United For Public Schools

We are organized educators, students, families and community members dreaming, working & fighting for people-powered education reform. Join us!

[unitedforschools]

Fed Up With Fund-Raising for My Kids'€™ School

By the standards of other schools in District 6, where more than 80 percent of public school students are “free-lunch eligible,” we are rich, and our community, where children of postal carriers learn alongside those of professors, is richly diverse. If our school is suffering, others are surely suffering more. Yet should any public school have to beg on the street for support to teach kids to read, to expose them to art, science and a second language or to help teachers teach more effectively?

[unitedforschools]

The attack on seniority is a canard: Most teachers are in positions that they applied for and were chosen by principals through a process called site selection, which exists at every school. It also should not be forgotten that there are 15,000 dedicated teachers who have shown their commitment to students every day. We pay for supplies as basic as copy paper, notebooks, and pens, and work daily to provide a world-class education.

Philadelphia teacher, parent and taxpayer Liz Taylor rebuts the outside players helping Governor Corbett advance his anti-public school political agenda.

[unitedforschools]

Say you’re a teacher with a diverse and exciting group of students who have found learning together an exciting prospect. You have had ups and downs, but each day has ended with more students feeling positive about their ability to learn, and each day investing more in the process. Then, a couple of weeks into the school year, you have to make the first stop in this process. The first Pearson-created standardized test has landed on your desk. Teaching/learning has to stop. You hide your face from your students as you grit your teeth. You tell them, as always, not to worry. You tell them no one expects them to get all of the answers right, but you do expect them to do their very best. You know they will, as they will want to show everyone how smart they are, just as they’ve shown you in so many ways. But inside you cringe . . . You stand in front of the class and read a sentence to the children. You are allowed to repeat the sentence only once. Then the students select one of four pictures that they think most reflects what the sentence says. The children look determined; they are ready; you begin. The first question seems harmless enough. The students look okay. Then you get to the second question. Of 106 questions.

Read on to learn about this diverse Pittsburgh class' experience with a long, culturally-biased standardized test. 

[unitedforschools]

Eighteen Philly-area charters have been under federal investigation in the last few years, says Philadelphia CityPaper columnist Dan Denvir.

So why did so-called "philanthropists" meet behind closed doors to advocate for bringing more charters to Philadelphia? Especially when charters are a disproportionate drain on the district's already-strained budget?

[unitedforschools]

With a deficit exceeding 100 million dollars, the Philadelphia School District is crumbling. 23 of Philadelphia's public schools closed in 2013 and over 3,000 employees were laid off. The remaining schools have increased student populations and fewer teachers to teach them. Roxborough High School has said goodbye to several of its beloved teachers and all three of its much-needed fulltime guidance counselors. Despite dwindling resources, overwhelmed faculty and sometimes frustrated students, our Web Design and Cinematography students wanted to produce a video that lets the world hear our students ROAR for their right to a solid education.

"You're gonna hear me roar!" Students at Philly's Roxborough High School created this video to show how they're fighting to overcome the difficulties imposed on them by severe budget cuts. Keep striving, Roxborough High!

[unitedforschools]

From the Media Mobilizing Project:

Public education is under attack. Will we learn to live with a two-tier education system where money comes first, or will we come together to guarantee a quality education for every child and young person?

Our Schools Are Not For Sale is the story of Philadelphia's teachers, parents, students, and communities who are fighting for public schools that are well-resourced, high-quality and available to all. Watch how local communities are responding to a year of unprecedented attacks, including the closing of 24 schools, layoffs of hundreds of teachers and counselors, and the elimination of school libraries, art, music, and sports programs.

This video is a message to everyone who cares about the future of public schools. Now more than ever, we need to reach out and begin conversations with neighbors, friends, coworkers, and students about how each of us can contribute to the fight for public schools. Contact Media Mobilizing Project to host a community screening today!

[unitedforschools]

What's that frown about?

The six ways the GOP shutdown will hurt kids, including the impact on children already living in poverty.

See the rest here on BuzzFeed: Six Ways the Republican Forced Shutdown Will Hurt Kids

[unitedforschools]

It is clear to me that even with everyone working at peak capacity, there just aren’t enough people in the building to ensure the safety of our students and staff. The district is negligently underfunding and understaffing our schools which is sure to cause harm. There is no way that the present staffing can keep up this frantic pace.

