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Greetings!
Welcome to the April 20th edition of the HML POST
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Suggested editorials and related research are always welcomed.
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by Paul Buchheit on the AlterNet site
 America's wealth grew by 60 percent in the past six years, by over $30 trillion. In approximately the same time, the number of homeless children has also grown by 60 percent. Financier and CEO Peter Schiff said, "People don't go hungry in a capitalist economy." The 16 million kids on food stamps know what it's like to go hungry. Perhaps, some in Congress would say, those children should be working. "There is no such thing as a free lunch," insisted Georgia Representative Jack Kingston, even for schoolkids, who should be required to "sweep the floor of the cafeteria" (as they actually do at a charter school in Texas).
The callousness of U.S. political and business leaders is disturbing, shocking. Hunger is just one of the problems of our children. Teacher Sonya Romero-Smith told about the two little homeless girls she adopted: "Getting rid of bedbugs, that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food.."
Common Core consequences: "What currently passes for reform' has caused considerable collateral damage to schools and teachers" by Jeff Bryant on the AlterNet site
 Politicians from across the political spectrum have made public schools and schoolteachers the favored whipping post of the day.
In blue state New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to "bust up" public education "monopolies" and has bullied through new laws that unfairly evaluate teachers based on wildly unreliable measures. These actions recently drove thousands of New Yorkers into the streets to protest the new mandates.
In red state Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback has made massive budget cuts to that state's public schools, spurring parents and school children to openly protest his plan. Another conservative leader, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, has taken a meat cleaver to higher education budgets, igniting a strong backlash from voters.
In virtually every state, there's a massive resistance to standardized testing that now dominates education practices. And rollouts of new Common Core standards continue to spark strong anger from teachers and parents of all political persuasions.
by Diane Ravitch on the Ravitch blog
This is a one-hour video of a great panel discussion at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The panelists are Wendy Lecker, Yohuru Willians, Jonathan Pelto, and Tom Scarice.
Schooling for Tomorrow's Americareviewed by Douglas Baker on the Teachers College Record site
 The authors represent educational scholars ignored by media pundits and state and federal legislators-at least those of the standards and accountability reform movement-whose policies and practices belie much of what these leaders recommend. And though the authors don't always share the same definitions of key terms (e.g., democracy and diversity), the variety of perspectives, histories, and recommendations allows readers to infer definitions and visions grounded in research. The book implicitly raises a litany of questions: What counts as research that supports the claims and recommendations, under what conditions and for what purposes? And how can we lead others to recognize the value of research in order to provide vision and recommend action? Answering these questions depends on educators becoming more reflexive and transparent.
 It is hard, at first, to find anything wrong with the idea that some public schools should have the freedom to be a little different. This was the original pitch for charter schools, as think-tank scholars Richard Kahlenberg and Halley Potter recount in their recent book A Smarter Charter.
"Schools were meant to be laboratories for experimentation from which the traditional public schools could learn," Kahlenberg told the Post's Valerie Strauss last week.
President Obama has lavished praise on charters for this same reason, calling them "incubators of innovation in neighborhoods across our country." His administration has provided more in charter school grants than any other.
Record-Shattering Numbers Of Long Island Students Opting Out Of Common Core Testing
by Jaime Franchi on the Long Island Press site
 With day one of three controversial Common Core ELA (English Language Arts) examinations for grades three through eight completed in New York State, the total score of students refusing to take the tests continues to rise exponentially.
As of press time, her preliminary unofficial count from more than half the 124 school districts on Long Island had already tallied more than 71,000 students opting out-more than last year's total figure for the entire state and double the 30,000 students from across Long Island who refused the tests last year-according to a Google Drive spreadsheet on Long Island Opt Out's Facebook page.
