Wednesday, June 12, 2013

We're On Our Summer Schedule

Summertime, and RPNPS is going to light scheduling mode. We'll be active in the Artists On The Wall event in June, so look for some pictures later in June.

I myself will be out of town until August; I don't have internet service out in the woods, so posting here will be very, very light until we gear up again in the fall. If I'm able, I'll check in when I head into town and post anything of note. My goal is to keep the Twitter feed up at the top here, and also possibly the latest missive from Susan Ohanian.  Meanwhile, join our group! We're trying to build support for all of our neighborhood schools, and we need your help. Send a note to: info@rpnps.org .

By the way, here's a great video of the Uptown Uprising event that RPNPS participated in; this happened shortly before the CPS Board voted to close all of the schools on the final list, without even reading the names of the schools.





And here's the latest mailing from Susan Ohanian. Not sure it it's cool with her that I'm publishing it, but I'm guessing it is. You should subscribe!

I've been buried in books--writing a long article. Finished!

Cartoon
13th Century Admonition
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=772

I found this as a scarf at the Metropolitan Museum ...on my way to give the annual lecture at Bard College. Of course I bought it and wore it.

Winnie the Pooh Prescription Pad
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=918

Bexar County's New Bookless Library
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=916

I'm angrier at NPR than I can say. I heard the air time they gave to Accelerated Reader while cooking dinner, and it's a wonder I didn't burn the beans.  I did write a comment.  I hope you do too:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/06/11/190669029/what-kids-are-reading-in-school-and-out

This is why I often avoid NPR and listen to a book on tape while cooking, usually a book with little or no redeeming social content, though I'm plugged into Middlemarch right now.

Susan

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Who’s Minding the Schools?
Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus
New York Times
2013-06-09
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=507

This op ed has provoked an extraordinary number of comments. I offer a few.




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Denver Public Schools elementary reels as five teachers get boot
Julie Poppen
EdNews Colorado
2013-05-28
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=506

Probationary teachers in Denver are let go with a notice they can be rehired by any Denver public school. One teacher says she was axed for 'expressing concern' about the Common Core. Administration called this being a 'negative influence.'

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The New York Times Claims  'Better Teachers for New York City'
Susan Ohanian
comment on New York Times  endorsement of new teacher evaluation system
2013-06-06
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=505

Here's some brief background on the teacher evaluation system the New York Times thinks is so nifty.

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The story of an 'offending' blog post
Carol Burris
Washington Post Answer Sheet
2013-06-02
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=504

New York State ed commissioner worried about the Common Core standards and testing to the point of trying to bully a principal who blogs.

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We're All to Blame for MOOCs
Patrick J. Deneen

2013-06-03
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=1104

A few winners will provide a cheap, mass-produced product to consumers--the Wal-Marts and the Monsantos of higher education. But think of the losers--and people who don't want a monoculture.

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To the editor
Susan Ohanian
NPR All Things Considered
2013-06-11
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1568

I don't want to comment on my own letter --except to say I was cooking dinner when this outrageous program aired. . . and I levitated.

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To the editor
Ani McHugh
Burlington County (NJ) Times
2013-06-09
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1567

The author is High School Teacher of the Year in Delran, New Jersey. I'm happy to see a teacher address the issue of how teachers are depicted in the media.



Kudos.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
New York Post
2013-06-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1566

Short and to the point, this letter is a good model for everybody to use.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus, USC
Christian Science Monitor
2013-06-06
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1565

President Obama's remark, 'We expect free wifi with our coffee, why shouldn't we have it in our schools?' seems especially egregious in a time of sequestration and a rising number of children living in poverty, not to mention the government getting ready to reduce food stamps.

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To the editor
Prof. Richard Upsher Smith Jr
Wall Street Journal
2013-06-06
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1564

This letter hits the nail on the head: The technocrats have won, reducing education to job skills. The government defines even pre-schoolers as future workers in the global economy and President Obama tells us that fast internet is what kids need.

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To the editor
Jim Horn
School Library Journal
2013-05-01
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1563

Here's a great warning to librarians.

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An Education Declaration to Rebuild America
statement, petition, and Ohanisn statement why she
Education Opportunity Network
2013-06-06
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1632

Sorry but no cigar. I am offended by this statement of ed reform. I think it badly misses the boat. Why won't I sign? Let me count the ways.

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Take this test and shove it
Larry Gibson
song
2013-06-09
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1631

Here's a song parody.

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Do Something: Sign a petition
Barbara Madeloni
blog
2013-06-02
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1630

Barbara Madeloni has started a petition to defend a Concord, MA teacher. You can help.

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Philadelphia  SRC approves doomsday school budget
Martha Woodall and Melissa Chea-Annan
Philadelphia Inquirer
2013-06-01
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1629

Money for Pearson. No money for new books, paper, clubs, counselors, librarians, assistant principals, or secretaries.

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 A school rebellion bubbles over
John Young
column
2013-06-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=827

  Policy makers finally are coming to understand the unnecessary pressure, the costliness, the nonexistent diagnostics, the false comparisons, the lost time, the expense, the whole of the nation's pathological lap dance with standardized testing.

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Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes
Helena Lee
BBC news
2013-06-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=826

The Finns make sure that every baby starts off with a book.

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FairTest Press Release: Senate Education Bill Fails To Reverse "No Child Left Behind" Damage, Ignores Constituents
Press Release
FairTest
2013-06-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=0

Pass this on to your Congressional representatives, state officials, local board of education, PTA, local media, religious adviser, aunts, cousins, and so forth.
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Order the CD of the resistance:
"No Child Left Behind? Bring Back the Joy."
To order online (and hear samples from the songs)
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dhbdrake4
Other orders: Send $15 to
Susan Ohanian
P. O. Box 26
Charlotte, VT 05445
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