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Lawsuit for Elected, Representative School Board

March 14, 2014 0 comments


Chicago is the ONLY school district (of 892) in Illinois without an elected school board!
HELP fund a lawsuit against discrimination!

  
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The fight for an elected, representative school board in Chicago is far from over! HB 2793 is a bill currently in the Illinois State Legislature to create such a board.
[Bill summary: Amends the Chicago School District Article of the School Code. Provides for the election (instead of appointment) of members of the Chicago Board of Education. Provides that successor Inspectors General shall be appointed by the Board instead of the Mayor.]

As part of the fight, the Communities Organized for Democracy in Education [CODE], which TSJ is part of, has begun raising funds to have a law suit (or two) on the basis of discrimination against the voters in Chicago. Of the 892 school districts in Illinois, Chicago is THE ONLY ONE where the Mayor gets to appoint the board. Please help fund the lawsuit! Contributions and more info can be found here!!

Thank you!!
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TSJ Letter of Support for Teachers at Saucedo and Drummond who are Boycotting the ISAT

March 3, 2014 0 comments

(Saucedo rally - photo by Greg Goodman)

February 28, 2014

To the teachers at Saucedo Elementary and Drummond Elementary schools,

Teachers for Social Justice fully supports your decision to refuse to administer the 2014 ISAT test to your students. Thank you for taking this important step to protect your students from a week of testing that does not benefit them and does not allow teachers to teach. Your decision is a courageous one in the face of threats from the CEO of CPS that your jobs and your teaching certification may be at risk. By refusing to administer yet another standardized test you are saying “no” to the idea that a test written by a company far from the classroom can assess your students in a meaningful way.

Teachers are in a unique position to understand the damage that overuse and misuse of standardized testing can do to students. Research has shown that high stakes standardized tests narrow the curriculum; increase stress levels for teachers, parents and students, and drive many teachers from the profession. These tests make school less engaging and less relevant to students’ lives.

CPS has announced that this year the ISAT test has no impact on students’ grade promotion or admission into selective programs. The ISAT is no longer part of the “school performance policy” nor will it be used to evaluate teachers. CPS’s claim that the ISAT is aligned to Common Core standards is dubious at best since the PARCC exam, which is being designed to measure performance on those standards, has been years in the making and has yet to be released. The ISAT will not help teachers understand their students or improve instruction for them. Because CPS has not provided any valid reason to give this test hundreds of parents have opted their children out of this test. We applaud your decision to support your students and the teaching profession in this way.

Thank you for taking a stand against the misuse and overuse of standardized tests. Thank you for risking your jobs to give your students the education they deserve.

In Solidarity,

Teachers for Social Justice
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SUPPORT GROWS! 200 University faculties support parents & teachers at Saucedo & Drummonds schools!

(Parents and teachers at Saucedo rally - photo by Greg Goodman)

February 28, 2014

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR CHICAGO TEACHERS REFUSING TO ADMINISTER THE ILLINOIS STANDARD ACHIEVEMENT TEST  

FROM UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FACULTY

As university faculty whose responsibilities include preparing future educators, we support the action of teachers at the Saucedo and Drummond elementary schools in Chicago who are refusing to administer the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). Over a decade of research shows that an over emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests narrows curriculum, creates social and emotional stress for students and families, drives committed teachers out of the profession, and turns schools into test-prep factories with principals forced to comply as overseers—especially in low-scoring schools. We understand assessment as the process of gathering evidence about learning, from multiple sources, so that teachers can better support student learning. The ISAT, in contrast, contributes virtually nothing. CPS no longer uses the ISAT for promotion, graduation, or eligibility for selective-enrollment schools and is phasing it out after this year. It is not aligned with Common Core State Standards—which, regardless of how one sees them, Illinois has already adopted—and does not help teachers improve student learning. The pre-service teachers with whom we work are demoralized about a future of teaching in such a test-driven atmosphere. We teach our students—future educators—to stand up for their students, families and communities, and to take principled stands for social justice. That's what the Saucedo and Drummond teachers are doing. We applaud them and stand with them.
(To add your name to this list, email Gutstein@uic.edu with your name, university affiliation, and department)

