Diane Ravitch's blog
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Diane Ravitch's blog
Which Liberal Pundits Attack Teachers?
In this article, five “liberal” pundits are cited who never side with teachers. If the article had looked beyond the “liberal” side, it would have added Jonathan Alter and David Brooks, who are firmly on the side of the “reformers” who blame teachers and their unions for all the ills of American education. Alter appeared [...]
Is It Time to Sell K12 Stock Short?
This investment service says the trend is downward, and it’s a good time to go short on K12. High student churn, poor results, increasing government scrutiny do not augur well for the future of for-profit virtual schooling.
About Those “Outrageous” Teacher Salaries
I read recently that the average teacher salary in Boston is $81,000. In Chicago, the average salary is $71,000. Nationally, the average salary for teachers is about $51,000. The cost of living in different regions and cities affects teachers’ salaries. Many in the media think that it is an outrage that teachers are paid “so [...]
How Did a Good Teacher Get a So-So Rating?
One of our readers got his score from the state education department. He is in a state of shock and rage: Today I’m angry, disgusted, demoralized,and frustrated. I am also firmly resolved to fight back against the tsunami of junk ideology that all good educators face these days. I received my ‘growth score’ today from [...]
Secrets of Charter Success
A fascinating article in The Notebook in Philadelphia describes a charter school that has found a unique way to limit the kind of students who apply. Applications are available only one day in the year. They are not available online. They are not available at the school. They are available only at a private golf [...]
When Education Doesn’t Matter
Louisiana under Bobby Jindal is diminishing the value of certification. State Commissioner of Education John White (ex-TFA) thinks that nothing more is needed than a college diploma to be a teacher. Extra degrees, like a masters or a doctorate, will not be recognized or rewarded in this state. In other words, they want students to [...]
More Detail on Judge’s Ruling in Wisconsin
A friend in Wisconsin sent this just now. “Colas ruled that the law violated workers’ constitutional rights to free speech, free association and equal representation under the law by capping union workers’ raises but not those of their nonunion counterparts. The judge also ruled that the law violated the “home rule” clause of the state [...]
Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down Law Eliminating Collective Bargaining
There will surely be an appeal, and more rounds of litigation. But for the moment, there is good news. A county judge in Wisconsin struck down the law promoted by Governor Scott Walker to strip most public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights. All those trying so hard to drive a stake in the [...]
Why Big Business Intervened in Chicago with an Ad
I received an email from a parent who is also an educator in Chicago. She wondered about the identity of a group called Education Reform Now, which placed ads in the local media undermining the teachers’ strike. ERN is part of a group called Democrats for Education Reform. DFER is funded by Wall Street hedge [...]
A Science Teacher Says: VAM Is Obviously Unscientific
A reader points out that value-added assessment is fundamentally flawed. It is unscientific and lacks validity and reliability. It will narrow the curriculum and promote cheating. Yet Race to the Top has pushed it, Secretary Duncan lauds it, and almost everyone (except education researchers) thinks it must be right, because…everyone is doing it. But it’s [...]
Teachers: Come to a Meeting! The Latest Thing Is Here!
Arthur Goldstein, veteran English teacher in Queens, New York, is tired of all those meetings and all those consultants, all those well-paid traveling professional developers who waste his time with the latest Big Thing. Until the next Big Thing comes along. He wishes they would leave him alone and let him teach.
A Seminal Round-up on VAM–and Why It Doesn’t Work
Two years ago, the Economic Policy Institute drafted a joint statement by a group of prominent scholars of education and assessment. Well before the current crisis over value-added assessment, this ad hoc group warned that there were many reasons to doubt the value of test-based evaluation. Since that report was published there have been many [...]
Great Column by Eric Zorn on Misuse of Tests
Please read this article. Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune has taken the time to read research. This is especially important because the Trib has been hostile to the CTU strike. I am especially pleased that he read Gary Rubinstein’s careful dissection of VAM in New York City. Gary’s posts should go viral. He shows [...]
