Andrew Cuomo Names Panel to Study Common Core Implementation
Leonie Haimson, leader of New York City’s Class Size Matters, reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo has named a panel to study the implementation of the Common Core standards in the state. The panel, she says, is stacked with supporters of Common Core. She writes: No early childhood experts, elementary or special ed teachers on commission, which is unfortunate because these are the people whose c
Here is the Help You Need to Start an Ed-Lingo Bingo Game
A reader from North Carolina sent this wonderful post, filled with words that can be used to play “Ed-Lingo Bingo” during professional development time. When I was conducting research in San Diego about 2006, teachers there shared a list of Bingo words that they had compiled from many P.D. days. They called it “B.S. Bingo,” and the idea was to mark off a box each time you heard one of the words, a
Michigan Teacher: EAA Is Like the Tuskegee Experiment
Eclectablog has run a series of articles about the Education Achievement Authority, the special district created by Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder to contain the state’s lowest performing schools. The district is run by Broad-trained superintendent John Covington, who left Kansas City right before the district lost its accreditation. The communications director for EAA complained about the Eclect
Researchers Reveal Funding Network for Wash. Charter Law
University of Washington scholars Wayne Au and Joseph J. Ferrare have written an excellent analysis of the big money that flooded the state of Washington to pass charter legislation in 2012. Although defeated three times before by voters, this time the proposal passed by a tiny margin. Its major funders were Bill Gates, who has no children the public school, and Walmart heiress Alice Walton,who li
When Did Gibberish Replace Conventional English?
Colin McEnroe of NPR in Connecticut has discovered the root problem of corporate reformers: They have lost touch with common sense and the meaning of learning. To cover up their ignorance, they have invented rhetoric hat sounds impressive but is no more than unintelligible verbiage. He starts here, and gets better: “I don’t know about you, but I remember the moment when, as a boy, I fell in love
Michigan: Teacher Says EAA Cultivates a Culture of Fear and Control for Staff and Students
Eclectablog has been posting a series of articles about Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority, where the state has clustered its lowest-performing schools. There again is that nasty reformer habit of calling things the opposite of what they really are. Because the schools are the lowest-performing, they now have the honor of joining the state’s Education Achievement Authority. The leader is J
A Special Message to BATs about the PTA
This post is a continuation of the previous one. I am addressing my many friends who are BATs. I am asking you to work with your local PTAs to battle against privatization and to oppose attacks on teachers. In state after state, public education is under attack. Teachers are under attack. Build coalitions with parents, especially local PTAs. We are natural allies. PTAs want to strengthen thei
NY PTA: Parents Outraged by CCSS, But…
A reader directed our attention to this curious phenomenon. The Néw York PTA conducted a survey showing that parents in the state are outraged by the botched implementation of the Common Core, yet the NYPTA remains strongly committed to CCSS. The militant dedication of CCSS enthusiasts says something interesting: in the absence of any concrete evidence for the success of this initiative, why are
Debating Charter Schools in Minneapolis
A few months ago, I published a post about the charter schools in Minneapolis, which are expanding rapidly in that city, replacing unionized teachers with young and inexperienced Teach for America teachers. The burgeoning of charters in Minneapolis has something to do with a very powerful family named Kramer. EduShyster reported that the family is a powerful organization for corporate reform. She
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-6-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Inquiring Reporter Wants to Know: Who Is Sponsoring Minneapolis Education Summit?The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce announced an “education summit” on February 8, featuring the ever-controversial Michelle Rhee (who canceled out of our debate at Lehigh University on February 6). The original sponsors, in addition to the Chamber, in
