News Flash! NC County School Board Will Defy State Law
The school board in Guilford County, North Carolina, voted unanimously tonight to defy state legislation denying “tenure” (career status) to experienced teachers. According to the latest news reports: “GREENSBORO — The Guilford County School Board unanimously supported a resolution challenging the state’s new tenure law and asking for relief from laws requiring them to offer contracts to certain
A Message from North Carolina Representative Rick Glazier
This just in, following my speech at the Emerging Issues Forum in North Carolina, whose extremist Governor Pat McCrory and General Assembly have passed laws diminishing the status of teachers and promoting vouchers and charters. “Your speech to the IEI Forum was extraordinary and really sparked immense discussion on the floor of the Forum and later this afternoon. It cogently summarized the drama
Who Is Behind the Vergara Attack on Due Process in California?
Who is paying for and supporting the lawsuit claiming that due process for teachers harms the civil rights of students? Until now, all we knew was that the case was bankrolled by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur named David Welch. That much is true, but Welch also has an advisory board that includes Russlyn Ali, who served as an assistant secretary to Arne Duncan, now working for the supposedly lib
NC Governor McCrory Pledges Pay Raise for New Teachers Only
I participated in the major North Carolina Emerging Issues forum, where Governor Pat McCrory promised a pay increase to teachers in their first five years of teaching, but nothing for experienced teachers. Some veteran teachers will earn the same as teachers in thir fifth year. This went over lie a dad balloon. Some observers speculated that it was a bonus for Teach for Merica, which won a $5-6 mi
NCLB: The Undead Vampire Law
Remember back in 2001 when Congress passed No Child Left Behind and mandated that all children in grades 3-8 would be proficient in reading and math? Remember when Oresident George W. Bush signed it into lain January 2002, surrounded by Senator Ted Kennedy, Congressman George Miller, Congressman John Boehner, and others who hailed a historic moment in Anerican history? We now know that NCLB was a
Ladd and Fiske: Destroying Public Education in North Carolina
Helen F. Ladd of Duke University and Edward B. Fiske, former education editor of the Néw York Times, lambasted the Governor and Legislature of North Carolina for their calculated program to destroy public education in the state. Only two years ago, Ladd and Fiske drafted a “vision statement” for the state board of education, describing how public education could better serve the children and the
The Two Faces of John Deasy
When the Los Angeles School Unified School District was sued by lawyers claiming that due process for teachers harms the civil rights of minority students, one of those who testified FOR the plaintiffs and AGAINST the district was Superintendent John Deasy. The high-powered lawyers are paid by a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur. The goal of the lawsuit is to remove the single most important prote
Teacher: Why “Stupid Bubble Tests” Are Meaningless
In this post, which arrived a few days ago as a comment, Ron Lapekas, a retired teacher, explains why standardized tests have no value or validity for many students: “I am a retired teacher. I always thought the SBT’s (Stupid Bubble Tests) had little value for my East Los Angeles 99% Latino students for several reasons. “First, vocabulary necessary both to understand the questions and the answer
Wisconsin: State Senator Reveals Covert Plan to Privatize Public Education
Senator Kathleen Vinehout revealed a plan hatched behind closed doors to close 5% of thestate’s schools every year and turn them over to private corporations. She wrote: “The latest version of the bill was crafted behind closed doors; unlike three years ago when a wide-ranging group developed a system to test and report the progress of all students attending school with public money. Private sch
NY Republicans, with Cuomo’s Silence, Block Tax for Pre-K
The leading education reform of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign was universal pre-kindergarten, funded by a small tax increase on city residents with income over $500,000. Governor Cuomo opposes any new taxes. So do State Senate Republicans, who announced that the tax idea was dead. Shame on them. If residents of NYC want to tax themselves, why should they block it? The real cost of the tax i
Stan Karp: The Trouble with the Common Core
In this trenchant analysis of the Common Core, Stan Karp explains that the fundamental problem is not about their content but their context. While people argue the merits of the Common Core, public education itself is under assault: Karp writes: Today everything about the Common Core, even the brand name—the Common Core State Standards—is contested because these standards were created as an ins
Help Students Organize to Speak For Themselves
Please help this great group of students crowd-source a national convening of student leaders to fight false reforms. I first learned about its spokesperson Hannah Nguyen when she challenged Michelle Rhee. I subsequently met Hannah and gave her a hug when I visited Occidental College in Los Angeles last fall. Hannah and her allies must raise $2,000 by February 15. I sent a donation. Send whatever
Jeff Bryant on Vouchers: A Failed Agenda for America’s Children
Jeff Bryant here describes in alarming detail the push for vouchers at the state and federal levels. Vouchers give taxpayer dollars to families to pay tuition at any private or religious school. The best private schools, whose tuition runs into tens of thousands, seldom if ever accept vouchers, which don’t amount to a significant part of the tuition. Voucher plans usually subsidize fundamentalis
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-10-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Schneider: Updates on State-by-State Common Core Controversies: Part 3Mercedes Schneider here reports on the ongoing debates about Common Core standards and tests in the states. Links to the earlier posts are included in this one. The reason for the controversy is the lack of democratic process in imposing the standards. Imposing t