How Good Were the Good Old Days?
Jamie Vollmer is the author of the famous Blueberry Story. He was working for an ice cream company that won recognition for making the best ice cream in America. Buoyed by success, he would go to conferences and decry the sorry state of American education, based on what he knew of business.
One day, when speaking to a group of teachers, someone asked him what his company would do if he got a shipment of damaged blueberries. He promptly replied that the shipment would be thrown away. The teacher
One day, when speaking to a group of teachers, someone asked him what his company would do if he got a shipment of damaged blueberries. He promptly replied that the shipment would be thrown away. The teacher
An Open Letter to the White House
Jessie B. Ramey attended a meeting at the White House with a delegation of Pennsylvania educators.
Ramey wrote an open letter to Roberto Rodriguez, President Obama’s education advisor, asking the White House to stop berating educators and public education.
Based on the story in The Atlantic claiming that Michelle Rhee is “taking over the Democratic Party,” it becomes imperative for President Obama to distance himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher ideas.
Does President Obama support charter schools, like Rhee? Yes.
Does President Obama support for-profit schools, like Rhee? He hasn’t said.
Does President Obama worry about a dual school system in American cities, with charters for the haves and public schools for the have-nots? We need to know.
Does President Obama want entire school staffs to be fired because of low test scores? He said no at the Convention but he supported the firing of the staff at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island and his Race to the Top turnaround strategy supports mass firings. Does he approve or disapprove?
Does President Obama truly want to stop the odious practice of teaching to the test? Will he explain how teachers can avoid teaching to the test if their pay and their job depends on student test scores?
President Obama must let the nation’s teachers know that he is with them. He can do so by disassociating himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher agenda, as well as from policies pushed by his own Race to the Top.
And he could go to Chicago and tell Rahm Emanuel to settle with the teachers and do what is right for the children of Chicago.
Ramey wrote an open letter to Roberto Rodriguez, President Obama’s education advisor, asking the White House to stop berating educators and public education.
Based on the story in The Atlantic claiming that Michelle Rhee is “taking over the Democratic Party,” it becomes imperative for President Obama to distance himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher ideas.
Does President Obama support charter schools, like Rhee? Yes.
Does President Obama support for-profit schools, like Rhee? He hasn’t said.
Does President Obama worry about a dual school system in American cities, with charters for the haves and public schools for the have-nots? We need to know.
Does President Obama want entire school staffs to be fired because of low test scores? He said no at the Convention but he supported the firing of the staff at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island and his Race to the Top turnaround strategy supports mass firings. Does he approve or disapprove?
Does President Obama truly want to stop the odious practice of teaching to the test? Will he explain how teachers can avoid teaching to the test if their pay and their job depends on student test scores?
President Obama must let the nation’s teachers know that he is with them. He can do so by disassociating himself from Rhee’s anti-teacher agenda, as well as from policies pushed by his own Race to the Top.
And he could go to Chicago and tell Rahm Emanuel to settle with the teachers and do what is right for the children of Chicago.
A Hero of Public Education in Washington State
State Representative Marci Maxwell is a hero who joins our honor roll for bravely standing up for public education.
She wrote an article in which she urged voters to reject an initiative to authorize charter schools in Washington State.
She pointed out that the state’s voters have turned down charters three times
She wrote an article in which she urged voters to reject an initiative to authorize charter schools in Washington State.
She pointed out that the state’s voters have turned down charters three times
A Hero for Public Education in Los Angeles
Steve Zimmer, a board member of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is a hero for public education. He joins the honor roll.
He has stood up to the powerful privatization lobby, which wants to hand more and more public schools over to private management.
Zimmer has the temerity to ask where the charter movement is going in Los Angeles. What is the end game?
He has stood up to the powerful privatization lobby, which wants to hand more and more public schools over to private management.
Zimmer has the temerity to ask where the charter movement is going in Los Angeles. What is the end game?
A Teacher Without a Classroom
In New York City, when large schools close, many teachers are left without assignments.
Through no fault of their own, with no poor job evaluation, they join the Absent Teacher Reserve.
They float through the system, from school to school, hoping someone will hire them.
They are paid, but they are treated to
Through no fault of their own, with no poor job evaluation, they join the Absent Teacher Reserve.
They float through the system, from school to school, hoping someone will hire them.
They are paid, but they are treated to
How the Best and Brightest See Themselves and Others
You know the old saying that if you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Many of the reform leaders went to elite colleges where admission was determined by test scores; they are really good at testing, and that is the perspective through which they view education. As they emphasize the importance of testing, they validate their own life story. Testing worked for them, it should work for everyone.
The problem, of course, is that norm-referenced tests are built on normal curves. Only a limited number can be on the top. Which is okay if you are among the best and brightest.
A reader comments:
The key to understanding the best and brightest mentality is to understand what it means to be a technocrat.
Many of the reform leaders went to elite colleges where admission was determined by test scores; they are really good at testing, and that is the perspective through which they view education. As they emphasize the importance of testing, they validate their own life story. Testing worked for them, it should work for everyone.
The problem, of course, is that norm-referenced tests are built on normal curves. Only a limited number can be on the top. Which is okay if you are among the best and brightest.
A reader comments:
The key to understanding the best and brightest mentality is to understand what it means to be a technocrat.
Chicago Teacher: Why I Am Striking
Superintendent J.C. Brizard says a strike will only hurt the kids.
This teacher tells Superintendent Brizard what really hurts the kids in Chicago public schools.
