Network for Public Education: Revised Endorsements
In my earlier post about endorsements for public office, I inadvertently left off the names of two candidates who were endorsed by the Network for Public Education. As I said before, these are all candidates who want to strengthen and improve public schools. The candidates endorsed by NPE are: Culver City School Board, CA Claudia Vizcarra El Rancho School Board, CA José Lara South Pasadena School
Network for Public Education: Endorsements
The Network for Public Education doesn’t have any capacity to fund political campaigns, unlike the billionaires and millionaires who are trying to buy school board seats to advance their privatization agenda. We endorse candidates, based on surveys of all the candidates on all sides and interviews with local education activists, parents and educators. The endorsement committee reaches its decision
Thanks to Kipp Dawson of Pittsburgh for drawing my attention to this letter written by Melissa Tomlinson, the teacher who confronted Governor Chris Christie, who shouted her down and said contemptuously, “What do you people want?” This is her answer, which appeared on Mark Naison’s blog: Dear Governor Christie, Yesterday I took the opportunity to come hear you speak on your campaign trail. I have
VAMboozled! Welcome to the Blogosphere, Audrey!
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley is one of the nation’s leading experts on teacher evaluation. She has the advantage of having been a middle school math teacher before she became a scholar so she has a deeper understanding of the classroom than many other experts in the field. Audrey A-B has just started her own blog, where she will have ample opportunity to spread light on the facts and myths about value-
Barbara Buono for Governor of New Jersey
I can’t vote in New Jersey, but if I could, I would vote for Barbara Buono. Since big corporations and billionaires and garden-variety millionaires have no reluctance to spread campaign cash to school board races in communities where they do not live, I have no reluctance to say that if I lived in New Jersey, I would vote for Barbara Buono. Her first qualification is that she is not Chris Christie
Governor Christie Berates a Teacher, Again
Governor Chris Christie has made clear that he doesn’t like the public schools in his state. He calls them “failure factories,” as he campaigns for vouchers. (He is a graduate of Livingston High School.) He seems to despise public school teachers. He enjoys berating teachers, especially if they are female. He is one big, tough, strong guy who knows how to put down women. Melissa Tomlinson is a pub
A Different America, But Is It Better?
Some of are old enough to remember a different America. We remember neighborhoods and communities where the shopkeepers knew our names and called to tell our mothers if we got into trouble. Then the big chains moved in and put those shops out of business. Then the big box stores moved in and killed off the chains. The people who used to run the mo-and-shop store became greeters at te big box store
Kitty Boitnott Reviews “Reign of Error”
Kitty Boitnott is a National Board Certified Teacher in Virginia who now coaches teachers and teacher leaders. She here reviews Reign of Error. Boitnott summarizes the main arguments of the book and then says: This is a must-read for any public school educator, for any parent who still cares about public schools and their role in the community, for the administrators who haven’t been so brainwash
Bruce Baker Deconstructs Bill Keller’s Attack on Ed Schools
A couple of weeks ago, Bill Keller wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times in which he asserted that colleges of education were largely responsible for our national education woes. Leave aside the fact that he knows nothing about the national education issues, but focus instead on his claim that whatever is wrong must be the fault of the ed schools. Bruce Baker was outraged, as was I. I have
New Jersey: Why You Should Vote for Marie Corfield for State Assembly
If you live in New Jersey, you are probably stuck with Chris Christie, whose education policies are disastrous for the state. He trashes his state’s teachers and public schools at every opportunity, even though New Jersey has the second highest scores on the federal tests called NAEP, behind only Massachusetts. He seems to have a visceral dislike bordering on hatred for the state’s public schools,
Governor Christie’s Disastrous “School Reforms”
Julia Sass Rubin, an associate professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a founder of Save Our Schools NJ, here explains the ugly face of what is deceptively called “school reform” in New Jersey during the administration of Governor Chris Christie. It would be more accurate, she writes, to say that Governor Christie has promoted a policy of
Montessori Teacher to John King: Montessori Is Not About Testing and Common Core
I received an email from a Montessori teacher in Wisconsin. She asked me to publish this so that Dr. John King, State Commissioner of Education in New York, understands that the Montessori school to which he sends his own children does not have a philosophy aligned with what he proposes for Other People’s Children. Dear Diane, John King keeps on saying that Common Core is a lot like Montessori edu
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 11-2-13 -13 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGWhat Do Philadelphia Students Want?A high school student wrote this letter to Mark NAISON of the BATS, who sent it to me: Mr Naison: Hello, my name is Madeline Clapier. I am a senior at Constitution High School which is a school in Philadelphia that focuses on law and history. Currently, we as a school are facing massive