On Wednesday, September 28, 2011, Karoli and Donna Schwartz Mills joined me for a lively Blog Talk Radio podcast with four women running for school board in Bill Gates’ backyard up in Seattle. Sharon Peaslee, Michelle Buetow, Kate Martin and Marty McLaren have a vision for education in their district, and we’ll hear why it doesn’t completely mesh with that of the Gates and the Broad Foundations’ plans for education reform in America. What’s the difference between what these candidates have to offer and “ed reform” (or as some say, “ed Rheeform”)?
Archives for September 2011
Dear Governor Brown, Please Sign AB250 For High Quality Education Into Law!
This is the high quality K-12 curriculum reform we’ve been waiting for that emphasizes creativity, collaboration, innovation, and critical thinking for 21st century learning. It’s what we need to keep California a leader in the worlds of art, science, technology and culture. Please join over 18 parent, educator, and community grassroots groups to urge Governor Brown to sign AB250 into law!
Fund Education Now's Parent Activist, Kathleen Oropeza, on an Orlando Sentinel Education Panel
An important panel on public education with representatives who are politicians, parents, teachers, and others. See what Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder of the grassroots education advocacy group Fund Education Now, has to say.
California School Funding 101: How the State Funds Your School
CA State School Funding: What’s Ahead for 2011-2012? Map of the Fullerton College campus that shows parking, building info. Park for free on the first floor of the Student Parking Garage at Lemon & Fullerton College Drive, or in Staff Lot 8 spaces. Online Ticketing for SAVE THE DATE! California School Funding 101: How the […]
Del Monte Cash for Teachers $25 Coupon Fruit & Veg Giveaway
K12NN is participating in Del Monte’s free giveaway of fresh fruit! Thanks to Del Monte, I’ll be giving away 3 sets of $25 gift certificates to parents and teachers all through September and into October as well. The 50th commenter to this post will get a $25 in gift certificates to purchase Del Monte whole […]
GOP, Tea Party Influence Permeates Local Charter School
A Southern California charter school skirts legality in a number of ways: openly partisan electioneering on school grounds/with school mascots? Cozy cronyism between charter management organization heads and politicians who could influence the school’s real estate dealings? Stealth religious instruction? Keep in mind, it’s taxpayer money that funds the school.
Poverty for American Families on the Rise — Personal Voices
46 million Americans live in poverty as jobs continue to be scarce and Americans lose their homes. Look at the faces of kids — some of them homeless — and listen to what they say about growing up hungry. Are these kids well-prepared for the tests and watered-down curriculum they get at school? An excellent education is also a form of nourishment that we cannot deny to our nation’s children.
(Via KSDC) Cognition-Based Principles of Learning
Bob Valiant, Ed. D., explains why he’s against the “drill-and-test” curriculum that seems to prevail in today’s version of “ed reform” — it takes no account of recent research in brain science and how children learn, among other reasons.
Finland's Excellent Public Schools: A Smithsonian's-Eye View and A Former Citizen's Perspective
The Smithsonian Magazine featured Finnish schools in its September, 2011, magazine as written by an observant journalist visiting that country. K12NN highlights for you a prominent women’s lifestyle blogger’s perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of the Finnish education system as experienced throughout her childhood, and her own children’s experiences in American schools.
Taylor Mali: You Made A Difference
Tell a teacher what a wonderful difference they made in your life. Upload a video to teacher-poet Taylor Mali’s YouTube channel and see all the other ones that have been posted.