Obama in the Classroom

And he's ticking off the teachers!

"Obama seeks more top teachers for at-risk students; Initiative seeks to help states create better strategies" by Kimberly Hefling | Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Obama revealed a new administration effort Monday to place quality teachers in schools that need them the most.

Obama said the education system has ‘‘a problem’’ in that students who would benefit the most from having skilled or experienced teachers in their classrooms are least likely to get them, including black and Hispanic students.

Obama credited education and good teachers for helping him get to the White House. He said he wants to make sure that every child has the same access to good teachers that he had.

‘‘The one ingredient that we know makes an enormous difference is a great teacher,’’ Obama said before discussing the issue over lunch at the White House with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and four teachers from Greensboro, N.C.; Philadelphia; Springdale, Ark.; and Washington, D.C.

Yeah, heap the responsibility for societies ills on them. Anywhere but the 1%, the political class that serves them, and the private central banking $y$tem they serve. 

Bet you can't say that in the classroom.

Duncan also took part in a round-table discussion later Monday with teachers and principals.

Under the initiative, the Education Department will ask states to develop plans to make sure every student has an effective teacher. It will also award $4.2 million in grants to help states and districts create the plans and put them into place.

Oh, how gracious! 

So let's see. he's got $5m in chump change for families, but wants $4b for illegal immigrants sent here to create a crisis, $5b for a terror-fighting fund, $500 million for a Syrian government in exile, billions for Ukraine, and on and on. 

Of course, he is now asking for $302 billion for infrastructure for political purposes after the neglect of decades, but that looks like it is going nowhere.

UPDATE: Congress near another stopgap fix, this time on road funds

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On Friday, the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the nation, said it wants Duncan to resign.

Delegates at the NEA’s annual convention in Denver adopted a resolution calling for Duncan to step down. The vote underscores the long-standing tension between the Obama administration and teachers’ unions — historically a steadfast Democratic ally. 

It's always nice to see Democratic interest groups wake up to the fact that they have been played by leadership.

A tipping point for some members was Duncan’s statement last month in support of a California judge’s ruling that struck down tenure and other job protections for the state’s public school teachers. In harsh wording, the judge said such laws harm particularly low-income students by saddling them with bad teachers who are almost impossible to fire. 

Related: "The ruling, in which a group of student plaintiffs argued that state tenure laws had deprived them of a decent education by leaving bad teachers in place, was enthusiastically endorsed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. 

And you teachers thought Obummer was your friend! 

I guess you really do learn something new every day!

The teachers unions said Tuesday that they planned to appeal. “We believe the judge fell victim to the antiunion, anti-teacher rhetoric and one of American’s finest corporate law firms that set out to scapegoat teachers for the real problems that exist in public education,” said Joshua Pechthalt, the president of the California Federation of Teachers. The decision hands teachers unions a major defeat in a landmark case." 

For some reason, Globe thought it not important to mention that same corporate law firm represented George W. Bush in his 2000 presidential election heist.

Honestly, we have nothing in common anymore. 

Also see: Politicians Targeting Tenure 

Looks like they hit it!

Before that, teachers’ unions have clashed with the administration over other issues ranging from its support of charter schools to its push to use student test scores as part of evaluating teachers.

And Common Core, too.

The vote is a ‘‘venting of frustration of too many things that are wrong,’’ said Dennis Van Roekel, the outgoing president of NEA. He said it wasn’t directed at Duncan personally but was about teachers wanting what is best for students.

Duncan wouldn’t comment Monday to reporters at the White House, but he said he wished the NEA’s new president ‘‘the best of luck.’’

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Duncan said the Education Department has had good relations with the NEA in the past, noting that they have teamed up every year to put on a national summit.

The resolution of no confidence passed by the NEA delegates said it was necessary to call for Duncan’s resignation because of the ‘‘department’s failed education agenda.’’

Just like all the other Obummer administration efforts.

It also criticized the Education Department for “pitting public school students against each other based on test scores, and for continuing to promote policies and decisions that undermine public schools and colleges, the teaching education professionals, and education unions.’’

They do mention the $4 billion Race to the Top program pitting school districts against school districts as the cult of personality is promoted in the inculcation and indoctrination centers we know as schools.

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Also see: Math, science grads earn top dollar

What el$e could $chools be for?

"Teacher tenure fight gains momentum with ruling" Associated Press   July 12, 2014

NEW YORK — A month after a California judge ruled that job protections for teachers violated children’s constitutional rights, one lawsuit making the same claim has been filed in New York, another has been announced, and critics of teacher tenure in other states say they are preparing litigation as well.

The June ruling in California has been stayed pending appeal and may never take effect, but critics of teachers’ unions are seizing on the idea of using the courts to weaken union power.

I thought Obummer was on your side, teach!

Mona Davids, president of the parents group that filed the New York lawsuit last week, called educational inequity ‘‘a crisis of epic proportions.’’ She said New York City neighborhoods that are mostly black and Latino have the schools with the most teachers rated unsatisfactory.

The California ruling struck down state laws dictating how long it takes for a teacher to earn tenure as well as rules that protect senior teachers during layoffs. The plaintiffs argued that such union-backed job protections mean that poor and minority schools are staffed disproportionately by bad teachers, which violates students’ rights.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said such lawsuits ‘‘mean a continuation of the artificial division that in order for students to win, teachers must lose.’’

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NEXT DAY UPDATE:

"Everest College in Chelsea, Mass., is one of a dozen campuses that for-profit education company Corinthian Colleges Inc. is closing, the company said Tuesday. Last month, the Education Department increased its financial monitoring of Corinthian. That was after it failed to provide adequate paperwork and comply with the department’s requests to address concerns about the company’s practices. The department said the concerns included allegations of falsifying job placement data used in marketing claims to prospective students and allegations of altered grades and attendance."

Also see: Dollars for Obama library roll in from NY, Chicago

Tim Collins, a New York-based private equity investor, gave between $250,001 and $500,000. So did James Simons and his wife, Marilyn. A mathematician and hedge fund manager, Simons is on the Forbes list of billionaires.