Diane Ravitch's blog
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Diane Ravitch's blog
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 [...]
The Most Segregated Big-City Districts in the Nation
Thanks to a reader for sending this story from the New York Times. It has a graph showing the most racially segregated big-city school districts in the United States. The winner of this disgraceful award: Chicago. Second place: Dallas Third place: New York City Fourth place: Philadelphia Fifth place: Houston Sixth place: Los Angeles Undoubtedly [...]
Why The Chicago Teachers Union Deserves Support
http://withabrooklynaccent.blogspot.com/2012/09/press-statement-on-chicago-teachers.html Press Statement on Chicago Teachers Strike Dr Mark Naison, Fordham University The Chicago Teachers strike is an incredibly important development because it is a the first time a union local has threatened to strike against education policies pushed by the Obama Administration through its Race to the Top initiative, policies, in my judgment, that [...]
A Hero For Democracy
The public schools in several poor communities have been under state control for more than a decade, proving that state education departments don’t know how to run schools while obliterating democracy. State Senator Ron Rice has called for a restoration of democratic control in Newark, Jersey City, and Patterson. The state has been in control [...]
Why Texas Does Not Need Vouchers
Sara Stevenson, librarian at O. Henry Middle School in Austin, Texas, is a tenacious, fearless writer of letters and articles about education. She has been the kind of stand-up leader that every community and every school needs. Here is her latest. The Texas GOP [...]
Did Deval Patrick Sell Out to Profiteers?
A reader asks: did Deval Patrick sell out? I feel ashamed for Deval. I am one of his many, many progressive supporters, and we’re all baffled by how he got into this situation. I worked harder for his election than I did even for Obama, and I never doubted his integrity or strength. Through [...]
Florida Charters Slam the Door on Children with Disabilities
I missed this article when it was published several months ago. It says that 86% of charters in Florida have no students with severe disabilities. Thats not right.
A Hero Legislator for Public Schools
State Representative Reggie Fullwood is a hero for public education in Florida. He is encouraging the state board of education to select a state commissioner who will advocate for the state’s beleaguered public schools, not vouchers and rapacious charter entrepreneurs. He also wants a sane testing system that is not high stakes. Florida’s Next [...]
Common Core in Connecticut
Will it matter? Common Core focuses on cognitive skills. It neglects non-cognitive skills? Can it succeed with a narrow focus? Or do students need more?
What No Teacher Ever Said
Pithy sayings collected on Twitter by Larry Ferlazzo. What no teacher ever said.
Non-Cognitive Skills Are Just As Important as Test Scores
I recently blogged a new study by economist Henry Levin about the crucial importance of non-cognitive skills. What matters most? Persistence, motivation, reliability, team work, the ability to work well with others, communication skills. Levin cites Nobelist James Heckman, who said that parents read “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Little Engine That Could” [...]
Governor Deval Patrick Touted Wrong School
Andrea Gabor got an email from the principal of Brockton High School. She and the teachers succeeded in turning around their school without firing 80% of staff. They did it the old-fashioned way, through team work. But Arne likes mass firings.
Crew Member of “Won’t Back Down” Speaks
Did the stars and crew of the anti-union film “Won’t Back Down” know that they were carrying a message on behalf of rightwing extremists? This writer says no: Hi, um, I had the… good fortune of working on this film that, at its heart, is fiction. Notice the careful phrase “based on real events” rather [...]
Syracuse Elementary Schools Drop Recess
In hopes of raising test scores, elementary schools in Syracuse are eliminating recess. This discounts mountains of research about the importance of non-cognitive skills, which are often learned on the playground, And too there is the pesky fact that children need tine to run and play. A sound mind in a healthy body. But not [...]
Democrats Abroad Wrote Great Platform!
The Democrats Abroad platform unequivocally supports the strengthening of public education and the education profession. It opposes privatization of public education. It opposes charter schools and vouchers. It supports the use of tests for diagnostic purposes and opposes the use of tests to evaluate teachers and schools. It opposes the outsourcing of any aspect of [...]
