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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Diane in the Evening 4-16-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:







Poor ALEC! Someone Disagrees with Their Radical Agenda

ALEC has operated in the background since 1973, funded by major corporations who want to advance a corporate-friendly agenda into state legislatures. Some 2,000 state legislators belong to ALEC and attend its posh conferences, where they hobnob with corporate lobbyists.
ALEC suffered a PR setback when Trayvon Martin was killed last year in Florida by a man who invoked ALEC’s “stand your ground” law. The bad publicity caused some 40 corporations to abandon ALEC.
It has written draft legislation for vouchers, charters, cyber charters, ending teacher tenure, ending collective


LA Times Defends Wall Street Hedge Fund Reformers

Last weekend the California Democratic Party passed a resolution that forthrightly criticized corporate education reform, including high-stakes testing and privatization. The resolution specifically singled out Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst and the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ Democrats for Education Reform as organizations that are fronts for corporate interests and Republicans.
But this upset the Los Angeles Times editorial board, which is known for its contempt for teachers’ unions. The 

John White’s Budget Tricks in Louisiana

John White is pulling some fast tricks with public school funding in Louisiana. Fortunately the state has smart bloggers who protect the public interest and blow the whistle.
There is no end to White and Jindal’s efforts to transfer public dollars into private hands. He wants to eliminate arequirement that high schools have one guidance counselor for every 450 students. He says they can hire private 

Who Is Paying to Privatize Public Schools in Los Angeles?

Howard Blume has an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times describing the corporate money that poured into the recent Los Angeles school board race.
He never quite pins down why all these moguls and titans want to control the LA school board, but he provides a useful dance card of the corporate reform movement.
Among their causes: privately managed charter schools; evaluating teachers by test scores; fighting the union; 

Will Public Education Survive in Wisconsin?

Public education is at risk in several states, where extremists want to tear it up and replace it with privatization.
One of the states where the privatizers are in charge is Wiscondin, where Governor Scott Walker hopes to demolish public education.
To get a sense of what is happening in Wisconsin, read this article. Written by a teacher, it challenges syndicated columnist George Will for joining the wrecking crew and spreading false tales about the public schools, spread by unreliable sources.
This tide of hostility directed at a democratic institution is bizarre. It is not conservative to destroy one of the pillars of our free society.

Roundup: Indiana Legislation to Smash Public Schools, Lower Standards

Indiana legislators have passed so much anti-public school legislation this year that they are feeling “reform fatigue.”
Of course, they expanded the state voucher program. That way, as many children as possible can escape going to a community school, even if they are in kindergarten. The good news is that 10 Republican senators voted 

CTU: District Leadership Abandoned Struggling Schools in Chicago

The Chicago Teachers Union reports that the system leadership starved the schools it wanted to close, depriving them of the resources and personnel they needed to succeed. Those at the top should be held accountable when schools fail. It doesn’t happen accidentally. They are responsible.
New Report Cites Past Disinvestment By CPS in
Schools Targeted for Closure
A history of trauma and neglect exposed in “A Tale of Two Schools: The Human Story Behind Destructive School Actions in Chicago”
CHICAGO—The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) issued report examining the upheaval at two elementary schools 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-16-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Problems with Common Core Tests by dianerav Technical issues plague the tests. Not ready for prime time. An 8th Grader Writes a Test Question: Hilarious! by dianerav An 8th grade student in New York State wrote a brilliant parody of the state ELA exam. Please read it. It is very funny. It does leave you wondering why students are so much wiser than state education officials. How to Prepare Children for Common Core Failure by dianerav This is a parody but it is... more »