The Biggest Lie about Unions
A reader responds to someone who lambasted the unions for preventing the firing of bad teachers:
Only poor administrators can’t fire poor teachers. There has never been a union contract anywhere, ever that didn’t allow for a competent principal to remove an incompetent tenured teacher. And it’s even easier to just non-renew a loser before they become tenured. This is the biggest of all the lies told about unionized teachers.
Only poor administrators can’t fire poor teachers. There has never been a union contract anywhere, ever that didn’t allow for a competent principal to remove an incompetent tenured teacher. And it’s even easier to just non-renew a loser before they become tenured. This is the biggest of all the lies told about unionized teachers.
A Brave State School Board Member
Lottie Beebe, an elected member of the state school board in Louisiana, spoke out bravely at the last meeting.
She decried the privatization of public education.
She questioned why the state was spending nearly $1 million to bring in ill-trained TFA members even as
She decried the privatization of public education.
She questioned why the state was spending nearly $1 million to bring in ill-trained TFA members even as
What Do Teachers Do Best?
A good post by Glen Brown on his blog.
It explains very simply what teachers do best.
It explains very simply what teachers do best.
How Is a School Like Milk?
Jeb Bush spoke to the Republican National Convention on his favorite subject: how to save American education by privatizing it.
Bush said that choosing a school should be like buying milk.
This came from a newspaper report:
Bush said that choosing a school should be like buying milk.
This came from a newspaper report:
- “Everywhere in our lives, we get the chance to choose,” he said in aprepared version of his remarks sent
Take Action Now to Save Public Education
A reader suggested I post this from my website:
http://www.dianeravitch.com/action.html
http://www.dianeravitch.com/action.html
A Message to Teachers
Mark Naison writes that teachers are the nation’s unsung heroes.
He says:
….in spite of the forces arrayed against you, do not give up or
give in, because you are all that stands between our children and
dehumanization . There is no metric that can measure love, there is no
metric that can measure compassion, there is no metric that can measure
imagination, there is no metric that can measure humor.
You are our hope, You are our future.
Stay true, stay strong. Someday the nation will recognize that your
vision, and your best practices, are the only sure path to improving
our schools.
He says:
….in spite of the forces arrayed against you, do not give up or
give in, because you are all that stands between our children and
dehumanization . There is no metric that can measure love, there is no
metric that can measure compassion, there is no metric that can measure
imagination, there is no metric that can measure humor.
You are our hope, You are our future.
Stay true, stay strong. Someday the nation will recognize that your
vision, and your best practices, are the only sure path to improving
our schools.
Student Protest Video Disappears
Yesterday I posted a video of students protesting against StudentsFirst.
The students carried signs and spoke on camera.
They objected to that organization’s support for high-stakes testing and for charters invading their communities.
The students carried signs and spoke on camera.
They objected to that organization’s support for high-stakes testing and for charters invading their communities.
What Is Ouroboros?
In response to a post defining a failing school, Paul Thomas tweeted a definition of current school reform, as exemplified by the ruinous policies of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. It is called “ouroboros.” See here for further explanation.
Why Are “No Excuses” Schools Only for the Poor?
Jersey Jazzman heard Condoleeza Rice declare that “education is the civil rights issue of our time” and he wondered, why not say “civil rights is the civil rights issue of our time”?
He is especially disturbed by the idea that so many reformers are promoting a kind of schooling for poor children that they would find intolerable for their own. The people who fund corporate reform don’t want no-excuses
He is especially disturbed by the idea that so many reformers are promoting a kind of schooling for poor children that they would find intolerable for their own. The people who fund corporate reform don’t want no-excuses
What Is a Failing School?
After a decade of No Child Left Behind and three years of Race to the Top, officials are getting much better at identifying “failing schools.”
Now we know.
A failing school is one with low test scores and low
Now we know.
A failing school is one with low test scores and low
In New York, the Destruction Continues
New York state published a list of schools based on measures like test scores and graduation rates. At the top are “reward” schools. At the bottom are “priority” schools.
This is the amazing discovery. The schools that enroll mostly white and Asian students in affluent neighborhoods are doing a great job; they get a reward. The schools that enroll mostly black and Hispanic students in poor neighborhoods are doing a bad job; they are in line to get sanctions, interventions.
Bruce Baker did a statistical analysis, posted here. He called the state’s methods “junk science.”
