South Carolina Teacher: Merit Pay Is a Bad Joke
Patrick Hayes is a third-grade teacher in Charleston, South Carolina, who is bravely battling those who are destroying public education and the teaching profession in the guise of “reform.” South Carolina has one of the highest numbers of children living in poverty, which is a reliable predictor of poor academic performance. But reformers don’t talk about poverty. They talk about “bad” teachers,
Rhee: America Is Failing Its Kids: We Need Common Core
Michelle Rhee argues that the PISA scores prove that America is failing its kids. She believes that the way to get higher test scores for all is higher standards, more tests, more rigor. She also promotes charters, vouchers, merit pay, and evaluation of teachers based on student test scores. Rhee has a close personal association with the Common Core standards. David Coleman, the architect of the
Shepherd: What Is Wrong with Common Core ELA
Robert Shepherd has written curriculum, textbooks, assessments, and lots else in recent decades. Here he explains what is wrong with the Common Core’s version of English Language Arts: The CCSS in ELA appear to have been written by complete NOVICES based upon a. poorly conceived, unexamined notions about how the outcomes of ELA education should be characterized and measured AND b. vague memories o
Retired Special Ed Teacher Chastises Commissioner King and Regent Tisch
At the Manhattan forum convened by State Commissioner John King and the chair of the Regents Merryl Tisch, a mother gave this moving speech, which she sent with permission to post. She wrote; “Commissioner King, Chancellor Tisch, thank you for the opportunity to share with you tonight. My name is Lorri Gumanow, and my husband and I are the proud parents of a very talented 13-year old public scho
Schneider: Who or What Is the “Center for Union Facts?”
On December 10, the “Center for Union Facts” published a very expensive full-page ad attacking Randi Weingarten, the AFT, and teachers’ unions, blaming them for the PISA scores. In this post, Mercedes Schneider explores the “Center for Union Facts.” As she says, don’t believe the name. It is a corporate-funded, rightwing foundation-funded operation whose goal is to destroy unions.
Rightwing Group Attacks Unions in “New York Times”
A few days ago, a little-known group called the Center for Union Facts published a full-page ad in the New York Times blaming Randi Weingarten, the AFT, and teachers’ unions en bloc for the mediocre performance of the United States on PISA. The “center” says that the unions oppose merit pay, and that’s why the scores of 15-year-olds are not at the top of the world. This ad is patently absurd. Lea
John Thompson: How Mayor de Blasio Can Fix Some of Bloomberg’s Failures
Historian-teacher John Thompson analyzes a recent review of the Bloomberg administration’s education initiatives and explains how the private education funders wasted $2 billion. The great mistake of the Bloomberg administration was its unalloyed faith in accountability, the threats of punishment and sanctions. As the budget expanded, the number of reading specialists for the early grades plumme
Our Hero, Bruce Baker
In the world of education research, few scholars have been as forthright and reliable as Bruce Baker of Rutgers. Whenever a study is published that makes miraculous claims, we can count on Bruce to put it under the microscope and see what was left out. Bruce has taught in high schools and understands that teaching is a difficult career and that progress is at best incremental. He is fearless, insi
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Charter Founder in Ohio Makes Large Political Contributions, Gets RichThe blogger Plunderbund here documents the conditions in which certain major charter operators in Ohio become financially very successful. In this instance, he tells the story of William Lager, founder of ECOT (the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow), who has gener