Richard Rothstein Explains Flaws of VAM
Richard Rothstein explains that VAM is an unproven methodology with negative consequences for the quality of education. Rothstein says he is not surprised that Chicago teachers oppose its use. He wonders why other teachers have not gone on strike for the same reason. It has not worked anywhere. It narrows the curriculum. It relies too [...]
The Gates Foundation Responds to Anthony Cody
The Gates Foundation, on its blog-site called “Impatient Optimists,” responds to Anthony Cody’s searing critique of the foundation’s support for market-based reforms. Please read Anthony’s post, then the Gates’ response. Also read Anthony’s post about poverty, and Gates’ response. I think it is shameful that the foundation’s representative begin by questioning whether Anthony believes that [...]
Which Job Is Tougher: Teacher or Rocket Scientist?
A reader comments in response to a post complaining about the quality of teachers: I am one of those people with an elite STEM degree. I have volunteered at school as a guest speaker, a parent-chaperone, and occasionally given a lesson in an afterschool program. I am nowhere near as good as the professional teachers, [...]
Why Do Conservatives Love High-Stakes Testing?
Marcus Winters recommends using value-added assessment to get rid of “ineffective” teachers. His paper was published by the conservative Manhattan Institute, which regularly issues his and others’ critiques of unions, tenure, seniority and any kind of job protection for teachers. Many studies–and practical experience–have demonstrated that value-added assessment is unstable, unreliable and inaccurate. A teacher [...]
Why the “Nixon-to-China” Tactic in Education?
John Thompson has a good article at Huffington Post asking why President Obama did a “Nixon-to-China” maneuver with education. That phrase “Nixon-to-China” comes up again and again, and Thompson makes a telling point: It describes a political decision, not an education policy. The President’s education policy is indeed very little different from that of the [...]
What Are We Doing to the Little Ones?
A pre-K teacher in New York City expresses alarm at the proliferation of developmentally inappropriate mandates: The debate is already on about what constitutes quality early childhood education and, private schools not withstanding, in NYC and thanks to NYS for including common core in pre-k, it is not a good thing. In our continuing effort [...]
Mired in the Past?
A reader responds to a post that contained advice from Margaret Haley, written almost a century ago: It’s truly amazing how little has changed in America’s fundamental view of education in the past century. Despite all the changes in the outward trappings of schooling, i.e., technology and science, we keep clinging to the fantasy that [...]
An Intelligent Editorial about the Strike
The Los Angeles Times printed a thoughtful editorial about the teachers’ strike and about evaluating teachers by student test scores. These days it is unusual to find an editorial or opinion column asking whether the tests were designed to measure teacher quality. They were not. Frankly, the test publishers ought to be yelling bloody murder [...]
Strike Deal Near?
Chicago Tribune says two sides near settlement.
CTU: Wisconsin Teachers Will Be There on Saturday
A comment from a reader: Stay strong. In Madison we’re organizing a couple busloads to come down Saturday and show our solidarity. You came to us when we needed it most; now it’s our turn to come to you. Stay out there and stay strong.
When Reform Killed a Good School
A reader remembers an important radio program about school reform. Listen up. The strike in Chicago reminded me of an episode of This American Life from 2004, 10 years after “school reform” began in Chicago. It tells the story of one amazing public school that did a lot with very little. When “reform” began, the [...]
NEPC Review Says Brookings Voucher Study Found No Effects
A careful review of the Brookings study of New York City’s privately-funded voucher program finds that the program had no significant effects. The authors of the voucher study, Paul Peterson of Harvard and Matthew Chingos of Brookings, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal claiming that their study proved “the success” of vouchers. The [...]
Advice for Chicago: Industrial History Shows Value of Collaboration
Andrea Gabor has a valuable post about industrial history. The lesson from the past is clear, she says: Everyone benefits when there is trust and collaboration. Gabor thinks it is necessary to get beyond the punitive tactics of the present–the idea that lots of teachers must be fired–and to identify evaluation models that seek to [...]
