New York Will Release Confidential Student Data, California Says No
New York officials say they will release confidential student data in July to Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates’ inBloom, despite parental protests and a futile lawsuit. Why the unseemly rush to give away student information? Meanwhile a California legislator has introduced a proposal to protect student privacy. The California law is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg: “A leadin
Schneider and Greene on Van Roekel’s Common Core Repositioning
Mercedes Schneider and Peter Greene, both high school teachers, jphad different responses to NEA President Dennis Van Roekel’s acknowledgement that implementation of the Common Core standards has been highly problematic, er, disastrous. Give Dennis credit for recognizing that things are going very badly. Teachers are beginning to recognize that they are not prepared and that the boom will be low
What Randi Told the Nation’s Governors: Do What’s Best for Students
(fYI: No mention of the increasingly toxic CCSS; could this be a change of course? First, NEA, now AFT? A sign of change or oversight?) WASHINGTON—Statement by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, urging governors to provide the same access to a quality public education for all children as is done in other industrialized countries. The National Governors Association
Breaking News: Washington State Senate Rejects Failed Educator Evaluation Plan
Good news! The Washington State Senate, rejecting federal bribes and threats, voted NO to evaluating teachers by student test scores. The fact that this method has failed wherever it was tried may have influenced their decision. Also, the state senators may have been aware of the research showing the utter failure of this way of evaluating teachers, which reflects who was in the class, not teache
Libertarian Law Firm Enters NC Voucher Case
The North Carolina state constitution clearly says that public funding is for public schools, but the Governor and General Assembly passed voucher legislation so parents can use public funds to send their children to schools run by religious groups. Now a high-powered law firm backed by the Koch brothers has entered the lawsuit to defend vouchers. They want more children to learn Biblical scienc
Rochester, NY: No Common Core Koolaid for Us
Doug Noble is a member of Rochester’s Coalition for Justice in Education. He wrote this letter to the editor of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. . Editor: The D&C Feb 11 editorial “Committed to Common Core” reveals a remarkable willingness to swallow the Common Core Kool Aid and to accuse of “posturing” its many critics, including parents’ groups, teachers and their unions, who have moved
What Rough Beast Comes Slouching from Lansing?
With my apologies to W. B. Yeats, this blogger says it is too soon to pop the cork about what may be a momentary setback for Governor Snyder’s Educational Achievement Authority, where he hopes to aggregate the state’s lowest performing schools and subject them to large classes and inexperienced teachers. He has other unsavory options up his sleeve. She writes: “Let us be perfectly clear here. T
What Matters Most in Teaching Can’t Be Quantified
Another great column from Myra Blackmon in the Athens (Georgia) Banner-Herald, explains the education industry and its obsession with data. She writes: “Some folks believe that if you can’t quantify something, it isn’t worth bothering with. People in power are often so obsessed with the data, the numbers, and the profits they often lose sight of the people behind the information. Such is the cas
A Reader Comments on the South Korean Model of Education
This came as a comment: Why do Obama and Duncan insist on naming South Korea as a model? Other than testing results, there is little that is admirable about the South Korean education system and South Koreans would be the first to admit it (I am South Korean, although I was educated in the US because my parents immigrated to — you guessed it — spare my siblings and me from the South Korean educa
David Safier: Corporate Reformers Fund Fake Dems to Support Vouchers in Arizona
David Safier is a journalist and friend of public education in Arizona. In this post, he explains how the usual assortment of corporate reformers amd make-believe Democrats have descended on Arizona to push vouchers. First, they donated handsomely to the campaign of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthaler, who uses his platform to promote the destruction of public educati
Michigan Hero of Public Schools Ellen Lipton Calls for Closer Watch on EAA
After the Michigan Department of Education ended its agreement to hand over low-performing schools to Governor Snyder’s controversial floundering Education Achievement Authority, Represenative Ellen Cogen called for stricter oversight of this entity. She said: ““This is evidence of a governor, a state education department and an experimental educational entity flying off the rails,” Lipton said.
Ohio: Do Legislators Really Want the Best Education for Children? Or…
A reader asked the question: Money for Education Misplaced If Ohio legislators truly want the best education for all children then why are most public school students from third to tenth graders required to take 17 standardized tests, written by a variety of educational vendors, while private school students take one, the OGT? Why is the state of Ohio giving tax credit scholarships for some stu
EduShyster: This Marriage Was Not Made in Heaven
EduShyster reports here on the comings and goings at ALEC. ALEC is a super-secret rightwing group sponsored by major corporations, whose members include about 2,000 state legislators who want to advance the corporate agenda. In this post, EduShyster notes that scores of corporations abandoned ALEC after it got so much bad press following the Trayvon Martin murder in Florida (ALEC supports stand
Who Are America’s Highest Paid Government Workers?
According to Education Week, the Center for Media and Democracy and Education has released a report on America’s highest paid government workers, and they are not whom you would think of. In education, it is Ron Packard, who until recently was CEO of K12 Inc., which manages virtual charter schools. Packard, formerly of McKinsey, was paid handsomely. The company insists its schools are public scho
Surprise! Class Size Really Does Matter!
In recent years, the false “reformers” have told s again and again that having “a great teacher” (defined by test scores) is more important than the size of the class he or she teaches. They have proposed finding those great teachers (they are still looking, but haven’t found the right method to identify them), then assigning them classes of 35-40 or more. It never occurs to them that the great te
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-19-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: The Debate of the Decade Would be Schneider vs. Gates on CCSSMercedes Schneider recently wrote an open letter to Bill Gates. She is angry that he will be the keynote speaker for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Let’s face it: Bill Gates has never taught and most of what he knows about education is wrong. Schn