Why Teach-to-the-Test Wins
Arne Duncan reminded us In his speech at the Democratic National Convention that President Obama opposes teaching to tests. Duncan didn’t say whether he agrees. It’s hard to take this sentiment seriously now that so many states are evaluating teachers by student test scores, at Duncan’s urging. When this practice is one day acknowledged to [...]
Did Anyone Copy Democrats Abroad Post?
I accidentally deleted yesterday’s post about platform of Democrats Abroad. If you have a copy, would you send it to me so I may restore it?
Do You Believe in Academic Freedom?
Barbara Madeloni, a teacher at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst protested the field-testing of the Stanford-Pearson evaluation of her students. The New York Times wrote about her courage. She was fired (“given a letter of non-renewal”). Please consider adding your name to the petition demanding her reinstatement.
Rick Roach in Florida is a Hero
Rick Roach is a school board member in Orange County, Florida. He took the state test, the FCAT, and concluded that it is a very poor measure of student learning and is consuming far too much instructional time. Rick Roach joins the honor roll of champions of public education. The honor roll consists of people [...]
What Is Peer Assistance and Review?
A reader in Maryland wrote to second the nomination of Joshua Starr as an outstanding superintendent who supports students, teachers, principals, and schools and resists harmful federal policy. One of the outstanding features of the Montgomery County schools is the PAR approach to teacher evaluation. It is about 1,000 times better than VAM or VAA [...]
A Guide to Identifying Phony Reform Groups
I discovered a new blogger who is spot-on: EduShyster He or she seems to be writing from Massachusetts and has a wicked sense of humor. This post is called “The Scratch n’ Sniff Guide to Phony Education Reform Groups.” There are certain tell-tale signs. For example, no one in a leadership role ever went to [...]
Killing Unions Hurts the Middle Class
I link two different articles here, each of them explaining the dilemma in which we find out society today. On the one hand, there is the potential strike of the Chicago Teachers Union. This situation pits a Democratic mayor against the city’s public school teachers, who stand united (98% voted to authorize a strike). They [...]
Another Charter Study: Same Results, No Difference
Yet another charter school study finds no difference between performance of charter schools and public schools. Why do reformers continue to push charters as the “answer” in cities across the nation, like Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Detroit, etc.? Do reformers read research? This one was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and the charter-friendly Center on Reinventing Public [...]
The Best Democratic Platform for Education: Written Abroad
Democrats living abroad have drafted their own platform for the Presidential campaign. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is the section on education. How wonderful it would be if this statement of principles about education was embedded in the main Democratic platform! The Democrats Abroad platform unequivocally supports the strengthening of public education [...]
NBC Sponsors Parent Trigger Movie
Last year I was invited to participate in NBC’s Education Nation. I had a head-to-head discussion with Geoffrey Canada. This year, I received an invitation to sit in the audience. Now as a perk, I have been invited to a special screening of the parent trigger movie and its world premiere. Imagine all those private [...]
AFT Statement Supporting CTU
Just received from AFT press office: AFT Statement in Support of Chicago Teachers Union WASHINGTON—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten in support of the Chicago Teachers Union. “Yesterday, on a call with her fellow AFT executive council members, including the union’s three national officers, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis reported on the status of [...]
We R-E-S-P-E-C-T Teachers, Don’t We?
In New York City, when the Department of Education decides to close a school, all the teachers have to scramble to find a job. Some do, some don’t. If they can’t find a job, they join the Absent Teacher Reserve and they are known as ATR. The ATRs are assigned to different schools, often every [...]
Making Sure That Poverty Is NOT Destiny
Paul Thomas reminds us that poverty is destiny if we do nothing about it. Finland figured this out and it has a strong system of social protections for children and families. If we keep expecting schools to close the achievement gap by testing more, by adopting higher standards, by closing schools with low test scores, [...]