Will Ohio Investigate K12 Online For-Profit Charters?
Stephen Dyer raises the question about whether Ohio will follow in Florida’s path and open an investigation of the K12 for-profit school. In Ohio, K12 has classes of 51 students to a single teacher even though it is paid to have a ratio of 20:1. That is way profitable for K12, though not for the [...]
Why the Teacher Bashing?
This Chicago teacher sees a sinister motive in the avalanche of hostility to teachers. Teachers were always considered admirable even though teaching was not well paid and not very prestigious. But these days, teachers have become “enemies,” who soak up money and do little work, who get “paid for breathing” and “tenure for life.” None [...]
Virtual School in Tennessee Strikes Out
The Tennessee Virtual Academy is one of those online for-profit charter schools that are supposed to “save” American education. Bad news for its champions: The scores at the school were in the state’s bottom 4 percent. The sponsors say forget the scores and wait until next year. Right. Jeb Bush promotes virtual schools from one [...]
An Art Teacher Explains How to Get Very Rich While Teaching
This is a terrific article, wherein an art teacher explains how it feels to be constantly pilloried while doing your best for children who love you. The teacher wonders what he/she did to ruin the economy for everyone else while sitting in a little plastic chair with small children. And much to the amazement and [...]
Scotland Says NO to GERM
As you may know by now, Pasi Sahlberg of Finland described the Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM) in his book Finnish Lessons. GERM is testing, accountability and choice. It is a nasty virus that destroys creativity. Finland opposes GERM and its schools and students are thriving. Here is another nation that rejects GERM: Scotland. Melissa [...]
Where to Contribute to CTU Solidarity Fund
There IS a Solidarity Fund to which you can contribute at: Chicago Teachers Union Solidarity Fund 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 400 Chicago, IL 60654 And, yes–you can get more info. from the CTU website (Googling Chicago Teachers Union will lead you to it).
Charter Application Rejected for 4th Time in Nashville
The Metro Nashville school board rejected the Great Hearts Charter School application for the fourth time. And this time, the charter said it was calling it quits. For now. One of those times when one must admit, “Four strikes and you’re out.”
More Advice from Margaret Haley, Chicago Union Leader
Margaret Haley: 1921, Freeing the Teacher [Freeing the child] can only be secured by the freeing of the teacher. … To the teacher it means freedom from care and worry for the material needs of the present and the future ‑‑ in other words, adequate salary and old age pensions, freedom to teach the child [...]
A Message of Solidarity with CTU
From a small union local: We are a small local of about 300 members and have become fascinated with what you are doing not just for yourselves, but for ALL of us. A million thank you’s are not enough for what you are doing for every teacher in America…. the informed, the uninformed, the unionized, [...]
Advice from Margaret Haley, Leader of Teacher Unionism
Margaret Haley was the driving force in the early years of the Chicago Teachers Federation. She began her teaching career in a country school at the age of 16. At 21, she moved to Cook County where she taught for many years until going to work for the union in 1900. In 1901, she was [...]
Dana Goldstein on the First Teachers’ Union
Dana Goldstein has written an interesting commentary on the history of teacher unionism. Chicago was the home of the very first teachers’ union, and it was founded by a tough female teacher named Margaret Haley. Haley hated the factory-style schools of the day, objected to rigid standardization, and wanted dignity for the teaching profession. I [...]
To Chicago Teachers: Millions Say Thank You
A reader writes to his colleagues in Chicago: Stay strong, and trust your colleagues. I remember being on strike in Seattle. It was my first year with the big school district – 29 years ago. I remember the ambivalent feelings like they were yesterday. I barely understood it all. I was so grateful for having [...]
Here Is How to Support Chicago Teachers
The Chicago Teachers Union does not have a strike fund. Teachers are forfeiting their pay every day they strike. They need help, moral and financial. Deborah Meier wrote a comment and asked, how can we help? Here is the answer from a Chicago teacher: Hi Deb! As a member of the CTU and one who [...]
