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CPS Conference Brought Old and New Friends to the Fight

October 17, 2011 by

CPS President Paula Parnagian acknowledged the diversity of conference goers: old and new members from across the state of Massachusetts.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make the 2011 CPS Fall Issues Conference a success. And thanks to all our old and our many new friends who joined us for a high-energy, productive day of sharing ideas for action to protect and improve our public schools.

Watch for a detailed report in the next edition of the CPS Backpack Newsletter. For now, here are a few highlights from the morning panel of speakers.

From BTU President Richard Stutman’s welcome: “Thankfully, there is a Side One, good caring people who don’t want to turn over schools to the Bill Gates and Paul Grogans of the world. Our job to turn things around, educate people, the legislature about corporate influence. To do this we draw on our great assets: teachers, parents, and students working to keep alive public education for all.”   → Read More

Filed Under: Education

Register Today for TOMORROW’s Conference!

October 7, 2011 by

CPS Fall Issues Conference

Joining SOS Call to Action in Solidarity
with the National Occupy Movement

Your Public School Under Attack:
Organizing to Fight Back!

8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Bayside Expo Center
Click here to register now.

SCHEDULE

Good Morning – Registration, Coffee & Pastries 8:15 a.m.

WELCOME

(9 – 9:30 a.m.)

Richard Stutman

Richard Stutman, President, Boston Teachers Union
Paula Parnagian, CPS President
Ruth Rodriguez, CPS Past President

Panel of Activists for Public Education

Sandra McIntosh

Sharon Guzik

Rep. Carl Sciortino

Rita Solnet

(9:30 – 10:45 a.m.)

A fascinating, informed discussion of key topics, including MCAS Reform – The Struggle to Preserve Boston Schools – Organizing Parents Across America – Exposing “Astroturf” Education Groups

Moderator: Sharon Guzik (Medford School Committee)
Sandra McIntosh (Coalition for Equal Quality Education)
Rep. Carl Sciortino (Somerville)
Rita Solnet (Parents Across America)
Alain Jehlen (Education Journalist)

Morning Workshops

(11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)

Organizing in your community for MCAS reform
Pressing issues facing public education
Reforming charter school financing
Worcester & impact of Stand for Children

Networking Time – Lunch Provided

(12:45 to 1:30 p.m.)

   → Read More
Filed Under: Education-Other

Save Oct. 15 for CPS’s Annual Fall Issues Conference

September 8, 2011 by

YOUR Public School Under Attack:
Organizing to Fight Back!

Massachusetts public schools are among the nation’s best, so why are 82% of our schools labeled failures by the federal No Child Left Behind law? Flawed tests are being used to misjudge and label our schools, students and teachers. What are we going to do about it?

On Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Bayside Expo Center in Boston, join parents, teachers, students and concerned citizens to share ideas, strategize and organize to achieve our goal: sensible assessment policies and quality public schools for every child. Click here to register now!

The conference begins with an exciting morning panel of knowledgeable speakers on MCAS Reform, The Struggle to Preserve Boston Schools, Organizing Parents Across America and Exposing “Astroturf” (i.e., not really grass roots) Education Groups.

Stay for morning and afternoon workshops where participants will learn important background information and then strategize on pressing educational issues including high-stakes testing, charter schools, threats to urban public schools, educating the legislature, investing in public higher education, youth organizing and the school-to-prison pipeline, and organizing parents and school committees.   → Read More

Filed Under: Education-Other

“In Honor of Teachers”

September 3, 2011 by

Thanks to Charles Blow’s NY Times oped for a pitch-perfect back-to-school message and tribute to the teacher who turned his life around:

It was the first time that I felt a teacher cared about me, saw me or believed in me. It lit a fire in me. I never got a bad grade again. I figured that Mrs. Thomas would always be able to see me if I always shined. I always wanted to make her as proud of me as she seemed to be that day. And, she always was.

   → Read More
Filed Under: Education-Other

CPS in the News

August 24, 2011 by
CPS Executive Director Marilyn Segal’s letter responding to a Boston Globe Editorial appears today, August 24, 2011.
RULES OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ARE CHALLENGED

Time to get rid of high-stakes standardized tests

August 24, 2011THE GLOBE continues to conflate standardized tests and quality education (“Don’t cut standards for No Child Left Behind,” Editorial, Aug. 22). Researchers such as Diane Ravitch and Richard Rothstein have demonstrated that nine years of No Child Left Behind, with its narrowing of education to teach to the test, have resulted in a slowing of the rate of improvement on the nation’s report card compared with the previous decade.

They understand that poverty is the greatest predictor of poor school performance. Intense pressure to perform on high-stakes tests, closing schools, and denigrating teachers don’t change that unfortunate reality. While a growing number of children in America – now an estimated 25 percent – live in poverty, high-performing countries such as Finland have about a 3 percent child-poverty rate and no standardized testing.

   → Read More
Filed Under: Education-Other
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