An Exchange of Views about TFA
I received the following comment from a TFA advocate, in response to a blog about the outspoken and brilliant Camika Royal: In my experience with TFA, which stretches across over a decade, at local and at national levels, Dr. Royal is not the exception, but a shining example of the kind of person who joins, [...]
When Politics Trumps Education
Peter Goodman is one of the most astute observers of education in New York City. His blog “Ed in the Apple” is a must-read for education buffs. In this one, he says that the Department of Education puts more emphasis on burnishing the Mayor’s education reputation than on actually solving any problems. The Mayor has [...]
Rightwing Foundation in Chicago Backs Rahm
The Heartland Institute in Chicago, a major advocate for charters and vouchers, has issued a statement supporting Rahm Emanuel and urging him to be firm in resisting the demands of the Chicago Teachers Union. Is Mayor Emanuel at the right convention? Heartland Institute Education Expert Reacts to Chicago Teachers Union Strike Threat The Chicago Teachers [...]
The Real Turnaround School in Massachusetts
Andrea Gabor wonders why Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick drew national attention to Orchard Gardens while ignoring the true turnaround at Brockton High School, the state’s largest high school? Orchard Gardens fits the Duncan script: Blame the teachers, fire 80% of them. But the school made modest gains and still has low scores. Contrary to what [...]
Arne Duncan Opposes Teaching to the Test
At the Democratic National Convention, Arne Duncan renounced many of his own policies. He came out in opposition to teaching to the test, although his own Race to the Top demands it (he never mentioned Race to the Top.) He denounced the millionaires and billionaires who are supporting the charter school movement and privatization of [...]
The Problem with Computer Adaptive Assessments
Computer adaptive assessments are all the rage. They are supposed to be not only cost effective but they allegedly are objective and standardize grading. Also, and not incidentally, they are big business in an age of mass testing. The idea behind them is that the student answers a question (picks a bubble), and if it [...]
NJ Plans to Punish High-Poverty, High-Minority Schools
New Jersey has announced the schools that are targeted for aggressive intervention. It will not surprise readers of this blog to learn that most of these schools serve children of color and children of poverty. Many, most or all of these schools will be closed. If Governor Christie has his way, many new charters will [...]
Kids Know How to Game the System
A reader sent this comment: Here is my take. Our school in NYC used an online, computer based reading program for the first time last year. Some of our students were clocked in as reading 600 articles and having their lexile scores increase by 4 grade levels. At the end of the year, the representatives [...]
Let the Lawsuits Begin
Mark Naison has written a passionate plea: It is time to start suing to stop the harm inflicted on children, teachers and schools. The political parties have abandoned them and use well-honed PR rhetoric to paint abandonment as “reform.” The media swallow the rhetoric. The foundations have an open wallet for those who are destroying [...]
How the Online Industry Moves the Goalposts
A reader sent the following comments about the online for-profit schooling industry (by the way, that line about “current performance is no prediction of future performance” comes right from the prospectus of investment funds): Interesting story about the K12 schools performance in Tennessee: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/aug/31/andy-berke-criticizes-dismal-scores-of-for/?politics What’s truly stunning is that, according to the article, the K12 schools [...]
Alan Singer Corrects His Pearson Post
Alan Singer wrote an article about Pearson and its leaders in Huffington Post. I linked to it in a post yesterday about the high attrition rate of teachers. In his original article, Singer pointed out that Susan Fuhrman is a director of Pearson. She is the president of Teachers College. [...]
Poverty in the U.S. Today
Teachers know more about increasing rates of poverty than most people. Teachers see the children who come to school without decent clothes or shoes. They know the children who are homeless. They teach children who are sick but never get medical care. Here is the documentation: Poverty is worse in the U.S. than in other [...]
Thanks, NCLB. Thanks, Race to the Top
A reader described the start of the new school year. It began on a sad note: School started for me yesterday. We had twos of professional development which meant our principal and a few other suits lecturing us about what we needed to do to keep our school from closing. At one point the principal [...]