Was She the Worst Teacher in Chicago?
Investigative journalist Greg Palast digs into the story of the Chicago strike. He begins with the story of a teacher who was fired: Was she the worst teacher in Chicago? What happened to her? You would be surprised.
Chicago Teacher: I Need Your Help
A reader writes and asks for our support: Chicago has the Broad virus http://goo.gl/GKM2m I am a Chicago Teacher and not a fighter by nature at all. I am completely out of my comfort zone with this strike. I look with longing at my classroom window each day on the picket line. However, I am [...]
Why Is the State Commissioner in Tennessee Interfering in Local Decision?
Kevin Huffman–the Tennessee Commissioner of Education–really, really wants the Metro Nashville school board to approve the Great Hearts Charter School. He ordered them to do it. He monitored their meeting through an aide. Against his wishes, they turned it down–for a third time. It will come back for a fourth consideration, and no doubt arms [...]
The Chicago Teachers’ Strike: Two Visions
This is my analysis of the strike, posted on the website of the New York Review of Books.
Debating the Teachers Strike
I was on an NPR show called “To the Point” today, where a panel debated the teachers’ strike. The discussion of the strike begins 24 minutes into the show. Other panelists included Juan Jose Gonzalez, the Chicago director of Stand for Children, who opposed the union; Timothy Knowles of the University of Chicago, who advised [...]
What Does Equal Educational Opportunity Mean in Chicago?
An article that appeared in “In These Times” describes the school where Mayor Rahm Emanuel sends his children. It is the University of Chicago Lab School. President Obama chose it for his girls when he lived in Chicago. Arne Duncan is a graduate. It is a wonderful progressive school, originally founded by John Dewey. It [...]
This Mainstream Writer Respects Teachers
This is a column written for U.S. News and World Report by an experienced journalist. Yes, she understands what teachers are dealing with. Thank you, Susan Milligan! We can’t improve education if we don’t improve the conditions of teaching and learning. It is hard to read the comments that follow this post or any other. [...]
A Reader in South Africa Comments
I wish I could say that things here in South Africa were different, but as I read your blog, I felt as though I was reading about my own country. We have schools that have no text books, no libraries, no educational equipment, no computer facilities, no sport facilities – they are basically a shell [...]
This Teacher Is Appalled by the Lack of Respect
A reader comments on an earlier post by a Chicago teacher who explained why he was striking: I was a high school teacher in New York City, and I agree 100% with Kevin. Before teaching in NY I was a public school teacher in Hong Kong. What struck me the most about teaching in the [...]
Do Testing and Accountability Promote Critical Thinking?
Jan Carr, an author of children’s books, is a dedicated public school parent. She wrote a post wondering why the powerful elites in our society are so obsessed with testing and data. She wondered why they care so little for developing critical thinking. Jan wrote: “I’ve been a scrappy public school mom for 12 years [...]
Reverse Robin Hood Reforms in New Jersey
Bruce Baker provides clear and convincing evidence that school reform in New Jersey is heading in the wrong direction, aided by NCLB waivers. The schools that have been identified as the “priority” schools will be targeted for aggressive interventions, including mass firing and closings. The overwhelming majority of these schools enroll poor black and Hispanic [...]
Good News from the Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation has released a study showing that the poor are really pretty well-off in America. Lots of them own their own home, have a car and air-conditioning. Message: Stop whining about the poor. They should thank their lucky stars they are living in America! They should not expect a handout as they are [...]
The Diane Rehm Show: Me Vs. Three
Diane Rehm is one of the best interviewers on national radio (WAMU in DC). I always enjoy being on her show. This morning, I was invited to discuss the Chicago teacher strike, and discovered to my chagrin, that the lineup was three against one. I defended the teachers and discussed their aims and the conditions [...]
Should Schools Be Run Like Businesses?
