Jan Resseger's critique of the privatization of the G.E.D. makes excellent use of Professor Mike Rose's work

.@JanResseger's critique of the privatization of the G.E.D. makes excellent use of Professor @MikeRose7971's work. https://t.co/ZGlCJYIcaE

— RD Skeels LAUSD 2013 (@RDSkeels4LAUSD) July 10, 2015

The New GED: Making A Second Chance So Much Harder

Jan Resseger's critique of the privatization of the G.E.D. makes excellent use of Professor Mike Rose's work

Schools Matter: Ref Rodriguez's school scandals unreported by LA School Report?

First published on Schools Matter on May 17, 2015

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“Of course, the network of power and privilege that eases access to the Ivy League isn’t severed at matriculation—it supports the scions of the superrich throughout. Further emails from the Sony hack show the Lynton nepotism machine gearing up for his elder daughter, Eloise, an undergraduate at Harvard who found herself unable to get into a very popular class with Dr. Jerome Groopman, a New Yorker writer and professor of biology.” — Sam Biddle

Jamie Alter-Lynton's blog byline should read "what Deasy wants you to think is really going on in LAUSD"

Professor Diane Ravitch discussed a recent Daily News piece in her Los Angeles School Board Race: Attack Ads and Lies Aplenty. The Thomas Hines article in question rightly points out that all of Ref Rodriguez's and his California Charter Schools Association's attacks on the Honorable Bennett Kayser have been patently false, but the issues brought up about Rodriguez—like the PUC Lakeview Charter Academy Audit—are true. Of course, not every Los Angeles media outlet has covered the myriad scandals surrounding the billionaire's candidate. I addressed this issue in the following commentary.

I keep wondering when Jamie Alter-Lynton, sibling of the dubious Jonathan Alter, will have her “news” blog — LA School Report — cover either the Lakeview Audit, or the Jacqueline Duvivier Castillo (Better 4 You Meals) self-dealing scandal, or both? Alter-Lynton’s site claims that it practices “journalism in the public interest”, yet somehow misses two of the biggest Los Angeles education scandals of the year, both centering around their candidate: charter industry profiteer Ref Rodriguez.

This quote says it all: “audits… indicated charter officials [i.e. Ref Rodriguez] knew of the alleged conflict of interest” http://4lakidsnews.blogspot.com/2015/05/lausd-charter-group-gave-food-contract.html

The well heeled Rodriguez was PUC Corporation’s CEO, and then their Board Treasurer during both the Lakeview financial malfeasance and Duvivier Castillo incidents. He claims to have known absolutely nothing about either situation, the former occurring for over a decade, the latter for several years now. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, that means Rodriguez is either grossly incompetent, or criminally complicit (there are some that would posit he manages to be both). Neither of those are desirable qualities for a trustee of the nation’s second largest school district.

Maybe the LA School Report can run this piece on education and privilege?

Schools Matter: Ref Rodriguez's school scandals unreported by LA School Report?

Maybe the LA School Report can run this piece on education and privilege?

Maybe the Deasy School Report can run this piece on education and privilege? h/t @K12NN http://t.co/mkzqBEdi2a @LASchoolReport #LAUSD

— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) April 23, 2015

How the Rich Get Into Ivies: Behind the Scenes of Elite Admissions

Jamie Alter-Lynton's blog byline should read "what Deasy wants you to think is really going on in LAUSD"

There's some other investigative reporting that "journalists" Michael Janofsky, Vanessa-Romo, and Craig Clough might want to look into.

Maybe the LA School Report can run this piece on education and privilege?

Schools Matter: Husband of John Deasy confidant, Jamie Alter Lynton, cashed in big on Pearson PLC's LAUSD iPad Deal

First published April 19, 2015 on Schools Matter

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From: "Robert D. Skeels" <***@ucla.edu>
Subject: RepairsNOTiPad's alert: Husband of Deasy confidant, Jamie Alter Lynton, cashed in big on Pearson PLC
Date: April 19, 2015 at 06:43:29 AM PDT
To: [REDACTED]
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Apple-Mail=_625E9864-12A5-4A2B-B53F-3F0A02FCDFF1"
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Colleagues:

I was alerted to the WikiLeaks of Sony emails early yesterday. I had a seven hour mock of the State Bar of California FYLSX exam yesterday, and have a lot of studying to do today, so I don't have much time. That said, the leaks are devastating in that they prove unequivocally that the billionaires, ideologues, charter executives, and their school board candidates all work together for their common cause of eliminating public education (and profiting thereof).

