Dennis Van Roekel Supports Colorado Lawsuit
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel strongly supported the legal action of the Colorado Education Association against SB 191, one of the worst bills of its kind in the nation. It was written in 2010 by State Senator Michael Johnston, ex-TFA. Fully 50% of teachers’ evaluations are tied to test scores. I was in Denver the day the law passed in the Senate. Johnston and I were supposed to have a lunch de
Deasy: Poverty Has No Causal Role in Low Performance
Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy testified in the trial of the lawsuit claiming that teacher tenure violates the civil rights of students. The plaintiffs in the Vergara lawsuit want to eliminate due process so it is easier to fire teachers if their students have low test scores. Most researchers acknowledge that family income and educAtionplay a larger role in student test scores than teach
Teacher: Tenure Protects Against False Accusations
From a reader: I guess the thing about tenure is this: Most critics say it protects bad teachers. In essence it is just the opposite. It protects good, excellent teachers from “helicopter parents” and personality conflicts with administrators. Say you are a clerk in a store, and a customer accuses you of being dishonest In your dealings with them. The accusation is not at all true. Do you think yo
Providence Student Union: The Guinea Pigs Protest!
The creative Providence Student Union is staging another brilliant protest against high-stakes testing. It’s their lives! PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Aaron Regunberg | Aaron@ProvidenceStudentUnion.org | (847) 809-6039 “GUINEA PIGS” PROTEST EXPERIMENTATION AT STATE HOUSE – STUDENTS, DRESSED AS LAB ANIMALS, DEMONSTRATE AGAINST HIGH-STAKES TESTING Providence, Rhode Island – January 29, 2014 – High schoo
Indiana: Legislative Committee Wants to Ban Testing for Voucher Schools
Phyllis Bush of the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education sent word that it is -16 degrees in Fort Wayne, Indiana. But the legislature never rests, she says: “At 1:30 the Senate Education Committee will be discussing taking away the Statewide testing requirements for voucher schools. Anything for keeping the playing field level….just in case you are a glutton for punishment, here is the l
Does Tenure Violate the Civil Rights of Students?
What a ridiculous claim! In a court case in California, a bevy or flock or pride of teacher-bashing organizations argue that teacher tenure violates the civil rights of students. The bevy says that bad teachers hurt students and tenure protects bad teachers. Maybe next they will sue to eliminate tenure in higher education so everyone is an adjunct. In higher education, tenure is a guarantee of a
The Illogic of the Néw York Times on Accountability
A few days ago, the Néw York Times published a bizarre and illogical editorial. It went like this: black and Hispanic students are very ill-prepared for college. However, the Bloomberg administration accountability program was a great success, and–except for the simplistic and failed A-F system. So, if so few students were succeeding, why is the accountability program indispensable? I posed this q
Breaking News: The Hero Parents of Newark
Last night, the parents of Newark spoke out in unison against the bullying tactics of the Christie administration. As veteran journalist Bob Braun reported, state-appointed superintendent Cami Anderson stormed out of the meeting after a parent accused her of not caring as much about Newark’s children as she does about her own. The parents of Newark are fighting together against not only state co
New Jersey: Law Aims to Curb School Closings
David Sciarta of the Education Law Center in Néw Jersey wrote this description of a legislative tidal that would slow or stop school closings in state-controlled districts such as Newark. The key change is that schools may not be closed without the approval of the local board. Sciarra writes: NJ Parents Push New Bill to Regulate School Closings The wave of school closings continues to sweep acros
NH Teachers Take CC Test, Find Serious Flaws
Here is a question: Answer in five sentences or less. Who decided all the students of the U.S. should be tested online? Another question: Who benefits? What can we do about it? Opt out. Teachers in Nashua, Néw Hampshire, took an early version of the online Common Core test, Smarter Balanced Assessment, and encountered multiple problems. “NASHUA – If there was any question about how well the state
21st Century Child Abuse
Recently I was listening to a classical music station and heard a beautiful piece of music. The announcer said when it ended that Mozart composed it at the age of 9. I couldn’t help thinking, “but what were his test scores?” When I watched the chorus of the Celia Cruz High School sing the National Anthem at Mayor de Blasio’s inauguration, I had the same thought. It is becoming a habit. When I see
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-28-14 Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Houston Learned from Los Angeles What NOT to Do with TechnologyThe Los Angeles iPad program has become a national lesson in what NOT to do. Other districts, watching the slow-motion disaster in L.A., are taking heed and planning their purchases and implementation of technology with greater care than was exercised in the nation’s se