Grumpy Educators Award Nominations

"Knowledge is power."

Blogs written by parents and community members on the subject of education reform is increasing and explaining education reform initiatives that main stream media ignores. It is still difficult for non-educators to access information explained well; but there are some solid resources available now. Since January, after careful review and selection, I visit several to learn and stay current.

Inspired by Edublog Awards, Grumpy Educators created its own awards and announces winners for the education-related blogs that contributed the following:

• Brought parent, community member, and student perspectives out of the shadows


• Brought factual information to the public that would not be found otherwise


• Encouraged avenues for critical and constructive dialogue on educational change

The Golden Grumpy Educator Award
Huge thanks to Education Matters for the most referrals of all time that led readers to Grumpy Educators and for the comprehensive reporting on all things education, and provides focus on North Florida. Education Matters is a very important resource for all Floridians.

BEST FLORIDA INDIVIDUAL BLOG
Scathing Purple Musings keeps an eye on all things education in Florida. Scathing Purple Musings scooped a real analysis on the success of charter schools in Florida, revealing that 15 of the 31 Florida "F" schools were charters. This fact did not go unnoticed. Florida Senator David Simmons recently commented on this fact. The storm clouds are brewing for the 2012 legislative session. Scathing Purple Musings will remain my go-to blog for current information.

BEST FLORIDA INFORMATION RESOURCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Florida has a sizable population of students who are learning the language and the academic subjects. ESOLFlorida is a resource covers the actions of the Florida legislature and the Florida DOE and the effects of those actions on those students in this state.


BEST EDUCATION REFORM INFORMATION RESOURCE
Largely, the public is uninformed regarding the facts of education reform initiatives. The popular narrative, cleverly controlled by education reform advocates keep the facts in the dark. Truth in American Education (TAE) is a one-stop facts only resource, providing the details on Common Core standards, Common Core assessment, and the longitudinal database (Pre-K through first year of college). To get a complete picture presented in a reader-friendly manner, TAE is the best resource on the internet.

BEST NON-EDUCATOR BLOG
Missouri Education Watchdog (MEW) calls out bi-partisan support, on local and national levels, for educational initiatives that undermine local control, parents rights, and otherwise, make no sense.
Clearly written and fact-based, MEW provides a view of Missouri and of the national scene.

BEST NEW TWITTER HASHTAG FOR PARENTS
#edparents - Great idea from The minds of kids blog. The blogger notes:

"I've not found a general hashtag for parent activists interested in connecting with other parents nationwide. We are critical to the fight against corporate education reform and high-stakes testing culture. Parents who advocate for a truly child-centered education for all students need a hashtag to call our own."

UPDATED: NUT Report: Republican Candidate Views on Education Reform

While the media remains deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to education reform, a growing corp of smart fact-based bloggers keep the rest of us informed. Some are conservative and some are liberal, but all are concerned about the current federal education policies.

Shane Vander Hart of Caffeinated Thoughts interviewed several Republican candidates for President regarding their views on education and posted on Truth in American Education.

Michelle Bachmann

Vander Hart's interview with Michelle Bachmann, including a video, is found here. Bachmann proposes the end of the U.S. Department of Education, does not like NCLB, and says this about education:

“I am not a fan of No Child Left Behind, I never have been. I oppose the federal government’s involvement in local schools. I attended great public schools in Iowa when I first started my education. I was here (in Waterloo) for kindergarten through sixth grade. They were great public schools because they were locally controlled and locally put together by our local schools… by our parents and by our teachers and local administrators. Now with the federal government taking more and more authority away from the local schools, it is very hard to have meaningful change in our schools. I would prefer to see the Federal Department of Education abolished and done away with, and instead I’d rather see parents and states keep the monies that are sent to Washington, D.C. It ends up in the bureaucracy.

Rick Santorum

The interview with Rick Santorum is found here and reveals that Santorum disapproves with top down education regulation and points to parents as the most important element in education.

SVH: “In your opinion, the federal government should or shouldn’t advance core curriculum standards?”

Santorum: “No. I mean I don’t think that is their role. I think that the federal government’s role, if there is any, as I would see it, is to get the school systems to focus on parent-centered education. And say that we’re going to back off all of these ‘this is how you have to this and this and this’ and say let’s just get to where every parent at the beginning of the school year, a couple months before the school year and sits down with the administrator or somebody and says ‘this is what we are going to do for your kids and the school system. We are going to take it plan by plan, and we are going to design the plan and that means if they are going to go to West Des Moines Elementary then that’s great. Because you know what? That may fit Suzy best.’ There may be a Christian school where Mom and Dad may think she’ll do better or homeschool where she’ll do better or Catholic school where she’ll do better. Then the responsibility for the school is to help you. There may be resources we can give you. There may be remedial programs…’ Design a program that fits. You may say, ‘well you can’t do that it’s just too complicated.”

Mitt Romney

This isn't an interview, but rather a report. Vander Hart refers to Romney's response to a question he answered in New Hampshire and to his response to a similar question in March 2010 in a Cavuto interview. The answers are not the same.
Read more here.
View the town hall Q&A here. The question is posed by a representative of New Hampshire non-profit Cornerstone Action.

Tim Pawlenty

UPDATE: Another post from Vander Hart with a video of candidate Tim Pawlenty answering a question on education. View the video here.


Rick Perry

Although reported as still considering a run for President, Texas Governor Rick Perry made the news on the education front. He has decided to quit the Council of State Chief Officers because he disagrees with the national common core standard initiative.
Read about Perry's announcement on Scathing Purple Musings.


Newt Gingrich

More reporting from Vander Hart covering candidate Newt Gingrich on his views of education. The full report and an audio file are available here.

Gingrich would return most of the power of the Department of Education and send it back to "states, local communities, and citizens." He also opposes a national core curriculum.

Truth in American Education Launches

Figuring out the whole story on education reform is difficult and very confusing. The media is doing a very poor job keeping the public informed. Finally, the void is being filled. Truth in American Education (TAE) launches today as a one-stop location where all the pieces and parts of education reform policies are available for non-educators to understand.

TAE is made up of highly knowledgeable citizens from across the United States, whose common unity is a deep concern over the impact of current policies on students, parent rights, local control, and privacy.

No parent, community member, or taxpayer should have to spend the hours I did to understand the scope and impact of education reform.

I endorse it as a highly useful location for information and it is, as far as I know, the only one of its kind. Grumpy Educators is a TAE Network Participant.

Read the information and form your own opinion.

Check it out at: www.truthinamericaneducation.org