The Importance of Humor
In tough times, it is important to laugh.
Laughter is good for you.
Some people say it extends your life.
If you see any great videos or websites that help educators laugh at the absurdities now piled on their heads, please send them to me and I’ll share them.
Here is a terrific website created by a teacher to laugh about the nutty ideas now popular among policymakers.
The “hero” of this website is a make-belief upper-crust reformer who is totally clueless.
Enjoy.
Laughter is good for you.
Some people say it extends your life.
If you see any great videos or websites that help educators laugh at the absurdities now piled on their heads, please send them to me and I’ll share them.
Here is a terrific website created by a teacher to laugh about the nutty ideas now popular among policymakers.
The “hero” of this website is a make-belief upper-crust reformer who is totally clueless.
Enjoy.
Are Charters Hurting Private Schools?
The libertarian CATO Institute, which supports vouchers and school choice, today published a study of the way that charters are affecting private schools.
Briefly, charters are drawing many students from private schools. In urban districts, about 1/3 of charter elementary students come from private schools (mostly Catholic), causing these schools to be in deep financial distress. CATO writes that charters:
are wreaking havoc on private education. Charter schools take a significant portion of their students from private schools, causing a drop in private enrollment, driving some schools entirely out of business, and thereby raising
Briefly, charters are drawing many students from private schools. In urban districts, about 1/3 of charter elementary students come from private schools (mostly Catholic), causing these schools to be in deep financial distress. CATO writes that charters:
are wreaking havoc on private education. Charter schools take a significant portion of their students from private schools, causing a drop in private enrollment, driving some schools entirely out of business, and thereby raising
The Silent Crisis in Higher Education
This is a shocking article. It describes the new world of academia, where adjuncts may be paid $10,000 a year to teach five courses. They get no benefits.
It was written by a woman who just received her Ph.D. in anthropology and is wondering if she will get a job and wondering how an academic can survive. After all, $10,000 a year is well below the poverty line.
Most people who teach in higher education are adjuncts. They are sometimes called “contingent faculty.”
It was written by a woman who just received her Ph.D. in anthropology and is wondering if she will get a job and wondering how an academic can survive. After all, $10,000 a year is well below the poverty line.
Most people who teach in higher education are adjuncts. They are sometimes called “contingent faculty.”
Philly Mayor: No Difference Among Public, Private, Religious Schools?
The mayor of Philadelphia says there is no difference among different kinds of schools, be they public, private, religious, charter, whatever.
He sees no special responsibility to support public education.
In a sense it is understandable since the people of Philadelphia lost control of their schools to the state years
He sees no special responsibility to support public education.
In a sense it is understandable since the people of Philadelphia lost control of their schools to the state years
Whose Side Are You On?
We know about the people who are using “reform” as their stepping stone to fame and fortune.
We know about those who demand more testing, more standardization, more dehumanization.
We know about the policymakers and pundits who think that test scores are the object of education.
Nothing else matters to them.
What do we know about the administrators and teachers who look on their students as if
We know about those who demand more testing, more standardization, more dehumanization.
We know about the policymakers and pundits who think that test scores are the object of education.
Nothing else matters to them.
What do we know about the administrators and teachers who look on their students as if
How to Win the War of Ideas
I am often asked what teachers and parents can do to get across how absurd the “reform” ideas are.
Most important is to reach the public, to enable the public to understand what is happening, and how little evidence there is for any of the reformers’ claims or their strategies.
But here is another tack.
The most effective tool of all may be humor.
The New South Wales Teachers Federation in Australia has begun to create videos to spoof the nonsense that
Most important is to reach the public, to enable the public to understand what is happening, and how little evidence there is for any of the reformers’ claims or their strategies.
But here is another tack.
The most effective tool of all may be humor.
The New South Wales Teachers Federation in Australia has begun to create videos to spoof the nonsense that
About the KIPP Debate: Be Nice
Defenders of KIPP sent two comments in response to a post I wrote calling on KIPP to take over an entire small district. Both comments, one from Jonathan Schorr and another from Dr. Daniel Musher, questioned my integrity as a researcher and scholar (and implicitly, as a person, since the insults suggested that I lie, distort and manipulate data).
Be it noted that my post contained no personal insults of any kind. I did not question the integrity of those associated with KIPP. In fact, I said that I like Michael Feinberg, the co-founder of KIPP, who was very welcoming when I visited Houston in 2010. On the few occasions when I have written about KIPP, I have spoken
Be it noted that my post contained no personal insults of any kind. I did not question the integrity of those associated with KIPP. In fact, I said that I like Michael Feinberg, the co-founder of KIPP, who was very welcoming when I visited Houston in 2010. On the few occasions when I have written about KIPP, I have spoken
Brave Maine Superintendent Rebukes Governor
Maine Governor Paul LePage has made a name for himself insulting Maine educators and proposing vouchers, charters, and evaluating teachers by student test scores. One superintendent, Paul Perzanoski of Brunswick, decided he had had enough.
In his back to school letter to school staff (not parents or children), he proposed that the governor take the SAT and publish his scores.
This is how the local press described his letter and the reaction to it.
“The legislators passed new laws on bullying this spring but they failed to include the Blaine House,” Perzanoski
In his back to school letter to school staff (not parents or children), he proposed that the governor take the SAT and publish his scores.
This is how the local press described his letter and the reaction to it.
“The legislators passed new laws on bullying this spring but they failed to include the Blaine House,” Perzanoski
Alfred North Whitehead Speaks to Us Today
A colleague in Korea wrote to exchange ideas about civic education. In the course of our exchange, my friend offered these astonishingly relevant quotes from the esteemed philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. Let me be frank and say that I did not resonate to his ideas when I first read them half a century ago. I do now. These thoughts apply with equal force not only to our typical standardized approach to public schools but also to the charter chain approach:
“And I may say in passing that no educational system is possible unless every question directly asked of a pupil at any examination is
either framed or modified by the actual teacher of that pupil in that subject.
Rick Perry Appoints New Texas Commissioner of Education
Governor Rick Perry has appointed Michael Williams to be the new state Commissioner of Education in Texas.
Mr. Williams is a former general counsel to the Republican Party.
Most recently he served on the commission that regulates the oil and gas industry.
He was born in Midland, Texas, the same town as George W. Bush.
Mr. Williams doesn’t believe in climate change.
Mr. Williams is a former general counsel to the Republican Party.
Most recently he served on the commission that regulates the oil and gas industry.
He was born in Midland, Texas, the same town as George W. Bush.
Mr. Williams doesn’t believe in climate change.