Signers:
1.                              Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
2.                              Rico Gutstein, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
3.                              Asif Wilson, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
4.                              Daniel Morales-Doyle, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
5.                              Eleni Katsarou, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
6.                              Arthi Rao, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
7.                              Joshua Radinsky, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
8.                              Irma Olmedo, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
9.                              David Schaafsma, University of Illinois at Chicago, English Department
10.                          Kenneth Saltman, DePaul University, College of Education
11.                          Joel Amidon, University of Mississippi, School of Education
12.                          Nicole Marroquin, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Art Education
13.                          Wayne Au University of Washington—Bothel, Education Program; Rethinking Schools
14.                          Bill Schubert, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
15.                          Federico Waitoller, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
16.                          David Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
17.                          Danny Martin, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
18.                          Ann Aviles de Bradley, Northeastern Illinois University, Department of Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies
19.                          Eomailani Kukahiko, University of Hawai’i, College of Education
20.                          David Stinson, Georgia State University, College of Education
21.                          Minerva S. ChĆ”vez, California State University, Fullerton, Department of Secondary Education
22.                          Katy Smith, Northeastern Illinois University, Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies
23.                          Gail Tang, University of La Verne, Department of Mathematics
24.                          Craig Howley, Ohio University, Patton College of Education
25.                          Rodrigo Jorge GutiĆ©rrez, University of Maryland, College of Education
26.                          Erin Turner, University of Arizona, Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies
27.                          Tom Pedroni, Wayne State University, College of Education
28.                          Donna Vukelich Selva, Edgewood College, School of Education
29.                          Michelle Fine, City University of New York, The Graduate Center
30.                          Maria McKenna, University of Notre Dame, Department of Africana Studies
31.                          E. Wayne Ross, University of British Columbia, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy
32.                          Noah De Lissovoy, The University of Texas at Austin, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction
33.                          Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, University of South Florida, Department of Secondary Education
34.                          Bree Picower, Montclair State University, College of Education and Human Development
35.                          Beatriz S. D'Ambrosio, Miami University, Dept. of Mathematics
36.                          Celia Oyler, Teachers College, Dept. of Curriculum and Teaching
37.                          Jesse Senechal, Virginia Commonwealth University, Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium
38.                          Ira Shor, City University of New York, The Graduate Center
39.                          Thomas G. Edwards, Wayne State University, College of Education
40.                          Christine Sleeter, California State University—Monterey
41.                          Jessica Shiller, Towson University, Dept. of Instructional Leadership and Professional Development
42.                          Deb Palmer, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
43.                          Maren Aukerman, Stanford University, Graduate School of Education
44.                          Christine Yeh, University of San Francisco, School of Education
45.                          A. Lin Goodwin, Teachers College, Columbia University
46.                          Stuart Chen-Hayes, Lehman College, School of Education
47.                          Lee Bell, Barnard College, Program in Education
48.                          Diane Horwitz, DePaul University, College of Education
49.                          Gary Anderson, New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
50.                          Patrick Camangian, University of San Francisco, School of Education
51.                          Antonia Darder, Loyola Marymount University, School of Education
52.                          Lesley Bartlett, Columbia University, Teachers College
53.                          Sandy Grande, Connecticut College, Education Department
54.                          Michelle Gautreaux, University of British Columbia, Dept. of Curriculum Studies
55.                          Kathryn Herr, Montclair State University
56.                          Emily Klein, Montclair State University
57.                          Craig Willey, IUPUI, Indiana University School of Education
58.                          Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Portland State University, Graduate School of Education
59.                          Kiersten Greene, State University of New York at New Paltz, School of Education
60.                          Stuart Greene, University of Notre Dame, Department of English and Africana Studies
61.                          Horace R. Hall, DePaul University, College of Education
62.                          Lois Weiner, New Jersey City University, Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education
63.                          Gustavo E. Fischman, Arizona State University, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
64.                          Amy Feiker Hollenbeck, DePaul University, College of Education
65.                          Rebecca A. Goldstein, Montclair State University, College of Education and Human Services
