Group items tagged

"As a former union teacher and present union staff member, what struck me most profoundly while watching Won't Back Down was the stark disconnect between the way people and schools were characterized in the film and the way they are in the real world. That isn't surprising given that it's a Hollywood film, but it is harmful -- precisely because these kinds of stereotypes often fuel destructive and unnecessary divisions and tensions among parents, teachers and students in real life. Those divisions often stop people from working together to find effective, win-win solutions to problems that affect all of us."

"As the lights dimmed and the opening credits rolled during my preview of 'Won't Back Down,' I got a little nervous.  Based on some of the commercials I had seen, I thought there was a chance that it was going to be a good 'film.'  I do think that a good film could be made about any subject, even one I might not agree with its underlying premise."

Michelle Rhee on improving mobility, the gap between the U.S. and other developed countries, and why she's optimistic.

A new well-financed player has jumped into the debate over education reform in New York State, and already the sparks have begun to fly. The New York Campaign for Achievement Now, or NYCAN, has launched its Web site, and its executive director, Christine Grant, said it has raised $1.2 million from such entities as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.

"Below Dov Rosenberg lists what he considers the 10 most inaccurate and damaging statements that some school reformers toss around. Rosenberg, who loves to help teachers use technology, has been serving North Carolina public school students and teachers for 11 years as a teacher and instructional technology facilitator."

Put three rockstars of the education world in a room together and you get this fantastic panel from last week's Netroots Nation on the future of public education, the importance of community organizing and the path towards systemic education reform to provide every child with a fair and substantive opportunity to learn.  The panelists were education historian Diane Ravicth, John H. Jackson, President & CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and Ken Bernstein, a long-time teacher and education advocate. All three had harsh words for policymakers pedaling ineffective or untested policies as viable reform strategies. "We don't have an innovation challenge, we have an implementation challenge," Jackson said. We know what policies work. Countless studies have shown the importance of early childhood education, access to healthcare and guidance counselors, and support for teachers. But the practical, systemic solutions that come out of that body of research are ignored in favor of a political agenda that seeks to privatize and dismantle a public institution that is vital to our nation's economy and democratic well-being.

"This week a film partially funded by Walden Media, which is owned by entrepreneur and conservative Philip Anschutz, will be released in theaters. The film, Won't Back Down, is a work of fiction but claims to be based on real life events and tells the story of a teacher and a parent in a 'failing' school who join forces to 'save their school.' Walden Media also funded Waiting for Superman, which was billed as a documentary on education and chronicled the stories of several families navigating the educational landscape intermixed with commentary from journalists, economists, philanthropists, and business folks who surmised the troubles of public education today. These two films differ in style, but their substance is aligned and their conclusion is the same: teacher unions are the obstacle to student achievement."

In essence, the law creates a parents' union, which advocates say will provide powerful and needed counterweight to teachers' unions and district bureaucracies. If 51 percent of parents in a persistently failing school sign a petition, they can force the school to change into a charter, close it entirely or replace the principal and teachers.

One week after the state Board of Education approved final rules on how parents can use a landmark new law to demand sweeping changes at their low-performing schools, parents say the hardest work lies ahead. They must organize themselves, one by one, to push for changes on their children's campuses.

The California Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved a new set of rules giving parents more power to force changes at poorly performing public schools.

Shoehorned into a small living room in a South Los Angeles apartment, a dozen parents discuss why their kids' school ranks as one of the worst in the nation's second-largest school district. The answers come quickly: Teachers are jaded; gifted pupils aren't challenged; disabled students are isolated; the building is dirty and office staff treat parents disrespectfully. "We know what the problem is-we're about fixing it," said Cassandra Perry, the Woodcrest Elementary School parent hosting the meeting. "We're not against the administrators or the teachers union. We're honestly about the kids." School parent groups are no longer just about holding the next bake-sale fundraiser. They're about education reform.

The organization that claims to represent the voice and interests of K-12 students and their parents is the Parent Teacher Association, widely known as the PTA. The organization aims to provide "parents and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child while providing the best tools for parents to help their children be successful students." Founded in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers, the PTA declared that it was "up to the mothers of the country to eliminate threats that endangered children." Today, its goal is a "quality education and nurturing environment for every child."