Who Supports Common Core? Business Leaders.
The collapse of test scores in New York State was immediately followed by a ringing endorsement by business leaders. Their statement was assembled by Education Reform Now, a corporate reform group that promotes privatization. The business leaders, including Joel Klein, are certain that there will be no prepared workers for them to hire without Common Core. How many of them know what the standards
The CAN Vulture Arrives in North Carolina
Supporters of public education in North Carolina are reeling as a result of the sustained assault by the Legislature in this session, but in comes a Gates-funded project to claim that defeats are actually victories and to lobby for merit pay. The CAN idea is supported by hedge fund managers and Gates to promote charter schools, evaluating teachers by test scores, awarding higher pay to those whose
Matt Damon: A Hero of American Education
Here, Arthur Goldstein explains why Matt is a hero of public education, and why those who send their kids to tony elite schools while they close public schools are not. The corporate reform PR machine has trained its big guns on him because he put his kids in a private school. First, they wreck public schools by turning them into testing factories, then they ridicule those who don’t like what they
Why Did Stores Abandon Teacher Appreciation Day?
This article tells a sad story of teachers in San Francisco who count on a yearly event called Teacher Appreciation Day to get free stuff for their students. Before the era of deep budget cuts, teachers didn’t have to forage for school supplies. But once the budget cutting started, it never ended. The teacher in this story plans her day and figures she can visit nine stores to pick up free stuff t
No Accountability for Nonpublic Schools
A reader from Milwaukee sent this comment: “You would think there would be accountability, but here in Milwaukee we have had religious school choice and charter for a number of years. “There is practically no accountability to the state DPI regarding certification of staff, assessments, curriculum, open records, etc. We are requiring them to seek some type of private school accreditation, but giv
A Hero Educator in Long Island
This superintendent saw the scores on the Common Core tests and hit the ceiling. He was not shy in contacting his legislators and parents to tell them that he smelled a rat. The state commissioner predicted a 30-37% fall in scores last fall, and lo and behold, there was a 30-37% fall in scores. Superintendent Joseph V. Rella of the Comsewogue School District in Long Island joins the honor roll tod
Chile: The Most Pro-Market School System in the World, Part 1
This is the first of three posts written by Professor Mario Waissbluth about education in Chile. I invited him to contribute to the blog, because Chile represents our future if we continue our present course of action towards a market system built around the principles of testing and choice. Chile´s Education (I): The most pro-market system in the world Mario Waissbluth This is the first of three
A Hero Educator in Upstate Néw York!
Imagine the superintendent of a high-performing district who is fearless and speaks boldly about the political manipulation of the Common Core test scores. Imagine a woman who defends the students and staff against the rigging of scores by ambitious politicians and bureaucrats. That is Teresa Thayer Snyder of Voorheesville in upstate Néw York, a district that has a 97% graduation rate. Scores cras
Diane in the Evening 8-11-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools Hardcover – Deckle Edgeby Diane Ravitch (Author)What’s Not to Like About Exeter? Sidwell? Lakeside? Dalton?The folks at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute are struggling to come to terms with the New York testing disaster. They certainly