66.                          Enora Brown, DePaul University, College of Education
67.                          Sangeeta Kamat, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, College of Education
68.                          Stephanie Farmer, Roosevelt University, Dept. of Sociology
69.                          Ron Glass, University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Collaborative Research for an Equitable California
70.                          Karen Monkman, DePaul University, College of Education
71.                          Lisa Edstrom, Barnard College, Barnard Education Program
72.                          Daniel S. Friedrich, Columbia University, Teachers College
73.                          Marjorie Siegel, Columbia University, Teachers College
74.                          Alan Singer, Hofstra University, Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership
75.                          Barbara Winslow, Brooklyn College, Secondary Education
76.                          Maria Hantzopoulos, Vassar College, Dept. of Education
77.                          Sharon Whitton, Hofstra University, Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership
78.                          Jim Brown, Wayne State University, College of Education
79.                          Linda McSpadden McNeil, Rice University, Center for Education
80.                          Matthew Weinstein, University of Washington-Tacoma, Secondary Science Program
81.                          Victoria Trinder, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
82.                          Marie Ann Donovan, DePaul University, College of Education
83.                          Rosalyn Baxandall, City University of New York, Labor School
84.                          Amira Proweller, DePaul University, College of Education
85.                          Judith S. Kaufman, Hofstra University, Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership
86.                          Gregory Smith, Lewis & Clark College, Graduate School of Education
87.                          David Forbes, Brooklyn College, School of Education
88.                          Lois Weis, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Graduate School of Education
89.                          Monica Taylor, Montclair State University, College of Education and Human Services
90.                          Norma Lopez-Reyna, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
91.                          Gloria Alter, DePaul University, College of Education
92.                          Miguel Zavala, California State University, Fullerton, Department of Secondary Education
93.                          Barbara Madeloni, University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Education
94.                          Arnold Dodge, Long Island University/C.W.Post Campus, Department of Educational Leadership and Administration
95.                          William Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education (retired)
96.                          Peter Taubman, Brooklyn College, Dept. of Secondary Education
97.                          Susan Gregson, University of Cincinnati, College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services
98.                          Jackie Wiggins, Oakland University, Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance
99.                          Tema Okun, National Louis University, Dept. of Educational Leadership
100.                      Bill Hoecker, DePaul University, College of Education
101.                      Judith Gouwens, Roosevelt University, College of Education
102.                      Carl B. Anderson, Penn State University, Dept. of English
103.                      Mari Ann Roberts, Clayton State University, Dept. of Teacher Education
104.                      Isabel NuƱez, Concordia University, Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice
105.                      Renee A. Middleton, Ohio University, The Patton College of Education
106.                      Regina Sievert, Salish Kootenai College, Division of Education
107.                      Jennifer Alexander, Richard J. Daley College, Business Department
108.                      Sunshine Campbell, The Evergreen State College
109.                      Marvin Hoffman, University of Chicago, Urban Teacher Education Program
110.                      Chris Brown, University of Texas at Austin, College of Education
111.                      Nancy Lesko, Teachers College, Department of Curriculum and Teaching
112.                      Florence R. Sullivan, University of Mass., Amherst, College of Education
113.                      K. Wayne Yang, University of California, San Diego, Dept. of Ethnic Studies
114.                      Elizabeth Meadows, Roosevelt University, College of Education
115.                      Benay Blend, Central New Mexico Community College, Humanities Dept.
116.                      Nekaiya Herring, University of North Dakota, Dept. of Social Work
117.                      Karen Graves, Denison University, Department of Education
118.                      Lilia Monzo, Chapman University, College of Educational Studies
119.                      Karen Gourd, University of Washington, Bothell, Education Program
120.                      Jeff Bloom, Northern Arizona University, College of Education
121.                      Aisha El-Amin, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
122.                      Eric Toshalis, Lewis & Clark College, Graduate School of Education and Counseling
123.                      Diane Levin, Wheelock College, Early Childhood Education
124.                      Brian Horn, Illinois State University, College of Education
125.                      Scott Ritchie, Kennesaw State University, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education
126.                      Ann K. Schulte, California State University, Chico, School of Education
127.                      William T. Trent, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Department of Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership
128.                      Morna McDermott, Towson University, College of Education
129.                      Susan Roberta Katz, University of San Francisco, School of Education
130.                      Susan Wray, Montclair State University, Dept. of Early Childhood, Elementary and Literacy Education
131.                      Sandra M. Gonzales, Wayne State University, College of Education
132.                      Cindy Lutenbacher, Morehouse College, Dept. of English