What Clinton Didn’t Mention
I first met Bill Clinton in Little Rock in 1984. When he was President, I heard him speak on many occasions. I never heard anyone speak as eloquently about the challenges in K-12 education. Tonight, I watched his boffo performance and was once again wowed by his ability to get deeply substantive and at the [...]
Are Young Teachers OK with Test Obession?
A post described an article in USA Today about the high attrition of teachers in recent years. The article quotes people who say that new young teachers must be comfortable with endless testing because it is all they ever knew. As one person says, these new teachers were 11 years old when NCLB passed. They have [...]
Deborah Meier on Reform Strategies and Democracy
Deborah Meier comments on a post about efforts in Philadelphia to weaken or eliminate collective bargaining: INTERESTINGLY, ALMOST NO ONE FEELS OBLIGED to defend their strategies, etc in terms of its impact on a democratic society! IF, just suppose, it raised test scores we seem prepared to dump democratic norms on the behalf of test [...]
Read This and Share My Nausea
In an article in USA Today, a bevy of commentators explain why it may be a good thing that the teaching profession is now getting younger and less experienced. The article reports: Recent findings by Richard Ingersoll at the University of Pennsylvania show that as teacher attrition rates have risen, from about 10% to 13% for first-year [...]
Is Chicago a National Model for School Reform?
Thanks to loyal reader Prof. W. for forwarding this story. Chicago public schools have been under mayoral control since 1995. Mayor Daley hired Paul Vallas to reform the schools. He went on to reform the schools in Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Haiti, and now he is reforming schools in Bridgeport while running a national consulting [...]
“Sign Me Up!”
This teacher read about the push in Philadelphia to weaken, perhaps eliminate collective bargaining. The School Reform Commission with the guidance of its advisor the Boston Consulting Group (big proponent of privatization without unions and parent to Bain) thinks that if it can create a flexible workforce with performance pay and no job protections, this [...]
Gary Rubinstein Fact-Checks Mass. School
We all would like to believe in miracles. There aren’t many, especially with reference to schools that miraculously “turn around” in one year. It is comforting to believe that a school can change from the worst to the best almost overnight. It is a made-for-Hollywood scenario. Last night at the Democratic convention, Governor Deval Patrick [...]
After-School Programs Work Best If They Promote Interest
Carla Sanger runs an outstanding after-school program called LA’s Best. It serves nearly 30,000 students after school in Los Angeles. I invited her to explain why she has dedicated 25 years to this program and why she believes in it. Here is her response: My biggest legacy from my father as principal of the largest [...]
School of One Dropped by 2 of 3 Pilot Schools
A bombshell report about the highly touted “School of One” revealed that students in the program did no better on state tests than those in traditional math programs. School of One is an online program that was piloted in 3 schools. Two of the three schools have dropped it, but the Bloomberg administration plans to [...]
How New York City Stiffs the Neediest Students
A reader in New York City who studies data carefully has analyzed the latest reports from the state accountability system, which identifies the “best” and the “worst” schools. He finds that the most affluent schools will win “rewards,” and the schools that enroll the neediest students are marked for punishment, not for support. The coming [...]
Puzzle in St. Louis
Why is St. Louis Mayor Frances Slay a cheerleader for charter schools? Why is he determined to open charters–whose record in St. Louis is worse than the local public schools–instead of rebuilding his city’s public schools? Didn’t the state of Missouri recently close six Imagine charter schools in St. Louis for poor performance? The article linked [...]
Who Elected Eli Broad?
Eli Broad made billions in the home mortgage business and the insurance business (AIG). He runs a foundation that specializes in education reform, medical research, and art. One assumes he does not tell the medical researchers what to do or the artists what to create. If only he had the same modesty about education. He [...]
The Super-Rich Are Different from Us
This is an important article about our society today. It is titled “The Revolt of the Rich.” It is especially interesting that it appears in a conservative magazine. The author, Michael Lofgren, was a long-time Republican (now independent); his new book is called The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and [...]
