Tag Archives: Teachers

Goodbye Teachers, Hello Computers?

Teachers have known for a while that their jobs were in jeopardy. There has been a push to get teachers to become facilitators in the classroom versus instructors in education. You can see it in the Nellie Mae publications and grant applications focused on “student centered learning.” You can see it being pushed by the education establishment and ed tech companies that will profit off of their tech products.

The corporate backers like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and former Governor Jeb Bush, have all backed redesigning public ed into the dumbed-down workforce model. Just look at who Trump nominated for U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

Betsy DeVos served on the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a group led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. We’ve gone from Corporate education reform under Obama to Corporate education reform under Trump.

The Philanthropy Roundtable that Betsy DeVos chaired put out a report strongly in favor of massive data mining of students.

The Philanthropy Roundtable, which DeVos chaired, published a report called Blended Learning: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Supporting Tech-assisted Teaching that lauds the Dream Box software that “records 50,000 data points per student per hour”(p.33 of pdf) and does not contain a single use of the words “privacy,” “transparency” [as in who receives that data and how it is used to make life-changing decision for children], or “consent.”

Will DeVos continue to promote the corporate data-mining efforts of enterprises such as Dream Box and Knewton, whose CEO bragged about collecting “5-10 million data points per user per day,” described in your organization’s report?

In addition, this means less teachers in working in the school district. That may save on personnel costs but does this improve academic outcomes?
(p.37 of pdf)
The Learning Lab model allowed Rocketship to operate with roughly six fewer teachers per school, meaning that “we save 25 percent of salary costs,” says Danner. “When you have that, you can grow without raising additional capital.” Even after paying its smaller number of teachers better than other schools, Rocketship is able to educate a child for about 15 percent less than California’s annual per-pupil allotment, and it plows that margin of funds into, among other things, teacher training and opening new schools. Hence, the model should be able to expand like successful businesses do, without constantly needing new nancial angels or capital infusions.

The PUSH for computerized learning versus teachers instructing children, is part of the agenda within the Corporate reform model. This is a great way for the tech industry to make profits, but where is the data that it benefits students?

It’s up to school boards and parents to make sure that if computers are replacing teachers it’s not a shift in costs from a qualified teacher to a tech industry focused on profits with no real benefits to children.
Remember to ask for PROOF that the computer based instruction is better for your children in terms of screen time and academic progress. If there is a reduction in instruction from teachers, should there be a reduction in salaries and benefits to the teaching staff?

If you are parent with children in the public school system and concerned about the data-mining, look for ways to use materials that are not connected to technology devices. In other words, ask for a book for your child to read instead. Having the tech industry in a position to collect all kinds of data points on your children means that once this information is out there, it most likely can never be removed. Where will it end up? Who will control the information stored on your child?

For more information check out: What’s Better in the Classroom – Teacher or Machine?

CALL TO ACTION: E-mail State Representative Judith Spang

CALL TO ACTION:
Please E-MAIL Rep. Judith Spang the following article
Her e-mail address is: judith@kestrelnet.net

Rep. Spang (D-Durham) continues to deny that standardized test scores will be used to evaluate teachers. As you can see from this article, there is plenty of information from the NH Dept. of Ed to suggest, that’s exactly how they will be used.

http://schoolchoicenh.org/2015/09/24/responding-to-critics/

We also suggest looking at the Manchester Innovation Zone Implementation Plan: http://www.mansd.org/reports
Click on the link and scroll down to #17 where it says
17.2 Twenty Percent of teacher evaluations will be based on student growth results

LOOK OUT NH TEACHERS: you have a target on your back!

Who’s Targeting The Teachers In The Common Core Scheme?

We’ve offered numerous articles and info on how corrupt the new Common Core assessments (Smarter Balanced Assessment) are and why parents should “REFUSE” to allow their children to take it.

The Common Core assessments are not achievement tests and parents would be wise to have their children tested outside the public schools using an actual achievement test. Some suggestions: Iowa Basic Skills Test, Stanford Achievement Test, or the California Achievement Test. Make sure they are NOT Common Core aligned.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment is a psychometric assessment that will assess a child’s values, attitudes, beliefs, etc. The questions are phrased in a way that gives the test makers feedback, not on actual academic achievement, but more on a student’s attitude towards a particular subject.