Listen to an excellent panel discussion, featuring the brilliant Dissent writer Joanne Barkan. She is the author of “Got Dough: How Billionaires Rule Our Schools,” which you should read.
How Some African American Leaders Went Wrong on Reform
Karran Harper Royal is a leader of Parents Across America. She lives in New Orleans, where she went to public schools. Her child attends a charter school. She spoke at the SOS 2012 meeting in Washington, where she analyzed why some African American leaders and civil rights figures got on the wrong side of education [...]
Nashville School Board Turns Down Charter for Third Time
The Metro Nashville school board turned down a charter proposal for the third time, even though the state education department ordered the board to endorse the charter. The local board feared that the charter would appeal mainly to affluent white families, both because of the curriculum and the expectation that families would make a large up-front [...]
What Price for High-Performing Charters?
Here is an alarming story about a chain of high-performing charter schools in Minnesota. These are truly no-excuses charter schools. They focus relentlessly on getting those highly prized test scores. And they do it. They boast of “drill and kill.” The children study the tests, get ready for the questions, and they get high scores. [...]
He Will Vote For Obama
This reader will vote for Obama because Romney would be a catastrophe on many levels: I am just the opposite of many here. I will be abandoning the Green party for the first time in years because, while I did not vote for Obama, the difference between Democrat and Republican is, for the first time [...]
K12 Cyber Schools in Trouble Again
K12, the giant cyber corporation that sells for-profit schooling, is in trouble in Seminole County, Florida, because the state insists that teachers must be certified. But having certified teachers is more expensive than having uncertified teachers, which cuts into K12′s profit margins. The Florida Department of Education has opened an investigation into K12. So, you can see, [...]
You Will Not See This in Any National News
This is what the Chicago Teachers Union wants. The strike is not about pay. It is about the conditions of teaching and learning. It is about class size. It is about curriculum. It is about evaluating teachers by test scores despite any evidence that it improves education. It is about social workers for children who [...]
New York Times’ Editorial on Chicago: Still Clueless
A few weeks ago, the New York Times published an editorial saying that teachers needed more carrots and sticks to make them work harder and produce higher test scores. The assumption is that they are not working hard now (a Gates-Scholastic survey in the spring said the typical teacher works an 11-hour day now); and [...]
Conservative Pundits Pummel Chicago Students
Jersey Jazzman calls out the conservative pundits who, in an effort to embarrass Chicago teachers,try to show how awful student perormance is in that district and paint it in the worst possible light. If they are casting stones, you kinda wonder why they don’t throw them at Arne Duncan and Mayor Daley, whose policies determined [...]
The National Context of Chicago Strike
The New York Times has a good debate about the Chicago strike. Eva Moskowitz and Michael Petrilli take the anti-union view. Brian Jones, Carol Burris, and Pauline Lipman explain why the teachers’ strike is important in the fight against bad education policies that hurt children and teachers and ruin education.
How We Got in This Dilemma
David Lentini in Maine shares his insights about the current situation: Raymond Callahan’s analysis of the dynamics that forced a business-industrial model on American schools in the early part of the 20th century seems very relevant here. The 1% pick on the teachers, because they bet the unions or the Democrats would not stand up [...]
A Chicago Teacher: Why I Am Striking
Just received this: Kevin Lee commented onSend a Message of Support to Chicago Teachers I am one of the teachers in Chicago who is on strike. Education is one of those topics on which very few people actually have knowledge, and those who are least knowledgable seem to have the most say (or yell). The number [...]
Why Scapegoat Teachers?
Here is an insightful analysis of the political dilemma of teachers and their union, from the perspective of the Chicago teachers’ strike. It appeared in a British newspaper. Sometimes we learn more by seeing ourselves through the eyes of others.
Send a Message of Support to Chicago Teachers
Here is their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ChicagoTeachersSolidarity?ref=ts
Chris Hedges on “Democracy Now”
A reader sent this today: Interview of Chris Hedges today by Amy Goodman. Opens with comments on Chicago teacher strike, as excerpted below: CHRIS HEDGES: Well, you know, the tactic is clear. And, you know, the secretary of education, Duncan, is behind it. And that is essentially the stripping away of—you know, of qualified teachers. [...]