Debbie Speaks
I have been exchanging weekly letters with Deborah Meier for five years at Education Week on a blog called Bridging Differences. I see that Deb, like me, can’t stop thinking out loud. Now she has expanded her own blog, providing more for her admirers to read and think about. Go pay a visit. Deb always [...]
End Collective Bargaining in Philadelphia?
The School Reform Commission in Philadelphia got some recommendations from the Boston Consulting Group that would essentially wipe out collective bargaining. BCG wants principals to be able to hire and fire at will; they want teachers to have no job security. Given its druthers, according to this account in The Notebook, the business-dominated School Reform [...]
Two Moms Terrify DFER and StudentsFirst
What are DFER and Students First afraid of? Activist moms denied admission to events at the Democratic National Convention Contacts: Pam Grundy, 704-806-0410, shamrockparent@earthlink.net Carol Sawyer, 704-641-2009, carolsawyer1@gmail.com For the second day in a row, at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., a handful of moms bearing flyers and large yellow pencils made out of pool noodles [...]
My Fall Speaking Schedule
I will be speaking at the following events: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Chattanooga, TN The Benwood Foundation 7 pm – 8pm University of Tennessee, Concert Hall [...]
How President Obama Could Win the Election
By all accounts, the election of 2012 will be close. For educators, the stakes are high. Mitt Romney supports every kind of privatization, from charters to vouchers to full-time online schools, and he has no problem with for-profit schooling. His agenda threatens the survival of that most basic of democratic institutions, the public school. Educators supported [...]
Deborah Meier Explains Why Gates Failed
In a comment on Anthony Cody’s brilliant post, Deborah Meier explains why the Gates Foundation failed in New York City. She may be responding to the name of its blog “Impatient Optimists.” The foundation’s lack of patience caused it to crush the very practices and policies it should have nurtured. It wanted results–fast. It wanted [...]
Please Post Your Responses on Gates’ Blog
Earlier today I posted Anthony Cody’s searing critique of the Gates Foundation’s support for profiteering and privatization. (“When Profits Drive Reform”) Cody pulled no punches. He went right into the house of the Emperor to tell him that he has no clothes. His post is now posted on the Gates Foundation’s own blog. They call it [...]
NYC Funds “Pet” Schools, Not Closing Schools
Five years ago, New York City adopted a new funding formula, with great fanfare. It was called, optimistically, “fair student funding.” However, the New York Daily News released the results of its investigation and discovered that the new schools opened by the Bloomberg administration get full funding, but the struggling schools that the administration wants [...]
When Is Your Education Worthless?
This teacher applied for a job, but was stunned by the hoops and hurdles required to get it. Your education doesn’t count, they said, only your value-added scores. If you want a higher salary, get the test scores higher. No gym. No custodian, you will scrub toilets. And, oh yes, once you agree to all [...]
College Sports: Where Are Our Priorities?
Joel Shatzky is Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Cortland, where he taught from 1968-2005. He presently teaches at Kingsborough Community College. He sent this post: On a recent trip to visit family and friends in Turkey and Israel I asked, a propos of the Olympics, what importance is given to sports in their respective national universities. After [...]
Bruce Baker Explains What’s Happening in Newark
Newark is one of several districts targeted by the education reform industry, where there is a heavy concentration of money and effort to prove that reform works. Mark Zuckerberg offered $100 million for reform. Broad-trained superintendent Cami Anderson is in charge of the district. Mayor Cory Booker is a leader of the Wall Street hedge [...]
“Not Just Test Scores”
Henry Levin, the distinguished economist at Teachers College, has written an important new article in which he explains that test scores are only one dimension of student and national success. The link is only available for four weeks. It is only about 20 pages, so be sure to read it now or soon. He shows, [...]
Talk About Nerve!
A group of 30 organizations associated with corporate reform wrote a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan to insist that he hold teacher education programs accountable for the test scores of the students taught by their graduates. Groups like Teach for America, StudentsFirst, Democrats for Education Reform (the Wall Street hedge fund managers), The New Teacher [...]