Not only should parents be concerned about this corrupted assessment, but teachers should be equally concerned. Tying a teacher’s evaluation to these corrupted assessments is part of the federal reform. Some states have lost their No Child Left Behind Waiver if they refused to target their teachers with this kind of evaluation.

The L.A. Times reported “Students Matter” filed a lawsuit against 13 school districts in an attempt to tie a teacher’s evaluation to the standardized test.

So who is going after the teachers? STUDENTS MATTER. Who sits on the Advisory Board for “Students Matter”?

Students Matter Advisory Board
Russlynn Ali

Russlynn Ali was appointed assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education by President Barack Obama. As assistant secretary, Ali is U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan’s primary adviser on civil rights and is responsible for enforcing U.S. civil rights laws as they pertain to education—ensuring the nation’s schools, colleges and universities receiving federal funding do not engage in discriminatory conduct. Prior to joining the department, Ali served as vice president of the Education Trust in Washington, D.C., and as the founding executive director of the Education Trust—West in Oakland, Calif., since 2001. Where she advocated for public school students in California focusing on achievement and opportunity gaps separating low-income African-American and Latino students from their peers; worked with school districts to improve curriculum and instructional quality at high-poverty and high-minority public schools; and designed, field-tested and implemented comprehensive audit tools that examined inequities in schools and districts.
Previously, Ali was a teacher, served as the liaison for the president of the Children’s Defense Fund, as assistant director of policy and research at the Broad Foundation, and as chief of staff to the president of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education. She has also taught at the University of Southern California Law Center and the University of California at Davis.
In the legal field, Ali was an attorney at Bird, Marella, Boxer and Wolpert, deputy co-director and counsel at the Advancement Project at English, Munger & Rice, and an attorney at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, all in Los Angeles. Ali is a member of the California State Bar. Ali received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree in law and society from the American University.

Common Core is not just about inferior academic standards, data collection on children and faulty assessments, one of the key components is to target teachers.

When the Federal reforms prove to be faulty, isn’t it interesting that the same federal bureaucratic system that brings us problems in education, continue to be the ones who want to fix it? And yet these same bureaucrats are never held accountable for the problems they inflict upon our schools and children.

Hillary: Off To A Rough Start By Losing Teachers

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 7.11.41 PM

We are not surprised that Hillary is going to be in trouble with teachers throughout America. In fact, we expect to see more posts like the one above.

In this blog post you can see the contempt for Hillary is just starting to build, “Not a surprise – Big Money supports Common Core, so of course Hillary Clinton does too.”

It’s important to also note that in that post they go on to say, “If Jeb Bush becomes the GOP nominee and Clinton is the Democratic nominee, both major party candidates will be Common Core supporters.

This just emphasizes the importance of Republicans to choose a candidate that’s a little different from Hillary.

NH’s Teachers Union Throwing Teachers & Parents Under the BUS

The MEA (Manchester Teacher’s Union) has sent down and edict to all of its members to fight parents on the refusal of the Smarter Balance test. This is not a reflection on ALL teachers. As we know some Manchester teachers have come forward to fight on behalf of our kids. Across the nation several have refused to administer the Smarter Balance test to their students at the risk of their own livelihoods. However, it seems that the MEA only comes out when money is on the line as it pertains to teacher salaries. Education is supposed to be about the children. We have a lot of work to do in order to win this battle and fix this broken system. We begin with sending a loud message regarding the Smarter Balance test on February 9th at City Hall at 7:00pm. Please join us.

Support For Common Core PLUMMETING Among Teachers

“The national polling data reveals more bad news for the Common Core because 60 to 65 percent of America’s teachers are either ‘frustrated’ or ‘worried’ by it, only 20 percent of teachers are ‘enthusiastic’, and 44 percent of teachers now view Common Core ‘negatively’, Jamie Gass director of the Center for School Reform at the Boston-based think tank, Pioneer Institute said to FoxNews.com.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/04/poll-shows-teachers-parents-give-common-core-low-marks/

TEACHERS are SPEAKING, Governor Hassan Continues to Ignore Them

LISTEN TO THESE TEACHERS. They are counting on PARENTS to fight this reform effort. Many face a HARSH reaction from administrators if they go public.