Deborah Meier on the Strike
I may no longer be blogging with Deborah Meier at Bridging Differences, but we continue to share and exchange ideas. Deborah comments here about the role of unions. …Unions are not primarily formed to influence reform–but, there are good reasons why the two go together. (In short, self-interest is not always a bad thing–as our [...]
Let Mayor Emanuel Know What You Think
Do you have advice for Mayor Rahm Emanuel? How can he end the impasse and do what is right for Chicago’s children? Let him know. http://www.facebook.com/ChicagoMayorsOffice
One Blog Adventure Ends, This One Continues
Dear Readers, Today I ended my five-year association with Bridging Differences, the blog I shared with Deborah Meier. This is my farewell letter on that blog. I did so because I am devoting all my blogging time to this space. In less than four months, the blog has had nearly 1 million page views. I [...]
Who Really Stands for Children?
Sabrina Stevens answers the question here. Who worked to get children out of the factories and into school? Who worked for a shorter work day for women? Who worked to help poor people enter the middle class? Not the Wall Street hedge fund managers. Not the equity investors. Not the big corporations. One guess.
My Interview about Strike on Wisconsin Public Radio: UPDATE!
Listen here for a good interview about the Chicago teachers strike. Link was broken. I fixed it.
Chicago Strike: Whose Policies Are At Issue?
Norm Scott, a retired teacher who is a blogger and film producer (“The Inconvenient Truth Behind ‘Waiting for Superman’”), wrote a provocative explanation of the Chicago strike and its political implications. He says that President Obama can’t support the Chicago teachers because they are striking against his Race to the Top policies. And he can’t [...]
What Does Mayor Rahm Want?
The real difference between the CTU and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not money. By all accounts, the union and the mayor are close on compensation. The real differences are about the corporate reform agenda. The mayor wants merit pay, more charters, evaluation of teachers by test scores, and all the other components of the national [...]
Why Louisiana Loves the New Voucher Study But Shouldn’t
A researcher in Louisiana notes that John White and his fellow advocates for vouchers were overjoyed by the latest study by voucher advocate Paul Peterson of Harvard and Matthew Chingos of the Brookings Institution. Here, they hoped, was proof that the Louisiana voucher program would boost college enrollment rates for African American students! But, Noel [...]
Will President Obama Join CTU on Picket Line?
Jon Pelto has placed an order for a comfortable pair of walking shoes for President Obama, so he can walk alongside the striking teachers in Chicago. He even paid for priority shipment from L.L. Bean. Mr. President, remember when you said that “workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner”? So far, [...]
Everything You Wanted to Know about the Broad Center (Almost)
The Broad Center–established by billionaire Eli Broad–runs an unaccredited training program for school leaders, where aspiring superintendents learn Broad’s philosophy of school management. Eli Broad is a businessman who made his billions in home-building, mortgage lending, and insurance (AIG). The Broad Center has a powerful network. By happenstance, a memo from the Center fell into [...]
What Should Teachers’ Unions Do?
The Chicago Teachers Union strike has encouraged many educators around the nation, who are fed up with the virulent attacks on them by people who couldn’t manage a classroom for ten minutes. Or five, maybe. Judging by the comments I am getting, CTU has lifted the spirits of teachers who were feeling as though no [...]
A True Value-Added Plan
From a reader in Maine: I’ve always thought that teachers should suggest a better approach–Getting a percentage of their students’ incomes after high school graduation. The logic is that teachers who add value will produce students who make more money; therefore, to align incentives property, the teachers should get a cut of the incomes from [...]
Do Not Trust Reformers with Trojan Horse Gifts
Glen Brown is a teacher and poet. In this post he explains why he does not trust Advance Illinois, Stand for Children, or other pseudo-reform groups that do not respect teachers or value genuine education. He writes: Carefully examine the goals of public education. They are not the goals of Stand for Children and Advance [...]
