Spring is the time when we
typically think about fresh starts and new beginnings. Even the "loss" of an hour is
viewed as a step "forward" and we enjoy increased daylight, warmer
temperatures and the change from what is too often a long, cold winter here in
Wisconsin. Spring should be a season of
growth and optimism.
Unfortunately, spring has
become a tough season for public education and those who work and learn in our
schools. It is a time when budgets are
created. Budgets which have become
tighter and tighter in recent years. The drive to "balance" Wisconsin's state
budget, as misleading as that statement has become, has resulted in devastating
cuts to local school funding. Add to
those challenges the threat of money being diverted to voucher schools and the
costliness of "accountability reforms" like testing and Educator
Effectiveness and school districts are left with no alternative but to make
deep and disruptive cuts.
Propopents of the proposal in Walker's budget say a change
in state law would allow cash-strapped rural schools to save money by educating
all children in a...
jsonline.com|By Patrick Leary
The Madison
School District needs to
close a budget gap of at least $12.2 million.
m.host.madison.com|By Molly Beck |
Wisconsin State Journal
Spring is also a time when
educators make their plans for the upcoming school year and allocations for
staffing is announced. All of the
uncertainty around school budgets, what programming will look like and things
like class size and configurations are unsettling for educators. We see stress levels increase for students,
families and educators who all are wondering what their schools will look like
next year. Increasingly, we are seeing
quality educators decide to leave the profession early or move to different
places where a stronger commitment to education is displayed.
A teacher asks her state superintendent to give her and her
colleagues more instructional time -- or suffer an exodus of good teachers.
washingtonpost.com
Breaking education news about schools and further education.
Find leading opinion, podcasts, comment and analysis on education from TES News
news.tes.co.uk
Enrollment at teacher training programs is down in many
parts of the country, raising fears of a looming teacher shortage.
www.npr.org
Of course it isn't all
about the money. In fact, many educators
would tell you that they would continue to work for the wages we receive
(although we can't absorb any more cuts to our take home pay) if we could
return to the days when we really could teach our students. The current movement towards standardization
and the mythology around educator and school accountability is impacting
educator morale in ways that the financial aspects of education don't come
close to reaching.
It isn't just about
educators and our desire to teach students in more holistic and integrated
ways. The damage being done to our
students is very real, and very disturbing.
Professional educators understand that students learn more, enjoy
learning and are more engaged when they are taught in creative ways that unite
disciplines and that assess their progress through meaningful and realistic
methods. The "reforms" to
education that have arisen out of the assessment and standardization mindset
have not impacted achievement gaps, nor have they improved the quality of
education for our students. Instead, they
have increased the discontent of educators, students, families and communities
and paved the way for educational profiteering and privatization.
I used to be a public school teacher. I have taught in
four different public schools in three different states. I have taught in
very affluent areas and lower income...
binkiesandbriefcases.com
Many teachers are tired of cycles of education reform that
come with new trendy ideas about how they should do their job. What does all
the hype look like from...
blogs.kqed.org
The people most often cited as 'education experts' in blogs
and news stories may have the backing of influential organizations - but have
little background in education and education policy, a new study suggests.
phys.org
If we are going to
reinstate spring as a season of hope, then it is important that we change the
way we approach education, and change the power structures that exist around our
schools. Administrators need to listen
to the professionals who work in the schools they lead and be willing to cede
some of the power to these educators.
Educators need to be vocal in their efforts to improve our instruction
and actively work to promote policies and practices that truly work for
students. Our families, students and
community members need to become informed about issues that impact them and be
advocates for themselves in a system that all too often favors the status quo
over the needs of the individual. It is
only through a cooperative effort of those who work in, learn in and rely on
our schools that a truly great system of public education can emerge from the
current chaotic climate that exists around education.
Distributed leadership is not about delegating tasks, but
giving individuals ownership over outcomes and creating a culture of
innovation.
blogs.kqed.org
Award-winning educator writes that because Congress is not
expected to eliminate annual standardized testing in the new version of No
Child Left...
washingtonpost.com
Sometimes I scratch my head when I read about the
government's efforts to improve schools: new standards and tests that have to
be implemented immediately, punitive teacher evaluations, and threats of school
closures and...
huffingtonpost.com
on-ajc.com
The
Good, The Bad and
The
Ugly. . .
The Good . . . The pushback against the excessive amounts of standardized testing is
gaining momentum. Now to see what
happens here in Wisconsin.
My home state of South Carolina is an ideal lesson in
education reform. SC is a high-poverty state (in the bottom quartile of
affluence in the U.S.) that committed early to the accountability era b...
radicalscholarship.wordpress.com
State education officials moved Wednesday
to dramatically recast California's system
to evaluate school quality by suspending the use...
latimes.com|By Los Angeles Times
The Bad . . . It seems so obvious that right to
work is anything but legislation that helps workers, yet half of the states in
the U.S.
now have these laws on the books.
Overhauling more than a half century of labor law in Wisconsin, Gov. Walker
Monday signed so-called right-to-work legislation banning labor contracts that
require private sector workers to pay labor fees.
jsonline.com|By Meg Kissinger And
Jason Stein
The initial results are not
unexpected, and it is unlikely things will get better unless the law is
repealed.
Hoffman Construction, a major road building and mining
company, is abandoning Wisconsin
because of the Right to Work legislation just passed.
dailykos.com
America needs unions, our nation is stronger when democracy
flourishes.
Faith in democracy, whether it be in Washington or the
workplace, is fundamental to the survival of our republic.
truth-out.org|By The Daily Take
Team
If you’re in the American middle class—or what’s left of
it—here’s how you probably feel. You feel like you’re struggling harder than
your parents did, working longer hours than ever before, and yet falling
further and further behind. The...
politico.com|By Nick Hanauer
International Monetary Fund researchers are detailing just
how much societies suffer — and top executives grab — when trade unions have no
strong presence.
inequality.org
Here in Wisconsin we've been told that unions are
corrupting the democratic process. Could
it be that there is another side to the story that might tell a different tale?
The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel either has no
understanding of campaign finance, or is willfully misleading her readers. In
either case, her...
republicreport.org
The Ugly . . . As Walker's candidacy gains momentum, we are
left wondering when, if ever, the facts will finally catch up with him.
thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com
Unemployment rates are up in every Wisconsin
county and major city.
weau.com|By AP
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) has 2016 presidential
ambitions, but he's facing budget problems in his home state. (AP Photo/Morry
Gash, File)...
washingtonpost.com
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