New PAC supports public education

(from ICPE)

A new bi-partisan political action committee, Hoosiers for Public Education, deserves your support. It is researching and endorsing candidates from either party who support public education. The lobbying ICPE does is essential, but it is effective only when we have legislators who are willing to listen.

The PAC has identified 10 key Indiana General Assembly races in 2012 where there is a good chance of electing a legislator who will stand up for public education.

Hoosiers for Public Education will make financial contributions to new candidates in key races as well as incumbents who have been great friends to public schools.

Hoosiers for Public Education welcomes participation and financial contributions from ICPE members and other supporters. We believe public education advocates will have a more effective voice to elect candidates if we combine our resources and concentrate them where they will have the greatest impact.

To learn more or to donate, visit the website at www.HoosiersForPublicEducation.org. Tell your friends!!

ACTION ALERT: Your Comments Needed on REPA II PROPOSAL

Horace Mann at The Huntington Teacher posted this important information about the new proposal for teacher licensing.

ACTION ALERT: Your Comments Needed on REPA II PROPOSAL (Deskilling Teacher Licensing)

The Proposed Rule known as REPA II, scheduled to be heard June 21st, is 53 pages long and complicated, but at its core are rule changes to teacher licensing that will deskill the profession of teaching and dismantle public education. Basically, REPA II could potentially mean all one needs is to pass a test and become a licensed teacher in Indiana.

Consider that a "walk-on" could pass a basic test and be licensed to teach special education. Also consider that with the RISE evaluation, a teacher with 20 years experience in special education could be riffed, have to reapply for their job in the fall, and find they have been replaced by the walk-on who passed a basic test. (If you have wondered how Mitch Daniels and our State Government has created a budget surplus, but didn't understand the loss of service to Indiana students, this deskilling of a work force example explains how.)

Please visit this page where the REPA II public comment form can be found on the IDOE website to make your voice heard.

Please check out this document that gives ideas of what to post on the comment section of the IDOE website.

UPDATE:

The availability of the public comment site for REPA 2 has been extended until June 29 at 4 p.m. The original deadline was June 22.

If you wish to comment online, you may do so 24/7 at the following link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9VYXCQ3

May 24, 2012: Question of the Day

Did you know that Indiana tax dollars spent on testing In Indiana in the last five years has increased from approximately $26 million to $43 million?

Did you know that Indiana tax dollars spent on helping Hoosier students who are having academic difficulty in the last five years has decreased from approximately $14 million to $3 million?

Where does your Indiana tax money for testing go? Click HERE to read about Indiana Tests.

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Click the question mark below to see all our Questions of the Day or click the link in the sidebar.

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How Much Testing?

The Assistant Superintendent of the Vigo County School Corporation put together a list of all the evaluations Indiana public schools are required to conduct throughout the school year. Click the image below for the document.

GEM Puts Documentary Online

The Grassroots Education Movement has placed their documentary, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman online. They describe the film...

One year ago, The Grassroots Education Movement premiered a new documentary, written and directed by New York City public school teachers and parents, created in response to Davis Guggenheim’s highly misleading film. Waiting for "Superman" would have audiences believe that free-market competition, standardized tests, destroying teacher unions, and the proliferation of charter schools are just what this country needs to create great public schools.

The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For "Superman" highlights the real-life experiences of public school parents, students and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting public education. The film discusses the kinds of real reform – inside schools and in our society as a whole – that we urgently need to genuinely transform education in this country.

Since the official premiere of GEM's film at the Assembly Hall of The Riverside Church in Harlem on May 19, 2012 featuring historian Diane Ravitch as our honored guest, our free offer of the DVD and permission to copy and distribute copies of the film have produced an estimated 15,000 copies in circulation. Requests have come in from all 50 states and 6 continents. Screenings have been set up by unions, parent groups, college professors and libraries all over the nation, in India, Turkey, England, New Zealand and Australia. Demand has been so great, we are currently working on a Spanish language version of the 67 minute film.

For more information about the film, visit: waitingforsupermantruth.org.

The film is online at http://vimeo.com/41994760

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Open Letter to Indiana's Select Commission on Education

This letter to the members of Indiana's Select Commission on Education was written by Paul Obermeyer, a businessman and lifelong resident of Indiana. Both his wife and daughter teach in the public schools.

General Education Concerns State of Indiana and the Select Commission on Education

I have been following the Legislation of Public Schools and the recent laws passed by the Republican Administration the past several years and am very concerned about the future to come for education in this State. Yesterday, as I celebrated Mother’s Day with my wife and family (my daughter and wife both teach) we had a family discussion of just how unappreciated teachers are. It is our opinion, that Governor Daniels, Dr. Tony Bennett and the Director of Budget, Adam Horst, as well as the Republican Party and the State of Indiana have turned their backs on the teaching profession. Today, I noticed that the Department of Education has made available a video on how much Hoosiers appreciate Teachers. Excuse me for being just a bit cynical…but how have the recent funding decisions and legislation been supportive of teachers?

