Putting Children First in NYC?
A reader in New York City has been studying the New York City Department of Education website. She keeps coming up with intriguing findings. Here are some of them:
A recent post on Diane Ravitch’s blog and a recent article in the New York Times Magazine got me curious. I wondered: Do New York City’s education policy makers really put children first? Are they doing all they can to make sure every single student succeeds, no matter their social or economic environment? Do they follow their own rhetoric?
We know that they blame teachers when students living in deep poverty do not graduate high school. But what
A recent post on Diane Ravitch’s blog and a recent article in the New York Times Magazine got me curious. I wondered: Do New York City’s education policy makers really put children first? Are they doing all they can to make sure every single student succeeds, no matter their social or economic environment? Do they follow their own rhetoric?
We know that they blame teachers when students living in deep poverty do not graduate high school. But what
The Ohio Voucher Program Grows
One of the model laws circulated and advocated by the rightwing group ALEC is a voucher program for students with special needs.
ALEC, you may know, represents many of our nation’s major corporations. It has about 2,000 conservative state legislators as members and a few hundred corporate sponsors. ALEC crafted the “Stand Your Ground” law that the shooter invoked when he killed Trayvon Martin last spring in Florida. ALEC also crafted model legislation for
ALEC, you may know, represents many of our nation’s major corporations. It has about 2,000 conservative state legislators as members and a few hundred corporate sponsors. ALEC crafted the “Stand Your Ground” law that the shooter invoked when he killed Trayvon Martin last spring in Florida. ALEC also crafted model legislation for
Reformers’ Double Talk
A reader comments on the conflict between what reformers say and what they do:
Ironically, sometimes, what corporate sponsored “reformers” say they want is the exact opposite of what they really want.
For example, this week on Twitter, Arne Duncan was promoting student involvement in mock elections and said, “Watch the MyVoice National Mock Election 2012 PSA series, and get involved!” However, this is a man who believes in, and personally benefitted from, mayoral controlled education, which has meant recinding the democratic rights of citizens to vote for and elect their local school boards and, instead, turning education over to mayors who appoint puppet boards and Superintendents –which is how he got his job as CEO of schools in
Ironically, sometimes, what corporate sponsored “reformers” say they want is the exact opposite of what they really want.
For example, this week on Twitter, Arne Duncan was promoting student involvement in mock elections and said, “Watch the MyVoice National Mock Election 2012 PSA series, and get involved!” However, this is a man who believes in, and personally benefitted from, mayoral controlled education, which has meant recinding the democratic rights of citizens to vote for and elect their local school boards and, instead, turning education over to mayors who appoint puppet boards and Superintendents –which is how he got his job as CEO of schools in
Idiotic Pre-K Performance Assessments
A reader tells us what is expected of Pre-K teachers in New York CitY, where teachers must administer laborious tasks which are filed away and forgotten.
Is Education the Civil Rights Issue of Our Day?
Condoleeza Rice asserted in her speech to the Republican National Convention that education is the civil rights issue of our day. And the solution–music to GOP ears–is school choice. This echoes the findings of a report issued by a task force she co-chaired with Joel Klein, which said that US public education is a very grave threat to national security. (See my review of that report here.) And the solution: charters, vouchers, and the Common Core.
Rice was echoing Mitt Romney, who said in May that “education is the civil rights issue of our era” and the
Rice was echoing Mitt Romney, who said in May that “education is the civil rights issue of our era” and the
This May Sound Familiar
A reader in the U.K. sent this editorial about business leaders’ complaints about poorly educated workers. He thought it was interesting to note that the same laments are heard on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. I have noticed that such laments are often concurrent with a big push to outsource jobs to countries that pay a small fraction of what local workers expect to be paid.
Yet, as I read the editorial, I remembered reading a few years ago that Sir Michael Barber, late of McKinsey, now
Yet, as I read the editorial, I remembered reading a few years ago that Sir Michael Barber, late of McKinsey, now
Why Public Education?
Philosopher Walter Feinberg recently wrote to explain the “Idea of a Public Education” in Review of Research in Education. Feinberg gave me his permission to reproduce part of that essay here.
In this section, I will examine the major justification for substituting private, parental choice for a larger public good and show why this justification is inadequate. I will do this by reconsidering the idea of a public value, showing that it cannot be reduced to an aggregate of private desires, and then by distinguishing a number of
Tony Danza Apologizes to Every Teacher
Tony Danza did something amazing.
He put his Hollywood career on hold and taught English in a Philadelphia high school for a year.
He learned what every teacher knows.
It is really hard work.
Some kids don’t show up.
Some don’t try.
Some parents aren’t involved.
He discovered that everything he thought he knew was wrong.
Can the movie version be far behind?
We can all hope.
He put his Hollywood career on hold and taught English in a Philadelphia high school for a year.
He learned what every teacher knows.
It is really hard work.
Some kids don’t show up.
Some don’t try.
Some parents aren’t involved.
He discovered that everything he thought he knew was wrong.
Can the movie version be far behind?
We can all hope.
More CNN Deletions
This morning there were 66 comments following my interview with Randi Kaye.
Now there are 24.
More CNN hocus-pocus, now you see it, now you don’t.
What gives?
Now there are 24.
More CNN hocus-pocus, now you see it, now you don’t.
What gives?