Public Schools Are a Public Good
 The rapid growth of market-driven charter schools erodes a cornerstone of American democracy. Many involved in K-12 education seem to be growing weary of the charter school versus public school debate. Mark Gleason, head of a private advocacy organization in Philadelphia that has invested more than $20 million in charter schools, publicly declared: "I just would like to encourage all of us to get beyond this district versus charter concept."And Michelle Rhee, founder of the pro-charter advocacy organization StudentsFirst, while sparring on Twitter with Julian Vasquez Heilig, voiced the opinion, "the arguments btwn charter and traditional are tired. We shld celebrate great schools regardless ofsector ... focus on quality of schl instead of sector." These exhortations are appealing in their simplicity and attempt to move us toward a common vision, but we must not let charter proponents divert our attention from the difference between charter school and traditional public schools. Traditional public schools are a fundamental cornerstone of American democracy that is being jack-hammered away. And if we look away from their destruction, we abrogate our duty to preserve them for future generations.
 A new A World at School scorecard detailing the current state of donor investment in basic education tells the story of the not so secret shame of the global education sector -- ambition is stalled, resources are falling and the new targets proposed for 2030 move the deadlines set for 2015.
We gave ourselves 15 years, and now we will give ourselves 15 more. Meanwhile the lives of at least 58 million children around the world are at risk. Out-of-school children are at greater risk of violence, rape, prostitution, child labor, child marriage and recruitment as child soldiers. Attacks on schools, school children and teachers are also on the rise around the world.
How to Be Emotionally Intelligent by Daniel Goleman in the New York Times
 What makes a great leader? Knowledge, smarts and vision, to be sure. To that, Daniel Goleman, author of "Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence," would add the ability to identify and monitor emotions - your own and others' - and to manage relationships. Qualities associated with such "emotional intelligence" distinguish the best leaders in the corporate world, according to Mr. Goleman, a former New York Times science reporter, a psychologist and co-director of a consortium at Rutgers University to foster research on the role emotional intelligence plays in excellence. He shares his short list of the competencies.
 "While we recognize the concerns of some parents, it is also essential to recognize much of what we are seeing New York has been an organized political campaign and robo-call effort that is about other issues and is not about higher academic standards or what's best for students," Dorie Nolt, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, said in a statement.
"Not taking the test only hurts kids," she continued, saying that districts won't be able to monitor students' achievement and, in particular, meet the needs of "traditionally underserved populations like low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities and English language learners."
Common Core Testing Meltdown in Seattle: Teachers speak out on technological breakdowns, loss of class time, & civil rights violations on the I am an Educator site
 Before the testing season began, educators in Seattle knew that because of the lack of proper preparations, IT support, technological upgrades, and training - and due to the outlandish number of tests administered this year - testing pandemonium would ensue. We heard many stories about SBAC testing that are common to high-stakes, standardized tests: the tests dramatically disrupted the educational process, deprived students of hours of instructional time, reduced stressed out students to tears, and monopolized the computer labs and libraries in service of test administration for weeks at a time.  Seven years in prison, 13 years on probation, and $25,000 in fines. A hefty punishment like the that sounds more in line with a violent robbery than one that comes from erasing a Scantron. But that is exactly what three of 10 convicted former educators face for their involvement in the Atlanta Public School cheating scandal. This unprecedented practice of convicting educators under the RICO laws (think organized crime - gangs, the mob, Catholic priests) for cheating, thereby opening up chances for sentencing to be harsher than that of the "neighborhood drug dealer" is beyond ludicrous.
Gates Official: Teachers, Parents Will Grow to Understand and Appreciate Common Core
 Phillips believes that as more teachers and parents learn the facts about Common Core and gain experience with the new standards in the classroom, the more they will appreciate the initiative. She noted, "We believe that teachers and students need some time to really understand the standards deeply, to work within those to experience the new assessments, to understand that those assessments can be fair and respectful, and better than what we've had in the past before you start to use that data inside their evaluations for consequences."  Kyle Schwartz teaches third grade at Doull Elementary in Denver.
Although she says her students are a pleasure to look after, the educator of three years adds that many of them come from underprivileged homes. "Ninety-two percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch," Schwartz tells ABC News. "As a new teacher, I struggled to understand the reality of my students' lives and how to best support them. I just felt like there was something I didn't know about my students."
