New York Post Reveals Another Part of the Bloomberg-Klein “Failure Factory” Legacy
Over the past dozen years, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his schools’ chancellor Joel Klein had total control of the New York City school system. The Mayor controlled the “school board,” which dared not ever vote no. They could do whatever they wanted, and their PR team cranked out press release after press release. The news of the “New York City miracle” spread around the world, buoyed by ph
Teacher Exposés Graduate of Bloomberg “Leadership Academy”
The New York Post has been a vocal cheerleader for the hacksaw education policies of the Bloomberg administration, yet its reporters are usually first-rate journalists, and they exposed terrible conditions at PS 106. now, it published an article by an experienced teacher who left the school. The Post exposed dreadful conditions at P.S. 106, where the principal ruled with an iron hand when she was
What I Read on Vacation
I took two books with me on vacation. One was Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. The other was Walter Kiechel III, The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World I also brought a copy of the New York Review of Books, which had a good article about data mining and what a big business it is. The thesis of Carr’s book is that the
A Teacher’s Advice to Bill Gates
A teacher sent me this letter offering helpful advice to Bill Gates. He hopes that someone will see it on the Internet and pass it along to Bill. Dear Mr. Gates, “I don’t know many business leaders who are satisfied with America’s schools. In fact, just about every CEO I know is worried that this country simply isn’t producing enough graduates with the skills they need to compete globally.” – Bill
Will Florida Pass Law to Exempt Severely Disabled Children from High-Stakes Testing?
Andrea Rediske appealed to Florida officials to exempt children who suffer extreme pain from high-stakes testing. This post contains her moving testimony about the ordeal her son Ethan experienced when he was compelled to take the state’s exam. Even when he was dying in hospice, the state harassed him to take the test. The state imposed cruel and unusual punishment on this child, violating his C
This Crazy Week and a Few Weeks More
I just returned from a wonderful, relaxing vacation in Turks and Caicos, a beautiful part of the West Indies, and I am now raring to go, with a schedule of events for the next week plus ahead. On Wednesday evening, I will join John Merrow in conversation at the JCC in upper West Side of Manhattan, 7:30-9:30 pm. On Friday, I will be in Indianapolis at Butler University, watching a showing of a scho
Instructions to Teacher in Chicago about Which Kids Count Most
This letter from a teacher in Chicago public schools shows how gaming the system has become more important than helping each and every child achieve their best. Data matter more than students. Data matter more than learning. Numbers trump education and equity. The advice: focus on the kids closest to passing. Forget those at the top and the bottom: They don’t matter. Here is the message: Today w
Newark: 700 Teachers May Be Laid Off and Replaced by TFA
Veteran journalist Bob Braun reports that Cami Anderson–the Christie administration’s state-appointed superintendent in Newark (and a graduate of Teach for America)–may lay off 700 Newark teachers and replace many or most of them with TFA. He writes: “The state administration of the Newark Public Schools (NPS) is expected to lay off hundreds of experienced city teachers and replace many with new
What Kids Are Reading These Days (Not)
These are fabulously witty tweets from @SpEdChat Enjoy! http://t.co/3n4gNyPx3X http://t.co/UA8YUDOmaX http://t.co/hE7cRI6yhY http://t.co/WrhV02LxfL http://t.co/stP6259Xwd
Schneider: What Is ALEC and Are They Writing the Laws of YOUR State?
Mercedes Schneider here reviews the extensive agenda that ALEC has for reshaping education in the audited States. Unlike Bill Gates, who works in tandem with the United States Department of Education to direct national policy, ALEC works through state legislators. ALEC writes model legislation, working through its committee structure, and its members submit them in their states. If the states are
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 2-22-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGSchool Choice: Not for Students with DisabilitiesCharter schools and voucher schools –unless they are one of the few created specifically for students with disabilities–are noted for excluding them. A Gulen charter in Minneapolis took over a public school and immediately kicked out 40 autistic students. In this article, t