We're frequently told that we dabble in guilt by association, but then you see items like this leaked:

https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/117253

and it confirms that we have been correct all along in our assertion that this is a well coordinated project by the ruling class (or 1% if you prefer), and their hangers on.

This email is of great import: https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/133248

establishing Jamie Alter Lynton's husband Michael Lynton, Sony CEO, cashed in big on the major corporate player in the disgraced John Deasy's iPad scandal, Pearson PLC.

I am putting out both a call for help, and an assertion that we all need to writing about this. Both charter profiteer Ref Rodriguez, and longtime neoliberal corporate education reformer Tamar Galatzan have insurmountable funding advantages in this upcoming election, and it is the individuals discussed in this email that are bankrolling them. Here's what I need help with, and following that, is a few items that will help others with research and writing their own articles.

NEED

• Someone to go through all of Rodriguez and Galatzan's current 460 Forms looking for contributions by Jamie Alter Lynton and Michael Lynton.
• Doing the same for the various Independent Expenditures for this election.
• A time table of Deasy's iPad fiasco, including the attacks on Stuart Magruder, and when Annie Gilbertson wrote her brilliant articles about Deasy's inappropriate relations with Pearson and Apple executives.
• If the Lyntons are trying to sell off $38,099.31 of Pearson PLC  shares in March 2014, is that tantamount to insider trading, given their relationship with Deasy?
• Someone to go through all of Rodriguez and Galatzan's current 460 Forms looking for contributions by anyone on this list https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/117253.
• Figures of how much LAUSD bond money was squandered in the Pearson deal.
• Statement from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Repairs-Not-IPads/228827333958584 Repairs not iPads representatives on their thoughts on these latest developments.

PROVIDING

Here's some helpful information for other people's articles and research.

Jamie Alter Lynton has supported the Coalition for School Reform (CSR) and its candidates—including Galatzan—in the past with obscene sums like $100,000.

• http://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/03/03/why-are-walmart-billionaires-bankrolling-phony-school-reform-la
• http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/14/local/la-me-adv-lausd-money-20130415/2

CSR was an anti-public education SuperPAC started in conjunction with right-wing extremists Philip Anschutz, Jerry Perenchio, Eli Broad, and Frank Baxter. These plutocrats are now funding California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and its associated SuperPAC directly. For more on CSR.

• http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/undertheinfluence/education/the-reformers-with-deep-pockets.html

Here's some background on Jamie Alter Lynton from K-12 News Network's The Wire August 11, 2014:

The second issue is that the link in Johnson’s tweet is to the notorious Deasy School Report*, an anti-public education blog created by Jamie Alter-Lynton, a wealthy reactionary who sits as a board member on Superintendent John Deasy’s LA Fund slush 501c3. Alter-Lynton, sibling of corrupt charter cheerleader Jonathan Alter, practices Breitbart style “journalism” — feeling that outlets like the LA Times and LA Daily News weren’t planted in the the neoliberal corporate reform camp firmly enough. Her Ayn Rand leaning views on the public sector are second to her almost maniacal hatred of working class schoolteachers. One can really gauge Alter-Lynton by her letting go of both Alexander Russo and Hillel Aron. Neither of those writers would ever be accused of supporting public schools or saying anything positive about teachers, but they weren’t willing to pursue the white whale with Alter-Lynton’s Ahab-like vengeance.

The distinguished Dr. George McKenna owes nothing to Alex Johnson, the Deasy School Report, or Jamie Alter-Lynton. He is right not to respond to her constant badgering and attention seeking. The best thing we could all do is allow Alter-Lynton’s me-too-reformer blog die a deserved death of obscurity by not visiting or linking to it.

* Properly “LA School Report,” but most activists don’t call it by that very misleading name.

