Guest Post: Tough Educational Challenges Make for Bad 'Reforms'
By John ThompsonThere is an old saying that, "Tough cases make bad law." Similarly, the New York Department of Education, due to its size, is a tough educational challenge. Ordinarily, Eric Nadelstern's "The Evolution of School Support Networks in New York City" would primarily interest policy wonks, but since the architects of New York City's "reforms" have tried to impose them on the rest of the country, this acronym-packed account of governance squabbles holds lessons for all educators. It also helps explain why so many bad educational policies are being imposed on our nation's schools.
According to Nadelstern, the bad old "status quo," which dominated the NYC schools from 1968 to 2003, was a bunch of "fiefdoms," that rewarded
Guest Post: Linda Sutton to Washington State Voters
By Linda SuttonDefeated in 1996, 2000, and 2004, the Charter school industry will NOT give up. Another initiative is scheduled for this year's ballot. Unfortunately, the AP Sunday article begins with "some research has found" and spins in favor of charters.
Washingtonians were right in voting down this idea three times, and I would urge another NO vote. Coming from California, I witnessed the devastation to public schools caused by the corporate push to privatize public schools.
Of course, cutting the budgets, demonizing teachers, and trashing unions help make "bad" schools a self-fulfilling prophesy. And the public and parents, disgusted with what is left in these money-starved and dumbed-down curriculums (caused by teach-to-the-test), grasp for any straw of hope. Thus, the corporate-driven propaganda constantly tells them that charters are the answer.
The racist element that is played in this sales effort is the idea that charters are "especially good at helping