Teachers today are expected to do more than teach and are faced with social problems never before confronted in the classroom. Governor Daniels and Dr. Bennett worked “in concert” and made certain that every parent and student were given a pass for their performance in the classroom, spending over two years working to undermine the integrity of Public School Teachers. Recent legislation which gutted the ISTA and teachers’ rights, as well as their voice in the classroom, did so much damage to the morale of the profession, it may never be undone. As a leader within a business, I feel the Department of Education has LOST the support of the people they need most…the teachers. If you run a business, and I don’t care what kind of business, you must make the employees feel important and give them a voice in the process. The Department of Education has NOT done that, and, even more, has attacked the teachers and penalized their efforts. A good coach does not ruin the morale of the team…they must instill confidence and faith. WE did just the opposite…WE destroyed the profession. Time will prove this out. We will start to see fewer people seeking to be educators. (This is already happening.) Imagine four years of college and ongoing classes to be a licensed teacher, just to take a starting job paying about $12.00 per hour. Couple that with other facts, such as; extreme scrutiny and ongoing evaluations, reduced benefits, longer school years, working more and more hours of your own time on lesson plans and grading papers, no pay increases (FACT THAT CAN BE DEMONSTRATED), no job security and getting thrown under the bus by legislators who want to solve the problem of education on the cheap, doing so through dirty party politics.

Does the Department of Education feel that this video will repair the damage done to the people you need most… the teachers? I can tell you the answer is that it probably will not. There is an old saying that “Talk is Cheap” and nothing proves that more than this type of propaganda.

I am sorry to say that after 57 years as a resident of the State of Indiana I have never been more embarrassed by the actions of those in charge. The path of destruction to the educational system in this State, to achieve some needed changes, has been horrific. Why did we have to throw out the baby with the bath water? Changes, if properly administered, could have achieved the same goals without all of the personal damage and destruction to the morale of the teachers and educators in this State! Use of the whip has been far more frequent than use of the carrot. I know for a fact that my sentiments are more aligned with the majority of the educators in this State and their morale is at rock bottom. I am glad to see that someone must have recognized this and through this video is attempting to communicate a positive message, but remember, “talk is cheap”!

Sincerely Submitted,

Paul R. Obermeyer

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You might also be interested in:

Another Parent letter to Indiana Select Commission on Education

The next Select Commission on Education meeting will be held Monday, May 21. Click HERE for the agenda and past minutes.

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Education Issues 2012 #4

Corporate Reform, Parent Trigger, Wisconsin, IREAD, Testing, Testing Errors, Charters, Lies About US Education.

(Click on the titles below to read the complete articles.)

Connecticut and Alabama deal blows to Michelle Rhee-style corporate education reform

There's good news for public education in Alabama and Connecticut, as the Michelle Rhee breed of privatizers and corporate reformers were thwarted in both states, at least partially and at least for now. In Alabama, "a radical, far-reaching charter bill that would have allowed wholesale privatization of public education in the state" was declared dead in the state House for the session just ending. And in Connecticut, legislators fought Gov. Dannel Malloy's initial, teacher-scapegoating plan and gave teachers unions a voice in arriving at a compromise.

Beware! ‘Parent trigger’ misinformation coming to a theater near you

With the September release of Won’t Back Down, Tinseltown is stepping in where corporate mouthpieces, for-profit education companies, ill-informed politicians and pseudo-education reformers have been coming up short, most recently in Florida.

Starring an Oscar winner and two Oscar nominees, the movie, hope corporate education reformers and privatizers, will lend legitimacy to a movement that has generated bitter feelings and turned schools and communities against one another.

In film, Walker talks of 'divide and conquer' union strategy

"Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill," Walker said. "The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer."

Senator agrees: Indiana education board overreached with reading retention rule

Sen. Luke Kenley has affirmed that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and the Indiana State Board of Education went beyond the bounds of state law when they adopted a rule that requires third-graders to pass a reading test or face grade-level retention.

Student video: How high-stakes tests affect kids

There is one voice rarely heard in the screaming debate about the role of high-stakes tests in education: that of students.

Though the big focus today in education is on evaluating teachers and whether student standardized test results should be a part of educator assessment (they shouldn’t), there is no group more affected by high stakes on these exams than the people who have to take them. Results from a single test can determine whether a student moves up a grade or graduates from high school.

Corrupt, Unethical, Inept: Boycott Pearson

Almost 30 different test questions have now been declared invalid because they're confusing or have outright errors. And now Pearson Publishing is scrambling to explain what went wrong and how it's going to fix things.

The Nation’s Largest Charter Chain

There are legitimate questions to be raised about public dollars funding schools that are tied to a cleric, as well as questions about a charter chain that has close ties with another nation.

Report: Some charters spend more than traditional schools

For example, KIPP, Achievement First and Uncommon Schools in New York City, spend between $2,000 to $4,300 more per student than public schools. High-profile charter network schools outspend district schools in Texas, too — for example, KIPP spends around 30 to 50 percent more in some cities — but not in Ohio. The highly regarded KIPP charter network, the report says, is the one that spends more than neighboring traditional districts, though the amount varies by grade and place.

The conclusion contradicts, at least in some cases, one of the common assertions made by charter supporters: That they deliver a better education to the same profile of children for less money than traditional public schools.

Telling Lies About US Education

....this description of U.S. Education is a pack of lies that smears our nation. I wonder if the people who created this website went to fancy prep schools and looked down their noses at those of us who went to public school. They seem so eager to put down American schools, which educated 90% of us, and by implication, put down the United States. it makes one wonder who they are. Too bad they didn’t take responsibility and put their names on their work so we would know who they are.

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