3 Things That Have Slowed the Change Process Down in Education (And What We Can Do About It) by George Couros on the Principal of Change site
 There has been a lot of talk on the idea that education as a whole takes a long time to change. As an educator, this is a challenging notion, since we are seeing many people doing some amazing things that did not exist when I was a student. Change is happening but sometimes it is hard to see when you are in the middle of the process.
Some things are out of the hands of schools. Budgets and government decisions can make creating new and better learning environments for students tough, but not impossible. Educators are not powerless, and in some cases, more powerful that ever.
The Art and Science of Team Optimization by George Bradt on the Huffington Post site
 The world needs three types of leaders: artistic, scientific and interpersonal. And the world needs them to work together to change feelings, knowledge and behaviors as a team. Their initial joining up or onboarding is one of the crucibles of leadership. Doing that poorly produces lots of pain. Doing that well accelerates success.
Artistic leaders
work with different media, care about perceptions, create new approaches, and connect with others' souls to impact feelings. These leaders, like Apple's Steve Jobs, lead with a combination of thinking and intuition.
Scientific leaders
work on different problems, care about solutions, develop better thinking, and connect with others' minds to impact knowledge. These leaders, like Microsoft's Bill Gates, lead with a combination of thinking and logic.
Interpersonal leaders
work in different contexts, care about their cause, rally the team, and connect with others' hearts to impact behaviors. These leaders, like General Electric's Jack Welch, lead with a bias to action.
The Horace Mann League on the Horace Mann league site
To download the full or summary report,
Summary Report, Click here
Full Report, click here
To view in an electronic magazine format,
Summary Report, click here.
Full Report, click here
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Political Cartoon for the Week
------------------------------------- Superintendent Vacancies
Multnomah Education Service District, Portland, Oregon, Contact Dennis RayWaterford, Public Schools, Waterford, CT, Contact Joseph Wood
Horace Mann Prints The 11 * 18 inch print is available for individual or bulk purchase. Individual prints are $4.00. Discount with orders of 50 or more. For additional information about this or other prints, please check here.
 In 1840 Mann wrote On the Art of Teaching. Some of HML members present On the Art of Teaching to new teachers as part of their orientation program. On the inside cover, some write a personal welcome message to the recipient. Other HML members present the book to school board members and parental organizations as a token of appreciation for becoming involved in their schools. The book cover can be designed with the organization's name. For more information, contact the HML ( Jack McKay)
All the past issues of the HML Posts are available for review and search purposes.
Finally, 7 links that may be of interest to you.
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About Us
The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.
Officers:
President: Dr. Charles Fowler, Exec. Director, Suburban School Administrators, Exeter, HN
President-elect: Dr. Christine Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
Vice President: Dr. Martha Bruckner, Superintendent, Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
1st Past President: Mr. Gary Marx, President for Public Outreach, Vienna, VA
2nd Past President: Dr. Joe Hairston, President, Vision Unlimited, Reisterstown, MD
Directors:
Dr. Laurie Barron, Supt. of Schools, Evergreen School District, Kalispell , MT
Dr. Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Mr. Jeffery Charbonneau, Science Coordinator, ESD 105 and Zillah HS, WA
Dr. Carol Choye, Instructor, (ret.) Superintendent, Scotch Plains Schools, NJ
Dr. Brent Clark, Executive Director, Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Dr. Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
Dr. James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
Dr. Eric King, Superintendent, (ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Dr. Steven Ladd, Superintendent, (ret.) Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA
Dr. Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC
Dr. Kevin Maxwell, CEO, Prince George's County Schools, Upper Marlboro, MD
Dr. Stan Olson, President, Silverback Learning, (former supt. of Boise Schools, ID)
Dr. Steven Webb, Supt. of Schools, Vancouver School District, WA
Executive Director:
Dr. Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha,
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.
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The importance of good teachers is no secret. Schools and their communities have always sought out the best teachers they could get in the belief that their students' success depends on it.
