With A Brooklyn Accent:
With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week
A Program for Urban Schools- Do Mayoral Candidates in Your City Support These?
1. Stop School Closings Immediately- Fix Troubled Schools Don't Close Them.2. End all Contracts with Teacher of America.3. Three year moratorium on new Charter Schools. Evaluate existing ones.4. Make Recess Sacred! No test prep during recess or physical education.5. Fund Pre-K and After School Programs- Schools in High Needs Communities should be Open 6 AM to 9 PM.6. Cut Testing to fund arts, spor
Why The Democratic Party Can Longer Be Relied Upon to Defend Public Education
The Democratic Party, at its top levels, is mired in a web of corruption and insider dealing when it comes to the "growth areas" of Predatory School Reform- charter schools, on line learning, educational technology, test production. This is one important reason why Arne Duncan was, and still is, the perfect Secretary of Education for Barack Obama. In the face of the profits to be made an
JAN 22
Why BATS Fight the Common Core
CCSS- which I have renamed Common Core Stealth Standards because of how they have been introduced- should be treated as fruit of the poisoned tree. Given the undemocratic manner in which they were developed, rushed through legislatures, and are currently being implemented, teachers and parents should respond to them with the utmost wariness and suspicion. This is ultimate Legislating by the One Pe
Ten Demands of the BATS Teachers March on Washington on July 28, 2014
1. End all federal support for Common Core Standards.2. End all federal grants that require teacher and school ratings based on student scores; end high stakes testing.3. End federal incentives to close and privatize community schools and stop preferring charter schools over public schools.4. Insist on high quality teacher-developed curriculum based upon knowledge of child development, rather than
JAN 20
Sit and Stare Policies for Students Who Refuse Tests in New York State.
I am not sure if this is a policy that is being encouraged by the NY State Education Department, but at least 10 School Districts that I know of in Long Island and Upstate NY require that any child who refuses to take a state test, including those as young as third grade, must sit in the room with students taking the tests and stare at the blackboard for the entire time of the test. They are not a
The False Prophets of School Reform
It is astonishing to see people who have never taught, or have taught a few years and left, become the major forces shaping education in the United States.. They are guided by a policy ethos,which, if you were describing it in biblical terms, would be regarded as False Idolatry. While holding the human skills great teaching involves in contempt, they worship Data, Quality Control and Top Down Mana
JAN 18
Where Predatory School Reform Reveals its Ugliest Face- School Closings and the Common Core Standards
If you want to see the ugly authoritarian impulse that lies at the heart of Predatory School Reform, and the total disrespect for teachers, school administrators, parents, students it embodies- take a look at two phenomena- the closing of allegedly "failing" schools in urban centers throughout the nation, and the sudden, stealth like imposition of the Common Core Standards in 45 states.
JAN 16
Why the Term "School Reform" Has Lost Its Luster
The term "School Reformer" was once honorable or hopeful. No more. Now, the associations with those two words are so profoundly negative that most people, other than ambitious politicians, can no longer use them without choking. To me "School Reform" now is fatally undermined by policies that lead to child and teacher abuse on the one hand, and profiteering and corruption on th
JAN 11
Notes on the Testing Catastrophe in New York State
Policies Which Create Massive Stress in New York Schools(Notes for a Talk to Southampton Democratic Club)A.P.P.R- requiring that all teachers in the state must be evaluated with 40 percent of their evaluation coming from student test scores.Requiring that teachers rated “low performing” two years running must be removed.Alignment of Tests; many already burdensome (6 days of testing for 3rd graders
JAN 08
First Draft of New York Teachers Petition Refusing Merit Pay
First Draft of Teachers Petition Refusing Merit PayAs public school teachers in the State of New York we categorically reject Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to give merit pay for teachers rated “Highly Effective” on the State’s flawed teacher evaluation system. We oppose this not only because merit pay creates a competitive atmosphere in schools where there should be collaboration, but because i
JAN 07
Not All Conservatives Hate Unions and Support School Privatization!
Throw Away Your Stereoptypes-- A Reminder from NY Teacher Patty Dobrasz Munnikheysen that Not All Conservatives Are Advocates of School Privatization!There are MANY, MANY of us conservatives that are pro-union, anti-core, anti-high stakes tests. We only see varied politics as the cause of CC/high stakes tests AND we see politicians as the ticket to changing things regardless of which party pushes
JAN 06
An Educator's Reflections on School Segregation and the Enduring Power of Race in Louisiana
Still think we live in a post-racial society? Recent events in Louisiana provide some of the most convincing evidence of the continued significance of race in our society. Defenders of Phil Robertson-star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty-claim the controversial comments made by the patriarch of the family was not about race, but about freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Robertson’s comments-which
JAN 04
The Rich Who Hate Unionized Government Workers
I have rarely met a wealthy person who does not publicly express contempt for unionized public workers- police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers, teachers- and doesn't think they are lazy and over paid. Many blame them for bankrupting government and undermining the dynamism of the American economy. This from people whose salary and compensation often exceeds those they are attacking in mu
JAN 03
Thoughts on Socialism, Liberty, and Government and Corporate Powe
As long as there is a huge concentration of wealth at the top of the society, as we have now in the US, we cannot assume that centralized government initiatives will have positive consequences. Government at all levels has become the tool of powerful corporations. This makes the historic socialist identification with strong government highly problematical. In the US today, policies which are e
JAN 02
otorious Phd’s Quick Tips for College Teaching in the Liberal Arts.
Notorious Phd’s Quick Tips for College Teaching in the Liberal Arts.1. Make sure that the reading materials you assign are inspiring as well as informative. Don't be afraid to include literature as well as non-fiction. Students need to use their imagination as well as intellect.2. When you are lecturing, always stop and say. "Do you understand what i am trying to get across." "Do yo