Ten Big Wins for Public Education in 2013
Owen Davis, writing for Alternet, lists ten big victories for public schools in 2013. He begins: “If what’s past is truly prologue, there’s a good chance 2013 will be remembered as the year the free-market education reform movement crested and began to subside. After a decade of gathering momentum, reform politics began to founder in the face of communities fighting for equitable and progressive
Andy Borowitz: The 1% Will Miss Mayor Bloomberg
Andy Borowitz is a humorist who writes for “The New Yorker.” You can sign up for the Borowitz Report and receive it free in your inbox almost every day. Here is his latest, which demonstrates how close satire is to reality. PEOPLE WHO CAN STILL AFFORD TO LIVE IN NEW YORK PRAISE BLOOMBERG Borowitz describes a farewell dinner for Bloomberg, as follows: . Harland Dorrinson, principal owner of the he
NYC Educator Shares Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s Resolutions
Arthur Goldstein, aka NYC Educator and teacher at Frances LewisHigh School, shares Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s resolutions. They are better than mine. I just want to stay healthy, exercise, and eat heathy foods.
2013: A Very Bad Year for Teachers and Public Education in North Carolina
2013 was a horrible year for teachers and public schools in North Carolina. The legislature and the governor passed bill after bill intended to demoralize teachers, defund public schools, and expand the transfer of public funds to privately managed schools, private schools, and religious schools. Here, Lindsay Wagner of NC Policy Watch describes the nine actions that were intended to crush public
Did LA Schools Get Ripped Off by Apple?
Turns out the iPads purchased by LAUSD are way more expensive than what other districts are buying. And they have already been discontinued: obsolete already. No wonder tech vendors are thrilled with Race to the Top: Ca-Ching ! $$$$$$$$$$ Lots of dough for devices. Not so much for the arts, libraries, small classes.
At de Blasio Inauguration
I am waiting for inauguration ceremonies to begin and just received this disturbing news. According to Wash Post, Arne Duncan lobbied de Blasio to block choice of Joshua Starr, a vocal critic of high stakes testing.
John Kuhn: Five Resolutions for the New Year
Superintendent John Kuhn of the Perrin-Whitt school district in Texas is one of our heroes, for his passion, compassion, intelligence, and courage on behalf of his students and community. Here he writes his resolutions for the New Year. Some of his year-end observations are similar to mine, and I swear we did not communicate. We share common concerns about the future of our public schools, teacher
Reflections on the Year That Was—from a Personal Point of View
2013 had some surprises for me, both good and bad. This blog turned out to be a huge preoccupation. I spend 4-5 hours on it every day. You help me write it, as many of the blogs are your comments, explaining your experience as a teacher or parent or principal or superintendent. The blog is now approaching 9 million page views, and it started only in April 2012. I am not data-driven, as the numbers
The Best of 2013: The Great Awakening about the Status Quo
Farewell to 2013. It was a year of beginnings, a year that launched a fundamental change in the debate about what constitutes true education “reform.” More and more parents and teachers are awakening to the realization that the word “reform” has been hijacked by people who want to dismantle public education and the teaching profession. Those who have boldly named themselves the “reformers” are all
Happy New Year to All!
My wish for you and for me: a happy, healthy 2014. Here are my hopes for 2014: Let us rededicate ourselves to the principles of our democracy. Let us continue to act upon the belief that each one of us counts, and that each person has one vote, regardless of how wealthy he or she is. Let us continue to believe in the value of every child, regardless of his or her test score. Let us continue to ins
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all #thankateacher #EDCHAT
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: G.F. Brandenburg: What Do NAEP Scores Show about D.C.?G.F. Brandenburg keeps a close watch on D.C. Schools. In this series of posts, he compares academic gains in D.C. before and after the chancellorship of Michelle Rhee. What he finds is a district that was showing steady improvement before Rhee arrived, and where the gains post-R