New York Evaluations Lose in Court

This piece by Seton Hall professor Daniel Katz provides a thorough and devastating take on the bogus teacher evaluation program dismissed as “arbitrary and capricious” by a New York court, about which I blogged yesterday (https://academeblog.org/2016/05/12/an-important-decision-on-teacher-evaluation/)

More Nonsense Numbers from Gov. Walker

Add the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to the growing list of UW faculties that have approved resolutions of no-confidence in UW System President Ray Cross and the Board of Regents.  Previously, just before the Milwaukee faculty voted unanimously to approve the no-confidence resolution, Governor Scott Walker issued a press release chock full of cherry-picked and…

An Important Decision on Teacher Evaluation

BY HANK REICHMAN I grew up in the New York suburb of Great Neck, where last week a fourth-grade teacher won a landmark case against New York State’s “value-added modeling” (VAM) formula for teacher evaluation, an assessment system that was developed when John King, the current U.S. Secretary of Education, was the New York State…

CUNY FACULTY UNION VOTES TO AUTHORIZE STRIKE

Update at end! After Six Years Without a Raise, 92% Vote ‘Yes’ New York—After more than six years without a raise and five years without a contract for its members, the union of faculty and professional staff at The City University of New York announced that 92% of the union’s voting members have voted to…

UWM Faculty Sets the Record Straight

Yesterday in my post reporting on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty’s unanimous vote of no-confidence in UW system President Ray Cross and the UW Board of Regents I noted that the vote came less than two hours after Gov. Scott Walker issued a statement — titled “University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty fuss leaves out important facts”…

Put out the word, across and down

BY CAPRICE LAWLESS Administration’s doublespeak and double-dealing can leave you with cross words so numerous you can hardly speak. At times the angst is overwhelming. When you reach a low ebb, dwell on that a few moments, and pay attention to how you feel. When your mind is so crowded with contradictions you can’t put…

Protest Greets Katehi Replacement

On April 27, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced that Linda Katehi, Chancellor of the UC Davis (UCD) campus, had been placed on “investigatory leave” and named Provost Ralph Hexter as Interim Chancellor.  The following statement from thirteen University of California, Davis (UCD) graduate students appeared yesterday in the Davis Vanguard: Dear Colleagues, We,…

John King’s Thank You to Teachers

Today is National Teacher Appreciation Day and this week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. Here is the statement made by John King, Secretary of Education, to mark the day and the week:   Dear Teachers, This week, our nation recognizes and honors you for your tireless efforts on behalf of our students, everywhere from small…