Another Hero Superintendent
When a superintendent has integrity and community support, he can stand up to the Governor, to Washington, and to the winds of fashion. That’s Michael McGill, the superintendent of the Scarsdale, New York, public schools. Scarsdale is one of the most affluent communities in the nation. But there are plenty of other superintendents in affluent [...]
Gates Foundation, Please Answer Anthony Cody
Anthony Cody entered into a dialogue with the Gates Foundation about its goals and programs. He just published a brilliant critique of the foundation’s powerful support for market-based reform of public education. Please read it and share it. Cody describes many of the ways that Gates has supported privatization, despite the lack of any evidence [...]
Jonah Edelman Will Not Speak at ASCD
An earlier post today came from an educator who said he resigned from ASCD to protest its invitation to Jonah Edelman to speak at the annual convention. It appeared on Fred Klonsky’s blog. The writer was angry because he shared many of Stand for Children’s original principles and was stunned by its anti-teacher activities in [...]
Karen Lewis Speaks to 20,000 Chicago Teachers
On Labor Day, Karen Lewis addressed 20,000 teachers about their struggle with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Do you know how hard it is to get 20,000 people to turn out for anything? When Karen Lewis met with Rahm Emanuel after his election, he told her that 25% of the children in Chicago would never amount to anything. [...]
An Action Guide
A reader asked me to post this action guide again. To support public education, good sense, and the teaching profession: Do what you can when you can where you can and do it often.
Which Democrats Are Hostile to Teachers?
As a historian, I can assure you that the roots of the current “reform” movement are on the far right. Vouchers began with Milton Friedman in 1955; charters began in 1988 with liberal origins, but were quickly adopted by the right as a substitute for vouchers because voters always defeated voucher proposals. The attacks on [...]
Parents in Charlotte to Protest Film and DFER
A press release from Parents Across America: MecklenburgACTS/PAA to protest film/DFER event & Present Positive Education Reforms at DNC For immediate release: September 3, 2012 Contact: Pamela Grundy, 704-806-0410, shamrockparent@earthlink.net Members of MecklenburgACTS.org and Parents Across America will be rallying and distributing literature at two events associated with the Democratic National Convention here in Charlotte. We will call on [...]
A Note to My Readers
With school starting tomorrow (and in some districts it has already started), I know you won’t have as much time to read these posts. The typical teacher, according to the Scholastic-Gates survey, works an 11-hour day. And from your comments, I know that most of the readers of the blog are teachers. I know there [...]
In Defense of the Teachers’ Unions
Many readers have been critical of their unions and wish they were more militant in fighting the corporate suits. This reader disagrees and explains why: I’m going to go out on a limb here because the comments I am about to post are probably not going to be very popular with anyone who has commented in [...]
Why I Became a Teacher
A reader writes: I didn’t BECOME a teacher until after I taught for two years, left to become a stay-at-home mom, and then returned. I was one of those statistics, leaving the classroom at the beginning of my career. But the five years I spent, watching my son grow, getting a masters degree, learning and [...]
Bunk Science in Ohio
Ohio had the misfortune of winning Race to the Top funding, which means that teachers must be evaluated by the test scores of their students, in part. In Ohio, it is in large part, because test scores will count for 50% of their evaluation. That is as bad as it gets but typical for rightwing [...]
A Labor Day Gift: Samuel Gompers on Public Education
Thanks to Thomas J. Mertz, who sent me this item from his regular blog. This post contains Samuel Gompers’ views on the importance of public education for working people and for democracy. In Gompers’ time, the rich took care of their children, as they always had, with private tutors, boarding schools, and private academies. The [...]
Why He Resigned from ASCD
From Fred Klonsky’s blog: Fred, As a former high school and college political science teacher, I also agree with protecting the right of free speech. I, as you can see from the open letter to Edelman (below) have also seen him “up close and personal.” Given his adoption of the anti-teacher corporate agenda for education [...]
