Why Does Congressman Jared Polis Call Me “Evil”?
In a series of Twitter posts last night, Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado called me “an evil woman.” He said that my ideas were harming public education. This is puzzling. What do I do that makes the rich and powerful fume and blow their cool? I have met him twice in DC. The first time, I met with members of the House Education Committee and described my last book, The Death and Life of the Gre
Yinzercation: Our Pep Rally in Pittsburgh
Jessie Ramey, who writes Yinzercation, and Kipp Dawson, a union activist and teacher in the Pittsburgh public schools, invited me to come to their city. I had my first event there, and it was sensational! I will let Jessie describe it. Let me add that I especially wanted to meet Kipp, because I learned that she worked as a coal miner for more than a decade. I imagined a burly woman, but she turned
Teacher Tom with Link Added!
When I posted a great piece by preschool Teacher Tom of Seattle, I forgot the link. It is added here, so I am re-posting. This is a mistake I occasionally make (no excuses!), so I want to rectify it so you can visit his great site and read the whole post, not just my excerpts.
NYC Whistle Blower: How the DOE Is Like Enron
I know a mole inside the New York City Department of Education. He/she knows how the DOE manipulates data to burnish the mayor’s image. This is a good reason to oppose mayoral control of the schools. He/she says the mayor’s small schools close with regularity; that the data cannot be trusted; that the Department has shown preference to charter schools but they got lower scores on the Common Core t
Bruce Baker: How to Eliminate Accountability and Transparency While Claiming the Opposite
Bruce Baker of Rutgers University here dissects the fundamental flaws at the heart of the corporate reform agenda. This is the set of policy prescriptions that he reviews: What I have found most intriguing over time is that the central messaging of these reformy template policy prescriptions is that they will necessarily improve accountability and transparency of education systems, and that they w
Teacher Tom Reviews “Reign of Error”
Teacher Tom teaches pre-school children in Seattle. He is also a writer and artist. Here he wonders why the leaders of the so-called reform movement insist on doing things that never work, like merit pay, or doubling down on truly bad ideas. He writes: “Listen, I don’t know why smart people like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Arne Duncan (US Secretary of Education), and Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation)
A Last-Minute Bad Idea from NYC Department of Education
In its ongoing effort to destroy neighborhood schools and communities, the NYC brought out a plan to centralize kindergarten admissions. This paren activist says it is time to fight back now: “Last week, the DOE announced the roll-out of a new $800,000 kindergarten admissions process, known as Kindergarten Connect. “Kindergarten Connect, like the centralized system currently used for high school a
Diane in the Evening 9-18-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jersey Jazzman Reviews “Reign of Error”Jersey Jazzman connects the dots in his review of “Reign of Error.” He sees the connection between school and society. He writes: “There is one chapter in this part of the book that caught me by surprise: “The Toxic Mix,” as frank a discussion of race, inequality, and segregation as I have rea