Value-Added Nonsense
If you add the scores on standardized tests for five years in a row, can you tell who the best and worst teachers are? No. But that’s the theory behind value-added assessment. The idea is that an “effective” teacher raises test scores every year. The computer predicts what the test scores are supposed to be, [...]
The Real Story Behind The CTU Strike
Count on Stephanie Simon of Reuters to get the story that eluded every other reporter. She is the one that got the inside story on Louisiana, TFA, and for-profit investors. Now she has the scoop on Chicago. The strike in Chicago is not about money. It is a national story. It’s about the survival of [...]
What Does Rahm Emanuel Believe?
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel is talking about youth crime, he assigns responsibility to parents and families for the values and attitudes and behavior of what he calls “gang bangers.” When he talks about schools, however, he forgets that parents and families have any influence on how students behave and the effort they are willing to [...]
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 [...]
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,” [...]
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 previously. Bill Gates and [...]
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 [...]
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 soul demoralization. [...]
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, [...]
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, [...]
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 competition among affluent parents over [...]
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 [...]
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
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.
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/ Sanders explains: “So what you are looking at [...]
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 [...]
Las Vegas Teachers Will Lead The Reform Movement
A reader says that Las Vegas teachers are taking action to correct the errors of their elected board: Here in Las Vegas teachers have moved so as to concentrate their votes. We will be able to remove a majority of the reform bent board. This last week we had to close several schools because the [...]
An Answer from Molly Ball
Yesterday I responded to an article in The Atlantic claiming that Michelle Rhee was actually a “lefty” and was “taking over” the Democratic party. I responded to the article. Others have said that the writer, Molly Ball, was sending out an automated reply, but I got something slightly different. What she says here is that [...]
I Can Determine the Winner of the Presidency
Good grief. It just occurred to me that I can swing the election. Not with my vote. My personal vote doesn’t count. I live in New York, a state so blue that Romney won’t bother to campaign here, although he will surely come here to raise money on Wall Street and in the Hamptons, where [...]
Tomorrow, Wear Red for ED to Support Chicago Teachers
I will be wearing red in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union tomorrow, in support of whatever decision they make. If they should strike, they have my support. If they don’t, they also have my support. I am not giving my support unthinkingly or blindly. I support their right to bargain collectively. Knowing Karen Lewis, [...]
NSBA Says: Stop the Budget Cuts!
The National School Boards Association has sent out an urgent bulletin to school boards across the nation warning about pending budget cuts by Congress. If these cuts are not rescinded, every public school will see a new round of budget cuts, with fewer teachers and loss of vital services to children. Please read this and [...]
A Teacher at Central Falls HS Will Not Vote for Obama
I have not decided how I will vote. I will not vote for Romney. How I cast my vote will be decided in the next few weeks. This teacher has decided: I am one of the thousands of stunned teachers, and life long Democrats who was amazed by the actions taken by the current Democratic [...]
A Parent Reviews the Parent Trigger Movie
It seems as though all the really big publicity for the anti-union, anti-public school film “Won’t Back Down” is coming from parents and teachers. Here is a review by a parent. But that really isn’t so, as NBC’s Education Nation is making a big deal of it, and will have a private screening at the [...]
Do You Happen to Know a Billionaire?
Do you happen to know a billionaire? Or maybe someone with lots of millions? Not just any old billionaire, but one who cares about supporting public education. One who thinks it is wrong to hand out children over to entrepreneurs. One who knows the difference between the free market and the commons. I ask because [...]
More About That Atlantic Puff Piece on Rhee
Sharon R. Higgins is an Oakland parent activist. She diligently follows the money. Check out her website Charter School Scandals. She sent the following comment: Any article about Michelle Rhee published by the Atlantic Media Company should disclose Rhee’s extremely close ties to AMC’s CEO and owner, and his wife (David and Katherine Bradley). The [...]