Plaudits for US Public Education
NASA’s rover called Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5. It is now exploring that planet, in a spectacular demonstration of space technology. Professor Ralph E. Shaffer wondered about the team of scientists and engineers responsible for this great breakthrough. He discovered a website with bios of the 141 people involved. He wondered, where did [...]
What Test Scores Tell Us
Kenneth Bernstein regularly blogs at The Daily Kos. He is an experienced teacher with National Board Certification. He shares his views here on test prep and testing: For a number of years, until I decided I had ethical problems with doing so, I earned money beyond my teaching salary by teaching and later tutoring SAT [...]
A Brave Local School Board
Wherever we find signs of bravery and intelligence in education, we must celebrate it. The school committee of Taunton, Massachusetts, took the following wise action. It “voted unanimously to send a letter to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education opposing the amount of testing that school districts will be required to implement with the [...]
Ms. Katie Explains How Poverty Matters
I am hoping that the economist and others who comment on why poverty is “relative” and really not as bad as we think, will comment here. Katie Osgood responded to the post “Ignoring Poverty Is Callous” with her own post: She writes: http://mskatiesramblings.blogspot.com/2012/09/reformers-just-dont-know.html “As anyone who has ever read my blog knows, I work as [...]
NOT the Ugly Face of a Tea Party Educator! UPDATE
UPDATE: Several members of the Indiana Tea Party have written to say that they oppose Tony Bennett because of his support for Common Core standards. Jeb Bush supports Common Core, so of course, Tony Bennett supports them. And so do the Jeb Bush “Chiefs for Change.” But the Tea Party does not! Read the comments. [...]
Profiteers Circle Schools
A reader discovered the agenda for a big conference of equity investors, technology corporations, and supportive foundations. A high-level official of the U.S. Department of Education will be there too. Folks, read the agenda. Public education is up for grabs. Lots of corporations are licking their chops. This is scary. Remember reading about “the Great [...]
Can Standardized Tests Measure a Teacher’s Worth?
This teacher says that, for him, teaching is a “labor of love.” Can it be measured by standardized tests? Can his value be reduced to a number, fed into a data storage warehouse and crunched? The tests measure one aspect of what students have learned. Only one. The tests do not measure everything that was [...]
Ignoring Poverty Is Callous
A reader comments: I believe an excellent education can make a difference to children living in poverty, but it is insufficient. As one writer said in response to a previous posting on this blog, to say that good teachers can “solve” poverty trivializes the hardships that poor children endure. It’s like saying something like this [...]
A Journalist Who Gets It
Daniel Akst writes editorials for Newsday, the Long Island, New York daily. He just wrote an excellent editorial. Long island has some great schools that are the heart of their community. It also has pockets of poverty. This wise editorial educates the public. Are American schools the best in the world? The answer is a resounding [...]
Letter from Louisiana State Board Member
A few days ago, I started honoring people who defend public education and teachers against reckless assaults on them. One of the first of those on the honor roll was Lottie Beebe, an elected member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Here is her response. *************** Diane, you are my hero. Thank [...]
Brits Deal with Same Attacks on Schools
It was eerie reading this article. Change the names and you would think it was Arne Duncan speaking. Same rhetoric. Different country. Wheree do these people come from? What’s their end game?
Understanding the Online Scandal in Maine
If you read this article about how online companies bought American education, you would not be at all shocked or surprised by the scandal in Maine. There, the state commissioner of education is following the instructions of Jeb Bush’s education advisor and implementing the ALEC model legislation to change the laws to bring in for-profit online [...]
For-Profit Online Charter Scandal
Maine’s State Commissioner of Education Stephen Bowen went to San Francisco to hear Jeb Bush tout the glories of for-profit online charter schools. Jeb Bush’s foundation paid for the trip. The commissioner met with Jeb’s chief education aide, Patricia Levesque, whose company lobbies for the online corporations. She promised help. This is what the Maine [...]