Philadelphia mother Robin Roberts, on what she witnessed during her week of volunteering in schools hard hit by budget cuts.

[unitedforschools]

Post-Katrina, the Great New Orleans Charter Tryout

Are New Orleans’s schools a model for the nation—or a cautionary tale?

It is tempting to look at Lawrence as an exception. But his case points to problems not only with the quality of individual schools in New Orleans, but also with government oversight and the incentive structure of charter schools. “State monitoring has virtually stopped,” says Margaret Lang, who retired last year as director of intervention services at the RSD. “The kids who get churned the most are those with the most disabilities and challenges.”

For investigation beyond the hype about schools in post-Katrina New Orleans, be sure to read this Newsweek article.

[unitedforschools]

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor visited West Philly to speak at Freire Charter School, which he cited as as an example of the benefits of charters schools to public school communities. Many saw the irony in a school-choice speech being delivered in a school district in a financial crisis that some blame partly on the proliferation of charters, which in Philly cost the district an estimated $7,000 per student.

Click through for more.

[unitedforschools]

If you love public schools and haven't watched this video yet, you're doing Tuesday wrong.

Thank you, Dudley aka Origin for this powerful song and video about what's really happening in ed policy!

[unitedforschools]

Pennsylvania’s public school children are paying a heavy price for the failure of Governor Corbett and our state legislature to perform the ONLY service mandated by the Pennsylvania Constitution, which clearly states, “The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.” In other words, every child, in every community across Pennsylvania, must receive a decent education – one that prepares them to be informed citizens, meet state standards, and graduate from high school ready for college or the workforce and self-sufficiency. Pennsylvania’s current system for funding public education is neither thorough nor efficient. Even more troubling, it is most certainly not fair and it is very likely illegal.

Click here to read why these Pennsylvania public education advocates are in Harrisburg to demand that public schools become priority one this legislative session!

[unitedforschools]

Wait, what?

Philadelphia's state-controlled school board is helping Governor Corbett and Mayor Nutter attack teachers, while ignoring charter mismanagement and bad Wall Street deals that have deprived the district of over $100 million?!

Call the number and/or visit FundPhillySchools.org to help fix this mess.

[unitedforschools]

Why is it then that hundreds of eighth graders across Long Island scored one’s and two’s on the eighth grade math test, yet when taking the Algebra Regents [exam] two months later, scored above 80, meeting the state’s college ready standard! It just doesn’t make sense. How can we tell an eighth grader they are not ready for ninth grade, but they are ready for college? The bar for proficiency has been set artificially high.

New York parent Jeanette Deutermann, writing of the many heartbreaking, mind-boggling things she has witnessed thanks to high-stakes testing.

[unitedforschools]

Calling all teachers and students: Here's your Midweek Motivation, courtesy of Kid President. Get your learn on, everybody!

[unitedforschools]

I feel that there are two types of people, those who change course when there is an issue so they can improve upon it, and those who steer the course even when they are wrong. We have too many policy makers and state education leaders who continue on the harmful course.

New York principal Peter DeWitt, in his review of Diane Ravitch's latest book.

[explore-blog]

As a mathematician, I can attest that my field is really about ideas above anything else. Ideas that inform our existence, that permeate our universe and beyond, that can surprise and enthrall. Perhaps the most intriguing of these is the way infinity is harnessed to deal with the finite, in everything from fractals to calculus… . Despite what most people suppose, many profound mathematical ideas don’t require advanced skills to appreciate… .Think of it this way: you can appreciate art without acquiring the ability to paint, or enjoy a symphony without being able to read music. Math also deserves to be enjoyed for its own sake, without being constantly subjected to the question, “When will I use this?”

How to fall in love with math, which has given us such elegant wonders as infinity, fractals, and the Big Bang.

Complement with Paul Lockhart’s manifesto for the whimsy of math and autistic savant Daniel Tammet on the poetry of numbers.

(via explore-blog)

Not everyone learns how to love math like this.

(via mathematiquesnoir)

What would society be like if everyone appreciated and felt confident about their skills in math? How can we all help schools foster a love of all learning, including mathematics?