It’s Time; Let’s Talk
The rally on June 8 kind of bothered me. I’m not sure why. It made me realize that teachers and locals aren’t getting the full story. That bugs me. Professionals are smart, and they like to have the full facts so that they can make good, thoughtful judgments about things. Things like Race to the […]
Anonymous, DefCon, and Young and Adult Hackers of the World: We Need Your Help
If you are a young person of school age or an adult with a child in public schools, you should be outraged that your education, or your son’s or daughter’s education, is in the process of being hijacked by Business Roundtable self-serving ideologues whose ignorance about education is matched only by their greed and hatred […]
Join the Tweetin’ Fun at #againstcommoncore
Tweet much? Thanks to Roseanne Eckert, I’m gonna start her idea up on Twitter. Using hashtag #againstcommoncore, fill in the blanks: I am a ________ and a _____________ and I’m #againstcommoncore. Example: I am a dad and an educator and I’m #againstcommoncore. No planned Twitter bombs or wars. Just an ongoing plug. Keep it up and […]
Ban Suspensions as Alternatives Are Implemented
I very much respect Daniel Losen and the UCLA Civil Rights Project, so I was taken aback by his statement on NPR regarding the question of whether a single suspension could send a secondary student of color down the pipeline to prison. Losen replied that even one such incident is “associated” with a doubling of […]
Do We Need Another Edu-Proclamation, or Do We Need Resistance Strategies to End High Stakes Tests?
Every few weeks it seem that another group of luminaries signs on and circulates another proclamation or declaration making it clear what people who aren’t listening “must do” or “should do” to correct the corporate savaging of public education. The latest appears today and is posted at Daily Kos and WaPo. This one appears vetted […]
In Moving Beyond Repartee
A comment made to the blog, Cloaking Inequality: We need to move the conversation forward. There is nothing new in all the words I have read so far in the blog article nor the response / comment Dr. Thornburg put out there. The focus of an activist movement to maintain public education in America must […]
ExxonMobil sends Mafia-style Letter to PA?
Note: I have not yet verified the authenticity of the letter in this post. But, if it is real, now we’re starting to feel some heat! Because of opposition movements (like my friends and me), Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania put the brakes on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (aka the Pennsylvania […]
You hear that #highered #teacherprep? It’s your clock, winding down.
Some very nice people worked at the GSE at Willamette U in Salem, OR. They recently found out that their entire school is closing. Why? The email, written by University President Steve Thorsett, said the Board of Trustees’ decision was based in large part on a state and national trend in licensing and accreditation that […]
#Commoncore supporters are butthurt #ESEA
Know your meme. CCSSO abandoning “efforts” to write social studies standards to instead focus on ELA/Math implementation, and to thwart opposition to CCSS, according to Education Weak [link excluded purposely, find it yourself if you want, or trust us]. CCSSO Executive Director Chris Minnich told me that the chiefs group wants and needs to focus […]
Just Acquired: Slide one from a USDE presentation on new accountability program #QUIZM
Does this slide not look oddly familiar? It must be some kind of really terrible government Powerpoint template. And to think, as a result of this initiative, schools are actually using Powerpoint presentations in real classrooms. All of this money spent on technology and it just gets us Powerpoints on DELL’s. Awful. In any event, […]
6-10-13 @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER
@ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER: [image: gears] #Commoncore defenders, own it! It is a curriculum, and that’s that. by Chalk Face, PhD I have no problem with unvarnished assent to the common core. That’s between you and your therapist. But let’s get some things very, very clear. Actually, might I suggest some close reading of all the press, research, and commentary on the subject, because I’m not sure you’d be such a fan? In any event, the […] Bill Gates and the Incubators by Jim Horn I know–it’s a great name for a band, but it is distinctly unmusical and no fun. It’s abou... more »