The Reason for Public Education
A reader explains why we maintain public schools. It is not about being college and career ready; it is not about global competition. It is this: The reason for universal, free, and compulsory education is is simply this: the job requirements of a citizen in a democratic society are far and away more demanding than [...]
Is Poverty Destiny? Paul Thomas Asks.
Paul Thomas reflects on his father’s life and his own, as he thinks about a commenter who accused him of “hostile” rhetoric. He quotes a billionaire in Australia who suggests that anyone could be a millionaire if they tried hard enough. Does he try hard enough? Did his father? Do teachers? Paul has written in [...]
Florida Gets Tough on 5-Year-Olds
In Florida, as we learn from the comment below, it is never too soon to get tough. It’s never too soon to give tests and hand out grades. Even five-year-olds need to know that someone (the State Education Department? the Legislature? Jeb Bush? ) has high expectations for them! It’s never too soon for them [...]
A Principal Supports Due Process
In a response appropriate for Labor Day weekend, a principal comments on a post about “the biggest lie about unions“: As a principal who has removed several poor performing teachers in the past few years, I agree with this statement. I also agree that behind every poor teacher is a poor administrator. I support due [...]
Wisconsin Districts Drop For-Profit eVendors
This is good news. Some of the school districts in Wisconsin are canceling their contracts with for-profit vendors of online schooling. Last year, four out of the state’s five biggest online schools were run by for-profit corporations. This year, the number is down to two, because school officials concluded the vendors had a conflict of [...]
A Superintendent in Pennsylvania Joins the Honor Roll
To the honor roll of superintendents who stand up for public education and their students and communities, I add the name of Joe Bruni, superintendent of the William Penn School District in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was nominated by Charlotte Hummel, who was president of the local school board. I know Charlotte from our email contacts. [...]
Another Brave Louisiana State School Board Member
After I wrote a post praising Lotte Beebe, an elected member of the state school board, I received an email from an experienced educator in Louisiana. She nominated another state school board member who has stood up to the Jindal bulldozer: Carolyn Hill. Please take the time to encourage these two fearless women with your [...]
Wisconsin Parent Needs Your Help
A parent in Wisconsin wrote to say that the new “reform” law in his state requires that kindergarten children be assessed 2-3 times a year. He wants to opt out his child. He contacted the Wisconsin Reading Coalition to ask for their advice, and this was the response he received. He wants to know what [...]
Philadelphia’s Astonishing Decision
According to this article, Philadelphia will spend an additional $7,000 per student to open many new charter schools. It will cost the district $139 million over the next five years. 24% of the district’s students are currently in charters. The School Reform Commission, acting on the advice of the Boston Consulting Group, wants to increase [...]
More about Milk and Choice
A teacher in New York City wrote to tell me that he worked in the dairy industry for many years before becoming a teacher. When he read about Jeb Bush touting the virtues of choosing schools the way we choose milk, he laughed. Did you know, he wrote, that a small number of big corporations [...]
Why Did We Forget About Integration?
A good discussion on NPR about an important issue that has been swept under the rug. The combination of racial segregation and poverty is toxic.
Maybe Choosing Schools Is Like Choosing Toothpaste?
Deborah Meier writes to comment on Jeb Bush’s claim that choosing schools should be like choosing milk. Could have said cereal. There, two or three corporations own all the different brands. Re Jeb Bush’s analogy—choosing schools is like choosing milk as you wander down the aisle. Among the kinds of milk he listed were milk [...]
A New Set of Class Rules
Gary Stager is visiting a tiny nation abroad, whose name I can’t spell without peeking, and it has adopted a new Constitution. Gary says that teachers could save a lot of time if they simply adopted the Constitution of Uzupis and used it as their class rules.
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 [...]
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 districts are paying an additional $2,000-4,000 for each TFA recruit. She [...]
What Do Teachers Do Best?
A good post by Glen Brown on his blog. 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: “Everywhere in our lives, we get the chance to choose,” he said in aprepared version of his remarks [...]
Take Action Now to Save Public Education
A reader suggested I po
