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11/26/2013 – Dec 9 Day Of Action
November 26, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK:Record Number Of Homeless Students … Preschool Done Right … Following Common Core Money … Charters Undermine Public Education … Student Loans As Profit Center TOP STORY Dec. 9 Declared Day Of Action To Reclaim The Promise Of Public Education By Jeff Bryant “Americans everywhere are seeing their local schools being ground into pieces between the twin political augers of government austerity and top-down, corporate-backed ‘reform’ … An increasingly vocal opposition to this status quo has announced a December 9th National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promis
Dec. 9 Declared Day Of Action To Reclaim The Promise Of Public Education
“Public education is under attack,” comes the warning from Philadelphia in a riveting new video from community and youth organizers in that city. Their accusations are that education policies are “an attack on poor children” … policy makers “don’t care about the students” … public education “is being defunded” … and “it’s not something specific to Philadelphia.” Indeed, Philadelphia “is an early warning sign for America,” a former science teacher wrote recently at the progressive news site PolicyMic. Chronically low per-pupil spending – “behind suburban districts” – combined with a “powerful c
Charter Schools For Scandals
There are undoubtedly wonderful charter schools in existence, and Americans generally have a favorable opinion of charters, but hardly a week goes by without news of a scandal or a study tarnishing their image. With schools reopening everywhere across the country, the past week was no exception in exposing new problems with an idea that was once thought of as a collaborative endeavor between teacher unions and school administrators aimed at serving struggling students, but has now become a heavily funded, well-marketed movement designed to siphon money away from traditional public schools. Lea
NOV 19
11/19/2013 – Can Political Centrists Expand Pre-K Access
November 19, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Reading Should Be Fun … ‘White Moms,’ Common Core Clash … Good Teachers Embrace Culture … Cuts Hurt The Most Vulnerable Students … Free Online Education, Changes Course TOP STORY Will Political Centrists Go Outside Their Comfort Zones To Expand Pre-K Access? By Jeff Bryant ” Democratic leaders in both chambers last week introduced a new bill that would dram
Will Political Centrists Go Outside Their Comfort Zones To Expand Pre-K Access?
Building on President Obama’s “Preschool for All Initiative” proposed earlier this year – that would dramatically expand access to prekindergarten programs for 4-year olds – Democratic leaders in both chambers last week introduced the “Strong Start for America’s Children Act”. The new bill differs somewhat from what the White House proposed, as explained by Education Week’s Alyson Klein who examin
NOV 12
11/12/2013 – Still No Proof School Reform Helps
November 12, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Childcare More Expensive Than College … Schools For Wealthy Get More Funding … School Segregation Problem … Ending School To Prison Pipeline … College Misconceptions TOP STORY Sorry Nicholas Kristof, Still No Proof School Reform Helps By Jeff Bryant “Prompted by the latest results of the National Assessment of Education Progress, aka “the Nation’s Report Ca
Sorry Nicholas Kristof, Still No Proof School Reform Helps
It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry when an “All-Purpose-Pundit” at The New York Times takes it upon him/herself to write a commentary about education. “Thomas Friedman is infamous for his uninformed pieces on education,” Larry Ferlazzo, a retired schoolteacher and ubiquitous education commentator on the Internet recently observed. And there’s “David Brooks, who is equally off-base.” Diane R
NOV 05
11/5/2013 – Behind Chris Christie’s Rage At Teachers
November 5, 2013 Subscribe THIS WEEK: Trouble Starting At Age 8 … The Excellence Gap … $1 Billion For Schools … Common Core Implementation Worse Than Obamacare … Will Bridgeport Reject Rhee Revolution TOP STORY What Chris Christie Is Hiding Behind His Rage At School Teachers By Jeff Bryant “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has a record for responding with rage when anyone, not just teachers, q
What Chris Christie Is Hiding Behind His Rage At School Teachers
“I’m tired of you people. What do you want?” Those were the words New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used to respond to one of his constituents, a taxpayer, and a public servant of the state, who had the temerity to question the governor’s leadership of the state’s education system. As reported by Valerie Strauss on her blog at The Washington Post, Melissa Tomlinson, an elementary school teacher w