Will Chicago Teachers Strike?
Tomorrow is Decision Day in Chicago. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has tried to bully the Chicago Teachers Union and its leader Karen Lewis. Lewis was elected by the members because they knew she would stand up for them. Emanuel has the support of the Wall Street hedge fund managers organization, somewhat absurdly called Democrats for Education [...]
What If Teacher Evaluation Is Not Broken?
The following comment is evidence that the corporate reformers’ narrative about the “broken” evaluation system is wrong. I say “wrong” as a euphemism. I actually think it is a calculated lie, one that has been promulgated to advance a political agenda: to eliminate collective bargaining rights, to eliminate seniority and tenure, to demand that teachers [...]
A Reading List about Education
Many people have asked for a good reading list. When I will have time, I will compile a short list of important books. Meanwhile, here is one reader’s suggestions: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, by Richard Hofstader Left Back, by Diane Ravitch Education for Freedom, by Robert Maynard Hutchins The University of Utopia, by Robert [...]
Parents Make a Difference!
Last spring, Jeb Bush and Michelle Rhee tried to push the phony “parent trigger” legislation through the Florida legislature. It seemed to be a slam-dunk, since the legislature is controlled by Republicans and the governor is Republican, and the skids were greased to turn more public schools over to the charter corporations. These corporations give [...]
How We Evaluate Teachers
Experienced principal Carol Burris describes how she evaluates teachers at South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York. I am tired of reading that “teacher evaluation is broken” and therefore teachers need to be evaluated by points and student test scores. The idea that evaluation is broken comes from “the Widget Effect”, a report created by [...]
Charter Schools and Magnet Schools
A reader asked me to describe the differences between charter schools and magnet schools This is what came to mind. I welcome readers’ thoughts about other differences. Magnet schools and charter schools have superficial similarities. They may or may not be selective. Their differences are greater than their similarities. Magnet schools were initially created by [...]
An Inquiring Mind Wants to Know
A new reader has joined our discussion and is looking for answers to important questions. I assured this reader that we have explored these topics in some depth; that we know that the purpose of reform is to eliminate unions; to get rid of tenure; to cut the budget for schools; and to privatize the [...]
Is Poverty Destiny? This Reader Says It Is.
One reader says that schools and teachers can lift children out of poverty. He says it is happening. This reader dissents. To be clear, and I think the writer of this post would agree, teachers and schools save children’s lives every day. Poor kids can succeed. Poor kids can make it into Harvard, thanks to [...]
Different Advice from an Ex-Private School Teacher
After reading another post, this teacher explained why she would not teach in a private school again: I taught at a private school once in my career. The owners micromanaged us like vultures circling. We were told in so many words not to give grades below a C. While they were in the early years [...]
Is Michelle Rhee Taking Over the Democratic Party?
An article in The Atlantic by a political reporter named Molly Ball claims that Michelle Rhee is “taking over” the Democratic Party. It curious that Rhee owns the party but was not invited to speak and explain her views. So many speakers ridiculed Mitt Romney because, they said, he likes to fire people. Funny, Rhee [...]
Advice from a Private School Teacher
Some people assume that private schools are inherently better than public schools. Not really. They select their students and remove those who don’t meet their demands. One big advantage they have is they are free of meddling politicians. This private school teacher gives her views: I taught in public schools for nearly 30 years [...]
What He Learned by Studying the History of Education
David Lentini, a reader in Maine, comments (in response, I promise to do some instruction on this blog about the history of school reform, which has been an American pastime for over a century): I started reading about the history of education reform in America about 10 years ago, when our national insanity was becoming [...]
GERM Outbreak in Australia
Please read the latest news from Australia. The Prime Minister Julia Gillard is obsessed with test scores. She has a serious case of what Pasi Sahlberg of Finland has called GERM (the Global Education Reform Movement of testing, accountability, and choice). She is disheartened that Australia is not number one on PISA. She wants the [...]