This is a video from NY teachers. You need to know that NY is ONE year ahead of NH on administering the Smarter Balanced Assessment.

NY teachers & administrators once supported Common Core, UNTIL the testing began. Now they have called for the resignation of the State Education Commissioner and are actively campaigning against Governor Cuomo.

This new assessment (Smarter Balanced Assessment) will be given to NH students in the Spring of 2015.
Listen to what the NY teachers are saying about the SAME tests we will be giving in NH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ua5XxOmiSM

 

 

Governor Hassan: BAD for TEACHERS and Governor Jindal Proves It

We all know that teachers who oppose Common Core are SILENCED.  We also know that Governor Hassan has ignored the serious problems with the Common Core Standards.

Governor Jindal just showed all of us how BAD Governor Hassan is for teachers in NH:
Thank you, Governor Jindal, for protecting teachers and allowing them to use their voices to speak out on behalf of our children.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH PROTECTIONS FOR LOUISIANA TEACHERS
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution and the Louisiana Constitution guarantee to every individual the freedom of speech and protection from government abridgment of that right;
WHEREAS, this same freedom and protection under the law extends to every teacher in every classroom across the state of Louisiana;
WHEREAS, teachers are the backbone of Louisiana’s educational system and offer a necessary voice in the ongoing discussions regarding classroom curriculum and testing procedures and must be afforded the opportunity to offer this crucial perspective; ….

http://eagnews.org/bobby-jindal-issues-executive-order-protecting-anti-common-core-teachers/

The Final Straw: Cancel Our Labor Contracts, We Cancel Your Tests

OPT OUT OF THE STATE TEST: The National Movement posts:

When the State Recovery Board cancelled Philadelphia’s teachers contract, it may have removed the last hurdle to a national opt out movement of standardized testing.

Up to now, teachers have only sporadically refused to administer these fill-in-the-bubble falsely objective, poorly written and cheaply graded tests. The reason: fear of losing employment.

However, now that is not an impediment. When teachers in the 8th largest public school district in the country are forced to accept take-it-or-leave-it terms, there is no longer safety in following the rules.

The Philadelphia decision shows that poor districts can be taken over just because they’re poor and somehow that justifies sweatshop conditions for the teachers and their students.

The main justification the data crunchers use to make this determination is students’ standardized test scores. Not being educators, themselves, they have no other tool to judge success or failure. They blithely ignore the fact that rich kids score higher and poor kids score lower.

Therefore, teachers would best serve their interests and the interests of their students by refusing to provide this data. Moreover, the country’s two largest teachers unions - NEA and AFT – have promised to defend teachers opting out of testing.

A wholesale movement of this kind beginning in poorer schools and spreading to the more affluent ones would force the corporate education reform machine to a halt. It would offer an opportunity for real reform – an attack on the roots of the problem: inequitable funding and abject student poverty.

The last straw has fallen. The revolution is about to begin.

Read more here.

 

Rep. Annie Kuster’s support for attacking NH teachers: EXPOSED

Cross posting from:  Stop Common Core in NH

We couldn’t help but notice the recent commercial by Rep. Annie Kuster who is attacking her opponent Marilinda Garcia. Kuster criticizes Garcia for opposing the U.S. Department of Education. 

The US DOE has a budget of $69 BILLION dollars. Money that could be spent on teacher salaries and in local classrooms. This is money WASTED as we can clearly see by their Common Core agenda that is being forced upon our local schools.

YES, it’s worth considering abolishing the US DOE. WHY? We have a STATE Dept of Education AND a local School Board. Why do we need ANOTHER layer of bureaucracy that siphons money from our local schools?

If you live in Kuster’s district, let her know that we do NOT appreciate the U.S. Dept. of Education waging war on our children. We do NOT appreciate their direct attack on our local teachers. They have TOO much power and we agree with Garcia, shut them DOWN.

Let’s take OUR hard earned money and stop giving it to a Dept. that uses it to bribe us and attack our teachers.