Get Educated Links
Common Core Video
Please click on the link for a video and information regarding Common Core Assessments provided by the New York State Education Department.
Parent Guides to the Common Core Standards
This is a series of materials, websites and guides aimed at helping parents navigate the Common Core Standards.
Common Core Toolkit for Parents and Families
The Common Core Toolkit for Parents and Families is a collection of materials and resources that will help parents and families understand the New York State Common Core implementation. We encourage parents to lutilize these resources to gain a better understanding of this important work.
Ask NY teachers to sacrifice
New York is in the midst of the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. As a state, we face high unemployment, financial collapse and a deficit in excess of $9 billion.
To handle these unprecedented challenges, we must all be willing to make unprecedented compromises to find a solution that does the least harm to all.
Buffalo School Budget Offers Program Enhancements - Buffalo News
While higher-performing charter schools deal with politically motivated budget cuts, the Buffalo Public Schools will be offering "program enhancements" next year thanks to nearly $19 million in federal money and $9 million of charter-school money resulting from the state's charter-funding freeze.
Charter School Advocates Press for Federal Stimulus Money to Stave Off State Funding Freeze - N.Y. Daily News
The New York-based Center for Charter School Excellence is taking Pres. Barack Obama up on his word to support charter schools by pushing to allow charters to access federal stimulus money in the wake of the state budget cuts.
Charter School Payments by School District
This is the New York State Education Department's listing of each school district's per-pupil payment to charter schools.
Charter vs Anti-Charter square off in The Capital Press Room
Tom Carroll of the President of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability (Charter support) and Tim Kremer of the School Board’s Association (anti-charter) to discuss charters in New York State on The Capital Press Room.
Despite Gains, Charter School Is Told to Close
Accountability is a mantra of the charter schoolmovement. Students sign pledges at some schools to do their homework, and teachers owe their jobs to students’ gains on tests.
Discussion on the Race to the Top (RTTT) Funding
A conversation with the new Education Commissioner David Steiner about the ABCs of the Obama Administration’s Race for the Top, as well as the idea that the deadline for a grant application is the catalyst for policy change rather than public discourse. Click the link below to hear the Podcast.
Education reform topic featured on Oprah!
WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN": THE MOVIE THAT COULD REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICA'S SCHOOLS
In the wake of NY State Budget Cuts Charter Schools Rally
Media footage of what Queens charter schools are doing to end the freeze.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Education Funding Cuts Loom – Charter Schools Potential Targets; Contact Governor and State Legislators
The state legislature returned to Albany this week to consider Governor David Paterson’s $3.2 billion package of budget cuts for the current 2009-10 state fiscal year. Included in this package was a $480 million mid-year cut in state aid to school districts, which translates to a nearly $700 million school year cut (the school year ends three months after the state fiscal year).
Make EVERY school a Charter School
Improving public education: No issue is more entrenched in the wild and unruly machinations of New York State’s politics, nor is any issue more central to our economic recovery and our ability to be competitive in the global marketplace. The quality of public education is, indeed, the civil rights issue of our time.
Mixed Review for UFT Charter School: Time for Some Humility?
This afternoon, the Charter Schools Institute of SUNY presented its renewal recommendation for the UFT Charter School.* The recommendation is for a short-term renewal (three years instead of the maximum five). The school failed to achieve a full-term recommendation because it did not have a compelling and consistent record of meeting its academic achievement goals. Instead, its outcomes were mixed. But CSI concluded that it had put in place during the last two years the personnel and structure that are likely to lead to unambiguous success if given additional time. To sum up: good in some areas, weak in others, and a promising outlook for the future.
Morning Joe: Video Clip
Singer John Legend weighs in on Education Reform 101
NBC hosted Education Nation, a series of education reform newscasts.
New Report from the Center for Public Education Reviews the Facts Behind Charter Schools
For almost two decades, charter schools have evolved as a way to experiment with education innovations and provide public school choice. The charter school concept has attracted significant interest—and scrutiny—from the nation’s education leaders. While some hail charters as a model for raising student achievement, others are critical. But the public often has mistaken ideas about what charter schools are.
NY State Sen. Bill Perkins Struggles with the Facts
On MSNBC's Morning Joe, New York State Senator Bill Perkins recently tried to defend his opposition to charter schools. Unfortunately, Senator Perkins is standing in the way of more children and families having the choice of a quality public education. Senator Bill Perkins needs to know the facts. Let him know that you support charter schools and think that he should wake up to the facts that prove their success!
NYSUT takes on charter schools
Amid fierce controversy, New York State United Teachers slowly is making headway in unionizing charter school teachers.
President Obama discusses education reform on the Today Show.
Senate Stalemate Imperils Local Funding - Buffalo News
This article points to the many projects, programs and institutions caught in the crossfire by the leadership crisis in Albany`
Sundance Review: Waiting for Superman
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim in his latest film, Waiting for Superman, takes an even wider look at how we in America educate our children. Or, more specifically, how we've generally failed to educate our children.
Teachers are learning economic reality 101
Big wins at the bargaining table used to be the norm for the region's public school teachers, no matter how bad the economy was or how much those victories pained taxpayers.
But lately, teachers are learning a new, unpalatable lesson:
The Lottery (Movie Trailer)
In theatres May 7, 2010, based on the lives of four families in NYC who hope that they will be selected for enrollment at a charter school. “The Lottery” touches on all the issues vital not only to educational choice but to comprehensive education reform.
The Push-Back on Charter Schools
Two recent New York Times articles have described opposition to the thriving charter school movement in Harlem. An influential state senator, Bill Perkins, whose district has nearly 20 charter schools, is trying to block their expansion. Some public schools in the neighborhood are also fighting back, marketing themselves to compete with the charters.
The Union War on Charter Schools - Wall Street Journal
A thoughtful piece that ran in the April 16, 2009, Wall Street Journal about unions' role in the recent attacks on charter schools. Editorialist Jay Greene wonders why charter schools should be penalized even though "the highest quality studies have consistently shown that students learn more in charter schools."
Waiting for "Superman" makes the front page of TIME Magazine!
WNY charter school parents urge governor to end funding freeze
Governor David Paterson’s efforts to balance the state budget prompted a funding freeze for New York charter schools. Western New York Charter Schools lost $17million dollars last year and that amount is expected to jump to $24million next year. YNN’s Nicki Mayo reports local charter school advocates are asking the governor to thaw the funding freeze.