You Have 24 Hours to Read This Post, Then…
Then it goes behind a paywall. It was written by Caroline Chamberlin Hellman, who teaches remedial writing at City University of New York. I think you will find it interesting. Professor Hellman cares about her students. Here is the conclusion: All too often we hear the reductive narrative that these students are simply incapable of college-level work. Allow me to be clear: These students have pot
Paul Thomas: Time for AFT to Take Another Look at Common Core
Paul Thomas believes that the Common Core standards do not answer any of the most pressing problems in American education, most of which are economic and social, not pedagogical. In this post, he commends Randi Weingarten for turning against VAM but worries that states will push ahead with it anyway. He expresses the hope that AFT will take the next logical step and recognize that the Common Core
Where Does All That Spending on Education Go?
This teacher has an idea why the costs of American education are going up while teachers are being laid off, and teachers must pay for supplies out of their own pocket. It is no paradox to her. She left this comment: When I think of the money that has been diverted from classrooms to testing and teacher evaluation companies, it makes me sick. The extra supports (after school programs, counseling
Candidate Rauner in Illinois Supports Charters & Lower Minimum Wage
Bruce Rauner is a fabulously wealthy equity investor who is running for Governor of Illinois. He is also one of the most important financial backers of charter schools in Chicago. He even has a charter school named for him, part of the Noble network of charters. In his gubernatorial campaign, he recently made headlines when he broke ranks with the other Republican candidates on the issue of the mi
A Charter Teacher Writes in Response to Jeff Bryant
After reading Jeff Bryant’s article on abuses in charter schools, a teacher posted this letter on the site where it was originally posted: She writes: Charter schools suffer from the problems that this article highlights–gobs and gobs of public money with virtually no public supervision. That money is a magnet to profit motivated conmen/conwomen, simple disarmingly pious crooks, and megaloman
Jeff Bryant on “The Truth About Charter Schools”
Jeff Bryant, director of the Education Opportunity Network, here catalogues the abuses that have become all too common in the world of charter schools. Although there are responsible and caring charter schools, there is a growing number who take advantage of their freedom from supervision, from oversight, from audits, and from state laws governing public schools to engage in child abuse, corruptio
Mercedes Schneider: AFT Is Wrong About the Common Core
Like Tim Farley, Mercedes Schneider disagrees with the AFT about the Common Core standards. Schneider is a high school teacher of English in Louisiana who holds a Ph.D. In research methods. She has previously written extensively about the funding of the Common Core by the Gates Foundation.
Tim Farley: AFT Is Wrong about the Common Core
The latest issue of the AFT American Educator publication contains an article that presents “Myths of the Common Core” and responds to each one with “facts.” Tim Farley, principal of the Ichabod Crane Elementary/Middle School in Valatie, New York, did not agree with the publication’s definition of the facts. Here is his rebuttal: The magazine contains an “informational” article about the Common Co
The AFT Criticizes Myths about Common Core
The American Federation of Teachers is a strong supporter of national standards and has been for many years. Soon after the release of the Common Core State Standards, the AFT emerged as one of its strongest advocates. Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, contends that the standards are valuable but the implementation has proceeded without adequate preparation. Last year, she called for a one-y
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-15-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Marc Epstein: The Disaster of Bloomberg’s Control of the SchoolsMarc Epstein, a teacher for many years at Jamaica High School (targeted for closure) here describes the Bloomberg years in anew York City public schools and how difficult it will be to unravel the changes he imposed: Bloomberg’s School Disaster When Mayor-elect de Blas