Schools Matter: Husband of John Deasy confidant, Jamie Alter Lynton, cashed in big on Pearson PLC's LAUSD iPad Deal

More research further discrediting Corporate [Common] Core State Standards (CCSS)

http://ucresearch.tumblr.com/post/112788248272/whats-the-best-way-to-teach-math-to-struggling

More research further discrediting Corporate [Common] Core State Standards (CCSS)

Join NPE’s letter writing campaign to Sen. Alexander and the HELP Committee

Friends,

I  wrote a letter for the Action Network letter campaign "Urge Senator Lamar Alexander and the members of  Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to put an end to annual standardized testing".

Network for Public Education (NPE) is calling on Congress to support the adoption of Option 1 in Senator Lamar Alexander’s “Every Child Ready for College or Career Act of 2015”, which has been slated for discussion in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on January 21, 2015. NPE supports the proposal to allow states to adopt their own State-designed academic assessment system. More specifically, we are calling for the end of the federal mandate for annual testing. We believe that every child in the United States deserves a sound education. Every child deserves a full curriculum in a school with adequate resources. We are deeply concerned that the current overemphasis on standardized testing is harming children, public schools, and our nation’s economic and civic future. It’s our conclusion that the over-emphasis, misapplication, costs, and poor implementation of high-stakes standardized tests now warrants federal intervention. NPE believes a return to grade span testing (once in elementary, middle and high school) is an important first step toward restoring standardized testing to its appropriate use in education, while still giving policy makers and elected officials a valid snapshot of what is happening in schools.  If you agree, now is the time to act! A few minutes of your time today could bring about the end of standardized testing as we know it.

Can you join me and write a letter? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/485051f3bf076fafe126447ee4c553073ef2cfe8?source=email&referrer=darcie-cimarusti

Thanks!

Join NPE’s letter writing campaign to Sen. Alexander and the HELP Committee

High-stakes standardized tests and CCSS, they're a great way to measure… profits

High-stakes standardized tests & #CCSS, they're a great way to measure… profits. #LAUSD #edreform @skrashen @susanoha pic.twitter.com/Gn4LXB9KHi
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 4, 2014

High-stakes standardized tests and CCSS, they're a great way to measure… profits

SKrashen: The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, a Disaster for American Education

SKrashen: The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, a Disaster for American Education: Stephen Krashen Knowledge Quest 42(3): 37-45 (2014). There never has been a need for the common core and there is no evidence ...

SKrashen: The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, a Disaster for American Education

Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!

Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!

Thursday, March 21, 2013, 4:00—6:00 PM
LAUSD Headquarters
333 S. Beaudry Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD! by Robert D. Skeels

Our students are sick of mindless worksheets, decontextualized readings, and multiple-choice tests. They deserve access to a robust and meaningful curriculum that challenges them to think outside of the box, not just fill in bubbles!   John Deasy's unilateral directive to use student test scores for 30% of a teacher's evaluation will further intensify the destructive testing culture in our schools. Come out to rally for the schools L.A. students deserve!  

This fun action will include music performances, theater, and a Scantron art contest as well as student, parent, and teacher speakers. Bring signs that show how the testing mania is affecting YOUR school!

Sponsored by Progressive Educators for ACtion (PEAC). For more information, contact Jess at 213-572-8499 or j.kochick@gmail.com, or check out www.progressiveeducatorsforaction.com!

Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!

Schools Matter: Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS

"Prior research, then, strongly suggests that charter programs have not lived up to their initial promise of transcending the segregating effects of traditional district boundary lines. In fact, these studies indicate charters exacerbate already rampant school segregation, particularly for Black students." — Erica Frankenberg, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Jia Wang

The Smith and Carlos Statue
at San José State University

I was reading Dave Zirin's latest piece, Fists of Freedom: An Olympic Story Not Taught in School, this morning and several things stood out and had me thinking in terms of how Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and its related high-stakes testing regimes not only distort curriculum, but how they are intended to distort students' consciousness of their reality.

See my Schools Matter post, Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS, for the rest of this essay.

Published 2012-07-25 on Schools Matter, please read it there and share widely.

Schools Matter: Obscuring history and human agency through NCLB, RTTT and CCSS