we see lower school achievement and general devastation. Where affluence is concentrated, we see higher school achievement and general prosperity. The general arc toward slightly higher NAEP scores is the same here as it is in most places.

The iota of change is that we have some small charter schools now that sculpt their graduating classes down to the small group that is going to graduate, and those individuals are counseled into colleges that will accept them regardless of their test scores, and this is regarded as the miracle that justifies the dismantling of the entire system. I haven't seen much data about how these students fare at college, but I do know that Illinois just changed the school code to require four years of math from everyone because the community colleges are mad about having to do so much remediation.

So it goes.

Anyway, back to the point. What we can legitimately expect in the future is that in the places where the effects of poverty increase, we will see the attendant educational crisis. In places where affluence grows or holds the line, we can expect to see stagnation. Why?

Because of SB 7.

Because schooling is about to be transformed into a full-time testing endeavor as a result of "reforms" written by Sen. Lightford and her colleagues with the weird, smiling-despite-the-gun-to-their-head encouragement of the teachers' unions. We also have the Race To The Top pushing this transformation-for-the-worse. States basically have to dance this dance if they want to be "waived" from the requirements and labeling of NCLB, which is such a terrible law that in order to get out of it, you have to agree to ramp up the worst parts of it.

The result is that kids all over the state are going to be pushed into the testing equivalent of a wood-chipper because people have decided that the academic impact of poverty is the result of something the teachers are doing or not doing with the kids. So, instead of building New Triers in the city; we're taking the Wal-Mart approach to schooling (the urban status quo) out to the suburbs and downstate.

At this point, I'd just like to steal -- hook, line, and sinker--- the letter written by Stephen Krashen, published in the San Diego Union-Tribune a couple days ago. Here's what he said, including his sources:

I wonder how many people are aware of the amount of testing that will eventually accompany the Common Core Standards (“State plans big changes to testing, instruction,” May 21). It will be more than we have ever seen on this planet, and much more than the already excessive amount demanded by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Testing done at the end of the school year will be expanded to include all subjects that can be tested and more grade levels. As noted in Union-Tribune, there will be “interim” tests given through the year and there may be pretests in the fall to measure growth through the school year.

This means about a 20-fold increase over NCLB.
The cost of implementing these electronically delivered national tests will be enormous, bleeding money from legitimate and valuable school activities.
There is no evidence that all this testing will improve things. In fact, the evidence we have now strongly suggests that increasing testing does not increase achievement.

Stephen Krashen

Sources: More grade levels to be tested: PARCC document: http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC%20MCF%20Response%20to%20Public%20Feedback_%20Fall%202011%20Release.pdf;

Race to the top for tots: http://www.ed.gov/early-learning/elc-draft-summary. (For a reaction, see http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2011/07/stephen_krashen_race_to_the_to.html)

Interim tests: Duncan, A. September 9, 2010. Beyond the Bubble Tests: The Next Generation of Assessments -- Secretary Arne Duncan's Remarks to State Leaders at Achieve's American Diploma Project Leadership Team Meeting: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/beyond-bubble-tests-next-generation-assessments-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-state-l.

The Blueprint, (op. cit.) p. 11. “U.S. Asks Educators to Reinvent Student Tests, and How They Are Given,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/education/03testing.html?_r=1
Testing in the fall (value-added measures: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-statehouse-convention-center-little-rock-arkansas (August 25, 2010).

The Blueprint (op.cit.), p. 9.
Testing in more subjects: The Blueprint A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. United States Department of Education March 2010;

Education and the Language Gap: Secretary Arne Duncan's Remarks at the Foreign Language Summit,":http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/education-and-language-gap-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-foreign-language-summit

Zero evidence it will work: Nichols, S., Glass, G., and Berliner, D. 2006. High-stakes testing and student achievement: Does accountability increase student learning? Education Policy Archives 14(1). http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v14n1/.

Additional evidence in Krashen, S. NUT: No Unnecessary Testing. http://sdkrashen.com/index.php?cat=4

Krashen's letter is lifted from Schools Matter. I have a lot more to say about this issue, obviously. Particularly about how there's a religious tenet at the root of all of this testing-- remind me to write about it sometime. I would also like to say, after re-reading this post, that what I refer to as the Wal-Mart approach to education is a description of policy, not teachers. I've worked in both settings; my urban colleages are as gifted and dedicated as they are anywhere else, and honestly, probably more so.

Meanwhile, Down In Springfield

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:25:00 +0000

My heart may have been with the CTU tonight, marching down in the loop against Rahm; however, my butt was on the couch. I was watching the very sad budget debate in the Senate tonight. On the one hand, they're cutting the crap out of everything; on the other hand, they're paying the bills. And by they, I mean the Democrats. The Republicans once again haven't put out a budget, and they won't, because if they put out a budget, people will see that they don't want to have any public programs at all.

I have often criticized Sens. Lightford and Steans, and I will do so again. But tonight, they kicked ass. This is a great (pirated) clip from one of tonight's discussions. Watch Kim Lightford here start out calm-- then she ratchets up the tension--then she opens a can on the other side. Honestly, if she wanted my help with student achievement, I'd be happy to give it to her, but it would involve reversing SB 7 and dialing down the pressure on tests. However, my hat is off to Lightford and Steans and their colleagues tonight. I'm sure I'll be ripping them next week when they're gutting my retirement, but tonight, well done.

Could You Speak Into My Lapel?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:44:00 +0000

I see from the Twitter traffic that the House passed Elaine Nekritz's "eavesdropping" law. My hat is off to this representative, who not only answers emails but who writes laws that help me. I completely regret my occasional excoriations of her performance on the pensions committee, abysmal as that performance was, in my opinion.

My understanding, which could be wrong, is that it's major big-time illegal in Illinois to audio record without both the consent of everyone being recorded. Even though I think people are basically safe in the courts when brought up on charges, you can still be arrested for it.

I myself wear an audio device when I think there's a possibility I'm going to be roughed up by someone. Indeed, I was wearing one during my recent paparazzi episode outside Heather Steans' house, and I only remembered it five minutes into my very pleasant chat with the senator's husband. I turned it off subsequently and told him that I had been taping him by accident.

It's a good law. I've got very mixed feelings about all of this video-taping of the cops that goes on because I myself am not too thrilled about the idea of someone videotaping me while I fix a computer, On the other hand, you see so many videos these days of people being mercilessly beaten, pepper-sprayed, stomped, and what all. And those blue boxes above the intersections? Those are video cameras. They don't work most of the time, but clearly video is good for the goose.

Nice job, Rep. Nekritz.

On Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:10:00 +0000

I work in one of the well-financed districts in our state. I'm proud of the job we do; I admire my colleagues, and I think the district is in excellent hands with an visionary Board and fantastic administrators.

I'm just saying this one thing. I think that places like this one, that make it onto some magazine's list of the "top schools in America," or whatever, have a responsibility to repudiate publicly such rankings.

If you accept these inane lists and reject others, then you're cherrypicking. And the truth of the matter is that no matter who you are, you're going to be on someone's shitlist sooner or later. Take AYP, for example. That's a list, isn't it? Do you reject AYP?

Anyway, we're a great nation. We're doing a great job, given the way the affluence and the poverty is distributed. We need to pull together. These lists don't help, nice as it may be to "make" them.

Pat Quinn, Facing The Tough Crowds

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman) — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

The man is in Oak Park taking questions about pensions from 8th graders. Governor, since you've got nothing to do, I invite you to my local here in Skokie. Really, any time would be fine. We'll clear our schedule.