When I Talk About Prison and Prison Education: It's Personal
Some of you may be wondering why I am defending a Prison Education initiative offered by a Governor whose other Education policies I despise. I can give you a detailed political explanation for my position, and ask you to read Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" but in truth, the reasons why this issue is so important to me are as much personal as political, rooted in a few powerful
What Testing is Doing to Special Needs Students: An NYC Teacher's Lament
I teach high school economics. Due to our absurd scheduling policy anyone can end up in this class, anyone from freshmen to seniors. Before I begin to tell the plight of my students it would be pertinent to mention that I am dual certified in social studies and special education, and I'm finally teaching what I am certified to teach. Out of all my IEPs a whopping 60% are out of compliance, and th
2-20-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week
With A Brooklyn Accent: A History Lesson from the Civil Rights Movement for Anti-Testing ActivistsThe non violent Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 1960's did not hold most of their meetings in public. If they did, those meetings would have been broken up and those organizing and attending them would have faced severe retaliation. Organizers persuaded frightened people to get up the courage