Richard Berman’s Declared Union-bashing Strategy
On January 13, 2014, I published a post about Richard Berman’s Center for Union Facts (CUF) attack on the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) via its five-story billboard in Times Square (and its similar, full-page New York Times ad in December 2013). I believe that this barrage of CUF ads is the direct result of recently-elected New York City Mayor Bill […]
Call It What It Is: Predatory Reform
by Morna McDermott “Shutting down public schools and handing them over to private organizations is not a ‘turnaround,’ it is a heist.” – Sabrina Stevens- I am a member of a bloggers group called Basecamp, which has about 100 amazing bloggers comprised of teachers, activists, academics, parents and others from around the country. Frequently new questions or […]
Teaching is the mother of innovation.
It’s often said, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Although this statement is true, I firmly believe the teaching profession, itself, creates several “necessity” moments. Since teachers use their creativity, on a daily basis, they’re often the most innovative people. As a result, I often wonder why teachers aren’t the world’s best inventors? In my […]
That Anti-union Billboard in Times Square: Consider the Timing
On January 12, 2014, the Center for Union Facts (CUF) (a misnomer) produced the following five-story billboard in Times Square (New York City): This is not CUF’s first swipe at Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). In December 2013, CUF launched a similar ad– a full-page ad in the New York Times– attempting the same […]
Learning to teach reading from Whitey McWhiterson and her twin sister
I don’t mean to bring race or whatever into this. Good teaching is good teaching, right? But the reader might know about my frustrations with early literacy instruction as of late, particularly guided reading. When examining a few new models and other suggestions, here’s what I see: white kids, white lily classrooms, white teachers, white, […]
1-12-14 @ The Chalk Face
@ THE CHALK FACE: The Costs of Common Core?Funding public education constitutes a large percentage of many states’ total budget, and thus, over the past three or four decades, the role of governor has become necessarily one that impacts education policy strongly. I believe that increased connection between partisan politics and conducting public schools has been powerfully and negatively influenti