This is the amazing discovery. The schools that enroll mostly white and Asian students in affluent neighborhoods are doing a great job; they get a reward. The schools that enroll mostly black and Hispanic students in poor neighborhoods are doing a bad job; they are in line to get sanctions, interventions.
Bruce Baker did a statistical analysis, posted here. He called the state’s methods “junk science.”
A Superintendent Added to the Honor Roll
Jere Hochman is superintendent of the Bedford School District in New York state. I am adding his name to the highly elite honor roll of superintendents. Hochman understands that a school functions best as a community. He has created an evaluation system for teachers that will take the pressure away from “teaching to the test.” New York State requires that all districts judge teachers in this way: 20% based on state tests; 20% on
The Hero Superintendent from Maryland
I am starting an honor roll for hero superintendents.
As of now, there are four.
If you know of others, nominate them with
As of now, there are four.
If you know of others, nominate them with
Bring Back Childhood
My children went to a school where the kindergarten had a doll corner, a sandbox, a place to build a city with blocks and toys, and lots of other play stations.
Their teachers believed that play is children’s work.
I might add that they became skilled readers and writers and have productive lives.
There is no reason to banish childhood.
Exploration and curiosity come naturally to children. They want to know. They want to figure things out.
Their teachers believed that play is children’s work.
I might add that they became skilled readers and writers and have productive lives.
There is no reason to banish childhood.
Exploration and curiosity come naturally to children. They want to know. They want to figure things out.
Paul Thomas Explains Why “No Excuses” Fails
Paul Thomas is an articulate and prolific critic of the status quo of free market reforms.
In a new article, he analyzes the nature of “no excuses” schooling and why it fails.
Thomas says that the debate about metrics is irrelevant. Getting higher test scores and graduation rates, he argues, doesn’t matter so much as how those rates are produced.
He writes:
The education reform debate is fueled by a seemingly endless and even fruitless point-counterpoint among the
In a new article, he analyzes the nature of “no excuses” schooling and why it fails.
Thomas says that the debate about metrics is irrelevant. Getting higher test scores and graduation rates, he argues, doesn’t matter so much as how those rates are produced.
He writes:
The education reform debate is fueled by a seemingly endless and even fruitless point-counterpoint among the
Reformers Target Teacher Education
My friends at The Chalkface have thrown themselves into the fight to support public education, with a radio show, videos, and blogs.
Now they let you know–in language you won’ t hear from me–about the latest reformer attack on teacher education. The reformers want Arne Duncan to ignore the objections of major institutions of higher education. They want him to adopt regulations that would judge teacher education programs by the test scores of the
Now they let you know–in language you won’ t hear from me–about the latest reformer attack on teacher education. The reformers want Arne Duncan to ignore the objections of major institutions of higher education. They want him to adopt regulations that would judge teacher education programs by the test scores of the
About That Meeting at the White House
I posted the previous report about a meeting at the White House with Pennsylvania leaders because I thought you should read it. I felt frustrated reading it. I met at the White House in June 2010 with Roberto Rodriguez, Rahm Emanual and Melody Barnes, who was then the head of the Domestic Policy Council. I said all the same things. All they wanted to talk about was how Race to the Top would fix everything, the $1 billion they planned to
When Pennsylvanians Went to White House
Yinzercation
YINZER NATION + EDUCATION = YINZERCATION
The Elephant at the White House
— AUGUST 31, 2012
So there we were at the White House. Forty “education leaders” from Pennsylvania invited to meet with President Obama’s senior policy advisors as well as top staff at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The
Another Online Teacher of Physical Education Speaks Up
Are online schools doing a good job? Some readers have written to defend them.
The research is clear that students in online schools get lower test scores and have lower graduation rates. Andsee here. The virtual schools collect more tax dollars than it costs them for each student. Online instruction may be just right for some students, like the home-bound, or the athlete in training for the Olympics, or the child actor with no time to go to school, or some other special cases.
But the online corporations have an incentive to recruit more and more students, because each student
The research is clear that students in online schools get lower test scores and have lower graduation rates. Andsee here. The virtual schools collect more tax dollars than it costs them for each student. Online instruction may be just right for some students, like the home-bound, or the athlete in training for the Olympics, or the child actor with no time to go to school, or some other special cases.
But the online corporations have an incentive to recruit more and more students, because each student
