Schools Matter:
Schools Matter All Week
A Few More Dots: Corporate School Indiana Update
By Doug MartinSince I’m busy preparing my book Hoosier School Heistfor the printers, I've decided to note a few things not in the book and several recent happening in the corporate school movement in the Hoosier state. 1. The Friedman Foundation, which gave out free t-shirts of Milton to anyone who left comments on its site responding to Diane Ravitch's take on the group's new "research,&quo
YESTERDAY
Full Interview, Part III, with Former Charter Teacher at Brooklyn Ascend
Below is Part III of my interview with Emily Talmage. Parts I and II can be found here and here.INT: When you think of Brooklyn Ascend, what comes to mind?R: The first thing that comes to mind is that I am so happy I'm not there. INT: Is there an image that you end up with?R: Yeah. The image that comes to mind is this kid with their mouth closed, with their hands by their side, and really no
JAN 16
What Will New Jersey's Universal Pre-K Look Like?
Universal pre-K is a no brainer when it comes to providing children with a good start. Then again, brains appear to be in short supply here in New Jersey as voters swept a corrupt Christie administration into office AGAIN. His record and polices that have hurt just about everyone in the state is as clear as the view from the George Washington Bridge on a sunny day. While Christie and his cronies
Public Meeting To Discuss Closing 12 Memphis Schools to Benefit Charter Industry and Gates Plan
A local columnist in Memphis, Wendi Thomas, has a cynical piece today in the Memphis Corporate Appeal on the planned shutdown of 12 more Memphis schools. The Shelby County School Board, which represents the interests of the corporate machine, has brought in an economist from Chicago to assure the local media and politicians that the closure of 47 schools in Chicago is fine, because, after all, th
Comments on "Arne Duncan: School Expectations Are Too Low in the United States"
From US NEWS and WORLD REPORT, Jan 14, 2014 My comments posted on:http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/14/arne-duncan-school expectations-are-too-low-in-the-united-statesARE TEACHERS STUPID?"... teachers in America often come from the bottom of the academic barrel .... Duncan said ..."There is no evidence this is true - Please see: "Are teachers stupid?" By Jeff McQuill
Full Interview, Part II, with Former Charter Teacher at Brooklyn Ascend
Part I of this interview with Emily Talmage, former charter school teacher, was posted yesterday here. Part III will be posted tomorrow.INT: How did the parents of these children feel about that [the rigidity with no accommodations]?R: I don't really know because I don't really know if they were aware of what actually happened in the school. I never saw a parent actually come in and observe a
Walking and Talking with Secretary Duncan
While too little focus is aimed at the substance of education reform claims and the criticisms of the reform movement, critics of misguided education reform are often discredited for their tone.Beneath the political civility of political appointees, such as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, however, are equally offensive implications, which compound the lack of evidence for their claims.On one l
JAN 15
Full Interview with Former Charter Teacher at Brooklyn Ascend, Part I
In the following interview, a teacher shares her story about working at Brooklyn Ascend, one of the total compliance, "no excuses" charter schools in Brooklyn. Emily Talmage (formerly Emily Kennedy), who now happily teaches third grade in a Lewiston, Maine public school, has given permission to post her entire interview, which was originally conducted with an assurance of her anonymity.
JAN 14
Chris Hedges on the Nation's Largest Governor
From Nation of Change:New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been Wall Street’s anointed son for the presidency. He is backed by the most ruthless and corrupt figures in New Jersey politics, including the New Jersey multimillionaire and hard-line Democratic boss George Norcross III. Among his other supporters are many hedge fund managers and corporate executives and some of the nation’s most retrograd
We Can't Protect Our Misleaders, Incompetent As They Are, And Expect to Prevail--Or Survive
In putting the welfare of her friend, Randi Weingarten, ahead of everything else, Diane Ravitch has triggered a firestorm of criticism against her friend by many teachers who have, in the past, set on the sideline watching, as Randi and her posse of lawyers have handed over mile after mile of public school territory to the invading corporate horde of insatiable profiteers and Washington extortioni
JAN 13
Common Core Without Testing Is Like Vampires Without Blood
Not many people remember that Diane Ravitch was for Common Core before she was against it, and what turned her against it was the certainty that any benefit of second graders all learning to write memos rather than reading Mrs. Frisby . . . would be negated by an increase in testing--which she had come to understand to be the tool for destroying public schools.Now Ravitch's friend, Randi Weingarte
California Readers--Read This and Act
K-12 News Network has obtained an email that the United Way sent to its partner groups advertising an informational session held by Superintendent John Deasy that will provide details on the rollout of Local Control Funding Formula councils. These councils, part of Local Control Accountability Plans, must by law include community members, parents, teachers, and others who will participate in deter
JAN 12
The Ravitch Conference, Featuring Randi Weingarten
Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody started a new organization a year or so ago called the Network for Public Education. Board members were chosen, and the chosen board members chose Ravitch as President and Cody as Treasurer. As NPE president, Ravitch will be the Keynote Speaker at a UTexas based two-day conference in early March that, according to Cody, will "bring together activists from aroun
Ravitch Announces Randi's "Decoupling" of Common Core from VAM
With light diminishing between Diane Ravitch and Randi Weingarten's positions, Dr. Ravitch posted this this morning. My comment at her blog follows.A reader who calls himself or herself “Democracy” left comments criticizing me for defending Randi Weingarten–or perhaps for not attacking her.Here is my response to Democracy:Democracy, you ask a good question, and I will answer as best I can..As you
JAN 10
When Corporate Psychology Replaces Child Development, KIPP Style
Dr. Martin Seligman is the most prominent leader of the popular movement and corporate cult known as positive psychology, which Dr. Bryant Welch describes as modern day version of Norman Vincent Peale's "power of positive thinking."Dr. Seligman is also the richest leader of the movement, after landing a $119 million contract from Pentagon generals in 2009 to administer positive psycholog
Buying Indy Mayor Ballard: School Privatizing Update
by Doug Martin Back in the summer of 2012, when the mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard, was closing The Project School because it was the only charter school in the city not playing the game set up by the Indiana Corporate School Complex, I wrote about the various school privatizers funneling money into Ballard’s campaign, which included Walmart and Betsy DeVos front man Fred Klipsch, Mind Trust