133.                      Mark Nagasawa, Erikson Institute
134.                      Wendy Luttrell, City University of New York, The Graduate Center
135.                      Mary Rapien, Bristol Community College, Division of Mathematics, Science and Engineering
136.                      Carolyne J. White, Rutgers University, Department of Urban Education
137.                      Isaura B. Pulido, Northeastern Illinois University, College of Education
138.                      Bill Watkins, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
139.                      Michelle Parker-Katz, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
140.                      Barbara Morgan-Fleming, Texas Tech University, Curriculum & Instruction
141.                      Emma HaydĆ©e Fuentes, University of San Francisco, School of Education
142.                      Joel Westheimer, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Education
143.                      Brian D. Schultz, Northeastern Illinois University, College of Education 
144.                      Sumi Cho, DePaul University, College of Law
145.                      Therese Quinn, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art and Art History
146.                      John Rogers, UCLA, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
147.                      Kathleen McInerney, Saint Xavier University, ESL/Bilingual Education Program
148.                      Linda Christensen, Lewis and Clark College, Oregon Writing Project
149.                      Elizabeth Skinner, Illinois State University, School of Teaching & Learning
150.                      G. Sue Kasun, Utah State University, Teacher Education and Leadership
151.                      Paul Gomberg, Chicago State University, Department of Criminal Justice, Philosophy, and Political Science
152.                      Andrea S. White,  Kenyon College, Psychology Department
153.                      Sandra Yarema, Wayne State University, College of Education
154.                      Michelle Maher, Oregon State University, Teacher and Counselor Education Dept.
155.                      Todd Alan Price, National Louis University, College of Education
156.                      Sarah Robbins,TCU, English Department
157.                      Eve Tuck, State University of New York at New Paltz, School of Education
158.                      John Duffy, National Louis University, Teacher Education (retired)
159.                      Suzanne Baker, Denison University, Department of Education
160.                      Anneli Frelin, University of GƤvle, Faculty of Education and Business Studies
161.                      Mara Sapon-Shevin, Syracuse University, School of Education
162.                      Ryan McCarthy, Wilbur Wright College, English Department
163.                      Randi Ploszaj,  Wilbur Wright College, English Department
164.                      Bill Marsh, Wilbur Wright College, English Department
165.                      Cydney Topping, Wilbur Wright College, English Department
166.                      Simeon Stumme, Concordia University, Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice
167.                      Daryl Dugas, Northern Illinois University, College of Education
168.                      Daniel McNamara, Wilbur Wright College, English Department
169.                      Judith Reed, Keene State College, Education Program
170.                      Marilyn Frankenstein, University of Massachusetts/Boston, College of Public and Community Service
171.                      Ellen Ellsberg Edge, Keene State College, Child Development Center
172.                      Tom Bassarear, Keene State College, Department of Education
173.                      Judy Lister, Keene State College, Education Department
174.                      Lee Shumow, Northern Illinois University, Leadership, Educational Psychology & Foundations Department
175.                      Carolyn Vander Schee, Northern Illinois University, Leadership, Educational Psychology & Foundations Department
176.                      Janet Lorch, National Louis University, Elementary and Middle Level Teacher Education
177.                      Angela Valenzuela, University of Texas-Austin, College of Education
178.                      Karyn Sandlos, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Education Department
179.                      Joan Wynne, Florida International University, Leadership & Professional Studies
180.                      Omar Perez Riveros, University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology
181.                      Dana Fusco, York College, Department of Teacher Education
182.                      Leigh Patel, Boston College, Lynch School of Education
183.                      Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, University of Florida, School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education
184.                      Jermaine Soto, Syracuse University, Cultural Foundations of Education
185.                      Dorene Ross, University of Florida, College of Education
186.                      Molly A. Swick, Northern Illinois University, College of Education
187.                      Lori Chajet, City University of New York, The Graduate Center
188.                      Savannah Shange, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education & Africana Studies
189.                      Mary Ann Ryan, Chicago State University, English Department
190.                      Daniel McNamara, Wright College, English Department
191.                      Arthur B. Powell, Rutgers University—Newark, Department of Urban Education
192.                      Caitlin Cahill, Pratt Institute, Dept of Social Sciences & Cultural Studies
193.                      Sari Knopp Biklen, Syracuse University, Cultural Foundations of Education
194.                      Dayna Cunningham, MIT, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning
195.                      Jennifer Cannon, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Dept.
196.                      Dani O’Brien, University of Massachusetts Amherst, College of Education
197.                      Amy Shuffelton, Concordia University, School of Education
198.                      Kate Sheesh, Hunter College (CUNY), Psychology Dept.
199.                      Sandra Schmidt, Columbia University, Teachers College
200.                      Noah Asher Golden, Chapman University, College of Educational Studies



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