Why the CPS Strike Matters
A reader says:
My heart is sad for the kids and teachers in Chicago. Still, I’m hoping that something good comes of the strike – not just for teachers and kids but in our national conversation about education (or lack thereof). We need people, lots of them, to start talking about, voting for, and demanding that, as a nation, we commit ourselves (in word and deed) to a system of free, just, and forward minded public education – not testing, privatization schemes, or crazy accountability schemes that take the focus off of what really matters. We need real education – context specific, developmentally appropriate, child focused, forward thinking teaching and learning in every corner of this country that is full of professional educators, rich curriculum, and even richer experiences, community engagement, and family participation. If anyone thinks this strike is just another union “ploy” for higher pay or less “working time” they are sorely mistaken. And while workers should be entitled to protect their rights, the CPS strike is about the heart and soul of public schooling, the deprofessionalization of teachers, and the ways that the education “crisis” nation wide has been co-opted as a means of pushing privatization as the be-all-and-end-all solution to the “achievement gap”. Schools are not businesses, children are not widgets, and teachers are not robots or machines. Let’s start there.
Correction: Chicago Strike is On
My heart is sad for the kids and teachers in Chicago. Still, I’m hoping that something good comes of the strike – not just for teachers and kids but in our national conversation about education (or lack thereof). We need people, lots of them, to start talking about, voting for, and demanding that, as a nation, we commit ourselves (in word and deed) to a system of free, just, and forward minded public education – not testing, privatization schemes, or crazy accountability schemes that take the focus off of what really matters. We need real education – context specific, developmentally appropriate, child focused, forward thinking teaching and learning in every corner of this country that is full of professional educators, rich curriculum, and even richer experiences, community engagement, and family participation. If anyone thinks this strike is just another union “ploy” for higher pay or less “working time” they are sorely mistaken. And while workers should be entitled to protect their rights, the CPS strike is about the heart and soul of public schooling, the deprofessionalization of teachers, and the ways that the education “crisis” nation wide has been co-opted as a means of pushing privatization as the be-all-and-end-all solution to the “achievement gap”. Schools are not businesses, children are not widgets, and teachers are not robots or machines. Let’s start there.
Correction: Chicago Strike is On
My last post Said a strike is likely.
That was wrong.
From Ms. Katie:
Not likely. It’s happening. “In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket line.”-Lewis #CTU #FairContractNow
Chicago Talks Break Down, Strike Likely
That was wrong.
From Ms. Katie:
Not likely. It’s happening. “In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools. We will walk the picket line.”-Lewis #CTU #FairContractNow
Chicago Talks Break Down, Strike Likely
Latest report from Chicago.
Settlement talks break off.
Strike appears imminent.
First in 25 years.
Rahm quiet.
Wear red for Ed.
Chicago is first district in nation Where teachers have stood up to DFER, Stand for Children, other anti-union, pro-privatization, anti-teacher groups.
Settlement talks break off.
Strike appears imminent.
First in 25 years.
Rahm quiet.
Wear red for Ed.
Chicago is first district in nation Where teachers have stood up to DFER, Stand for Children, other anti-union, pro-privatization, anti-teacher groups.
Are People Poor Because They Make Bad Choices?
A good discussion of how the rightwing frames discussions of poverty.
The strategy is to personalize issues rather than seeing them in context of poverty or other frames. That way, writes Bill Boyle,
Need I say that whole corporate ed reform movement follows the same logic? Schools “under-perform” not because of the context of poverty, but because of their people issues. The need for reform is personalized, and we can blame the people involved. The solution? Rid the schools of “under-performing” teachers, rid the schools
The strategy is to personalize issues rather than seeing them in context of poverty or other frames. That way, writes Bill Boyle,
Need I say that whole corporate ed reform movement follows the same logic? Schools “under-perform” not because of the context of poverty, but because of their people issues. The need for reform is personalized, and we can blame the people involved. The solution? Rid the schools of “under-performing” teachers, rid the schools
Words of Wisdom from Paul Tough
Opting Out of the ‘Rug Rat Race’
For success in the long run, brain power helps, but what our kids really need to learn is grit
By PAUL TOUGH
We are living through a particularly anxious moment in the history of American parenting. In the nation’s big cities these days, the
Advice for Molly Ball, The Atlantic
Sharon Higgins, Oakland parent activist, suggests some reading for Molly Ball, who wrote about Michelle Rhee “taking over the Democratic Party.”
Ball must not be aware of the conversation between Bill Moyers and Bernie Sanders of a few days ago about what’s happened to the Democratic Party.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bernie-sanders-on-the-independent-in-politics/
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bernie-sanders-on-the-independent-in-politics/
Sanders explains: “So what you are looking at is a nation with a grotesquely unequal distribution of wealth and income, tremendous economic power on Wall Street, and now added to all of that is you have the big money interests, the billionaires and corporations now buying elections. This scares me very much. And I fear very much that if we don’t turn this around, Bill, we’re heading toward an oligarchic form of society.”
What Sanders did not touch on is how the billionaires and multimillionaires of both parties not only buy elections but use their foundations to control
FairTest: Give Arne a Warm Welcome
The nation’s leading anti-testing organization has issued a call to its supporters to turn out and welcome Secretary Duncan if he visits their communities on his cross-country bus tour.
Tell him why his teach-to-the-test policies are failing. Tell him why high-stakes testing is bad for the quality of education. Tell him that children need time to play and dance and sing, not just take test prep. Tell him that it is wrong to ditch physical education and the arts and recess for more testing.
Greet him warmly. Of course, the tour starts in Silicon Valley, where the edu-entrepreneurs are heavily
Tell him why his teach-to-the-test policies are failing. Tell him why high-stakes testing is bad for the quality of education. Tell him that children need time to play and dance and sing, not just take test prep. Tell him that it is wrong to ditch physical education and the arts and recess for more testing.
Greet him warmly. Of course, the tour starts in Silicon Valley, where the edu-entrepreneurs are heavily