LA Times: $500 Million for iPads Did Not Include Keyboards
Howard Blume reports in this morning’s Los Angeles Times that the school district’s $500 million purchase of iPads did not include the keyboards that will be necessary when the students use them to take standardized tests. The district has also committed to spend another $500 million to install wireless Internet in every school. The iPads were purchased for testing students on the new Common Core.
Paul Thomas: What We Know Now and Why It Doesn’t Matter
In this excellent analysis, Paul Thomas lists the many education policy ideas that are at the core of corporate reform–and how they have been proven wrong. At first glance, it is infuriation to realize that no part of the corporate reform agenda works. But on second thought, it is encouraging to realize that the policies the reformers are pushing ARE the STATUS QUO and IT IS FAILING. It is failing
Breaking News: Mayoral Candidate de Blasio Attacks Co-Location of Charters
New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio attacked the Bloomberg administration’s policy of placing privately managed charter schools in public school buildings. Not only does this cause overcrowding and increased class size, but it creates a two-class system, with privileged charters sited alongside public school students who must make do with less access to their library, their playground,
What Is a “Failing School”?
Two years ago, Kevin Kosar, a former graduate student of mine, conducted an Internet search for the term “failing school.” What he discovered was fascinating. Until the 1990s, the term was virtually unknown. About the mid-1990s, the term began appearing with greater frequency. With the passage of No Child Left Behind, the use of the expression exploded and became a commonplace. Kosar did not spec
Jon Pelto: Teaching Obedience Above All
In this post, Jonathan Pelto describes the rigid discipline at the Jumoke Academy in Connecticut. The astonishing thing about this school is who is not enrolled. First came the Jumoke Academy, a Hartford based, discipline oriented charter school that over its history failed to take a single bilingual or non-English speaking student since it opened, despite the fact that one in five Hartford studen
Special Education Teacher: As I Begin My Final Year of Teaching
Arthur Getzel has been a teacher of special education in New York City since 1978. On his blog, he describes his preparations as the school year begins. It is his last year. He goes shopping for supplies and spends $200 of his own money for necessities. He cleans the classroom to get it ready for his students. He knows everything is supposed to change this year because of Common Core. But, he wri
Common Core Tests in NY Widen Achievement Gaps
I first learned about the Common Core standards while attending a briefing for Congressional staff at a conference sponsored by the Aspen Institute in 2009. it was held at Wye Plantation, a lovely and isolated conference center in Maryland. Dane Linn of the National Governors Association described the development work. I was invited to talk about the history of standards in the U.S. In the discus
Diane in the Evening 9-2-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: More Secret Emails in Indiana about PrivatizationFrom a reader who read the emails gathered by investigative reporter Tom Lobianco of the Associated Press, insights about the back room discussions to impose “reforms” without talking to legislators. She wrote: “Todd Huston, Tony Bennett’s Chief of Staff, Indiana Department of Ed
A Parent's Guide to Corporate Education Reform: Why Rich Guys are Screwing Up Our Public Schools
A Parent's Guide to Corporate Education Reform: Why Rich Guys are Screwing Up Our Public SchoolsAKAREIGN OF ERROR. An incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools.I Got Mine and I Can'
