Education Revolution – Alternative Education Resource Organization – Page 121

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Brooklyn Free School Has Two Openings.

Maternity leave substitute teacher

Brooklyn Free School is now accepting applications for a maternity leave substitute teacher for the first half of the 2015-2016 school year. We seek a teacher who is a self-starter, energetic, creative and highly motivated, who can establish positive relationships with parents and colleagues. Applicants must have teaching experience working with children between the ages of 7 and 11 and an interest in actively and joyfully engaging with young learners in multiple ways.

The school is located in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. The substitute will report to work on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 – Friday, December 18, 2015. Compensation is $150/day, with two paid personal/sick days and paid school holidays. Teachers are expected to work full time, including attending two evening parent meetings.

Brooklyn Free School engages students and staff in democratic decision-making and problem solving. We honor student choice and facilitate student centered learning through play and exploration, constructivist teaching, collaborative course work and self-directed student initiatives. We support social and emotional development through conflict mediation, personal reflection, diversity awareness and community responsibility. For more information visit our website: www.brooklynfreeschool.org

We seek a staff that reflects the diversity of our community. Candidates of color are encouraged to apply.

To Apply: Submit a cover letter, current resume, three references, including one from an educational supervisor, and any additional information you think we should consider in evaluating you as a candidate. Strong applications will succinctly address the following questions:

What makes you a strong candidate for the position?
What assets/skills/knowledge would you bring to this position?
What challenges do you anticipate and how do expect to address these challenges?

All materials and inquiries need to be submitted electronically as an attachment or in the body of an email to hiring@brooklynfreeschool.org.
The deadline to receive full consideration is Friday April 10th, 2014.
All candidates will be informed if they were selected for a first-round interview on a rolling basis through April 24th, with an anticipated hiring decision made by May 15th.
Brooklyn Free School is an equal opportunity employer.

Early childhood/elementary teacher

Brooklyn Free School is now accepting applications for an early childhood/elementary teacher for the 2015-2016 school year. We seek a teacher who is a self-starter, energetic, creative and highly motivated, who can establish positive relationships with parents and colleagues. Applicants must have teaching experience working with children between the ages of 4 and 11 and an interest in actively and joyfully engaging with young learners in multiple ways. Priority consideration will be given to applicants with preK teaching experience.

The school is located in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Teachers receive an annual salary of approximately $42,000 and employee health insurance. Teachers will report to work on Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Teachers are expected to work full time, including 5-10 evenings for occasional meetings and events. Teachers receive time off for all school holidays and breaks and during the summer months.

We seek a staff that reflects the diversity of our community. Candidates of color are encouraged to apply.

a. What makes you a strong candidate for the position?
b. What assets/skills/knowledge would you bring to this position?
d. What challenges do you anticipate and how do expect to address these challenges?

Kathy McCullagh

Education Director

718 499-2707

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Alternative Preschool Seeks Assistant Teacher

Wildflowers Playschool, a small, play-based, child-centered preschool based out of Putney Vermont is looking for a part-time assistant teacher to join us for our fun-filled 2015-2016 school year. The position is for approximately 21 hrs a week, Mon-Thursdays. School breaks off. There is a 1 hr a week teacher meeting once a week and some outside planning time expected. The position starts September 14th 2015.

We are looking for someone who is reliable, patient, intuitive, fun, loves children, is interested in alternative education, and enjoys celebrating arts, movement and music with children.

The pay is $11/hr for the 130-day school year, including 3-paid sick/personal days, and in addition some money towards professional development.

First Aid/CPR training is required. Some knowledge of alternative education models is preferred, but an eagerness to learn is wonderful. Education majors preferred but not necessary. Preferred that you have already taken Child Development but if you have not it must be taken in the Fall for us to align with state requirements. This is an opportunity for someone who wants to see the beauty of child-directed learning.

Check out our school philosophy at Wildflowersplayschool.com

Please contact Wildflowersplayschool@gmail.com with your resume, letter of intent, and 3 letters of reference by April 16th.

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Huge Opt-Out Rally: AERO’s Stand

By Jerry Mintz

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On March 9th I was in the audience at a huge anti-testing, opt-out rally at LIU/Post's Tilles Center. You can read about the details of the event here. There was a second, even bigger rally the next day. We are against high stakes testing and have provided AERO member schools as a refuge from them for the past two years. We will do that again this year. You can see last year's schools here. Let us know if you want your school added to the list.

Many people in the public are understandably confused about all the fuss over the Common Core Testing. I agreed with almost all the criticisms made in Diane Ravich's rousing speech. But it important to note that AERO is not aligned with any "side" in this debate.

There are basically two "sides" in this fight. On the one side there are President Obama, his education Secretary, Arnie Duncan, Bill Gates, hedge fund managers, governors such as Andrew Cuomo, etc. They are sometimes under the banner of the Democrats for Education Reform. The say that the public school system is "broken" and they know how to fix it. Their plan involves forcing testing on all students so they can weed out bad teachers and close bad schools. They plan to replace them mostly with independently managed charter schools. To accomplish this they have supported high stakes testing, the Common Core Curriculum, and the No Child Left Behind act. It is interesting that, according to the criteria created in that act, virtually all schools everywhere are failing at this point!

On the other side are teachers and teacher unions. They believe that first group has created a great conspiracy to take over the public school system and privatize it, for their own financial gain. They are against high stakes testing and the common core curriculum, and an increasing number of parents are being drawn into this.

We believe that each side has some good points, but we are on neither side. We are on the side of the students! That means that AERO believes that children are natural learners and therefore that education should be learner centered. It should be built on the interest of the learner. We outlined our stand on this in a previous issue of this e newsletter.

So we believe that fundamental changes need to be made in the education system to make it more learner-centered and empowering to students. We don't believe that high stakes testing or closing down existing schools and replacing them with schools operating on the same top-down system is the answer, but we are not against the concept of charters. We do believe that many schools that are AERO members do have the answers and are models for what is possible. These include public alternatives such as Jefferson County Open School in CO, the Lehman Alternative in NY (Dave Lehman will be a presenter at the AERO conference), and non-elitist independent alternatives with a sliding-scale tuition such as Brooklyn Free School, the Agile Learning Center, and Mosaic School. You can see hundreds more on our lists of member schools and democratic schools.

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CASA Middle School is Looking for Teachers

CASA Middle School is a district public school looking to hire dynamic and passionate educators who love teaching, children, and believe in changing the world! We are looking for those who possess a growth mindset and hold an unwavering belief that all children can achieve at high levels if the adults create an environment for them to do so. The people we are looking to hire are self sufficient, no excuse educators who are willing to do whatever it takes to drive student achievement toward 21st century competencies. Lastly, we are looking for leaders who are relentless about learning and getting better everyday, working collaboratively, building relationships with parents and students, and implementing ideas to transform school and community. We are working to become one of the best middle schools in the world and we need great educators to make that happen.

Additional Qualifications might Include: