Why We Need Public Schools!
Why do we have public schools? Would we be better off, as certain reformers now think, if everyone had school choice and went to a charter or used a voucher to go to a private or religious school?
Do we need public schools?
I asked Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, how she would answer these questions.
How would you answer?
This is what Carol wrote:
“When I think of the purpose of public schooling I always think of Dewey’s famous phrase that is stenciled into
Do we need public schools?
I asked Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, how she would answer these questions.
How would you answer?
This is what Carol wrote:
“When I think of the purpose of public schooling I always think of Dewey’s famous phrase that is stenciled into
About This Blog
Thank you for reading the blog.
Thank you for joining what must surely be the liveliest discussion about education issues anywhere on the Web.
I did not know how this blog would evolve when I started it on April 26 last year. Since then, it has had more than 2.7 million page views. So I know it meets a need for a place that welcomes candid exchanges about the issues that concern us all.
This is an unusual platform. It is a place where the voices of educators, parents, and students get a full hearing.
Thank you for joining what must surely be the liveliest discussion about education issues anywhere on the Web.
I did not know how this blog would evolve when I started it on April 26 last year. Since then, it has had more than 2.7 million page views. So I know it meets a need for a place that welcomes candid exchanges about the issues that concern us all.
This is an unusual platform. It is a place where the voices of educators, parents, and students get a full hearing.
Jeannie Oakes Answers the Teacher’s Question about Diversity and Grouping
On January 20, I published a post by a teacher who asked about how to deal with the heterogeneity of the student population. She said that charters appealed to parents who wanted less heterogeneity.
Here is an excerpt:
“We complain that charters are skimming the top, we have to take all comers and we can’t cherrypick; we can’t dump the least school ready students. We wear it as a badge of honor; we’re a force for egalitarian education for all. We’re a place where all children come together to learn. Well, that’s great.”BUT… a parent who wants to
Diane in the Evening 2-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog
Diane Ravitch's blog: Strange Bedfellows Oppose Common Core in Indiana by dianerav Glenda Ritz, the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana, thrashed reform idol Tony Bennett last November. She received more votes than anyone else on the ballot except the Attorney General (she ran ahead of the governor). Tony Bennett, who famously supports free-market solutions to education problems, is an advocate for charters and vouchers, for evaluating teachers by test scores, and for for-profit online corporations and charters. Tony Bennett is one of the nation’s loudes... more »
