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| Will Sheldon Silver Stop the “Protect Eva” Act? |
What Bill Gates Told National Board for Professional Teaching Standards about Common Core (Oops, Link added)
Bill Gates released an advance copy of his speech to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and as reported in the Huffington Post, he defended the Common Core standards as the key to creativity in the classroom. The article says that the Gates Foundation had spent $75 million on the standards, but we know from Mercedes Schneider’s study of the Gates’ website that the foundation h
Parent Groups Blast Cuomo and New York Legislature
The New York State Senate legislation to protect charter schools is not limited in its reach to charters in New York City. According to the press release cited below, school districts across New York State will have to provide free facilities or public school space for charter schools that wish to open and will then have no jurisdiction over their own space. This is nothing but a brazen power grab
When I Spoke at the Emerging Issues Forum in Raleigh, North Carolina
This is a video of my speech at the Emerging Issues Forum in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 11, 2014. This was an important challenge because I strongly believe that the state is on the wrong path. Its governor and legislature are far to the right of the Tea Party. They are a government that doesn’t like public education or teachers. They seem to want to drive teachers away. They don’t want
North Carolina: How to Lower Standards While Pretending to Improve Education
The legislature in North Carolina, apparently joined at the hip with ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), passed legislation establishing charter schools a few months ago. Buried in the bill is a stipulation that only 50% of teachers in charter schools need to hold a teaching license (see page 7 of the bill). In public schools, ALL teachers must be licensed. Apparently in the minds of
Jersey Jazzman: Star-Ledger in NJ Compliments Charter with Very Few Poor Kids
Jersey Jazzman calls out New Jersey’s leading newspaper for making really surprising comments about a charter school in Hoboken. The Hola charter school is innovative, and parents are lining up to get their kids in. It gets high test scores, and only 11% of its students are poor in a district where 72% of the kids are poor. JJ writes: Let’s recap: there’s a charter school that takes far fewer kids
Andrew Cuomo: Why He loves Charters and Despises Public Schools
You can’t say this often enough. Money matters in politics. Forget principle. Think money. Andrew Cuomo wants to be re-elected Governor of New York with a large majority. He has raised $33 million. One of his biggest sources of money is Wall Street. Wall Street loves charter schools. Wall Street doesn’t love public schools. The fact that only 3% of students in New York State attend charter
NYC Protest Today at Noon Against “Protect Eva Act” and Gubernatorial Control
Parents and other supporters of public schools will rally today against Governor Cuomo’s attempt to wrest control of the New York City public schools for the benefit of his campaign contributors. Dan Morris. 917.952.8920. Julian Vinocur. 212.328.9268. Media Advisory for Fri. March 14, Noon, Cuomo’s Midtown Office Rally Against Quid Pro Cuomo State Budget Deal and Gubernatorial Control of NYC Scho
How Testing Regime Drives Out Our Best Teachers
Wherever I go, I hear stories about the exodus of teachers from the profession. The same story is told everywhere: I am sick of the non-stop testing. I didn’t become a teacher to administer tests, I became a teacher to make a difference in the lives of children, I became a teacher because I love history and want to share my love. The testing regime is crushing my kids and crushing me too. Our nati
NYC Judge Rules That State May Not Audit Eva’s Charters
In a stunning decision, a judge in Manhattan ruled that the State Comptroller may not audit Eva Moskowitz’s charter schools or any other charter schools because they are “not units of the state.” In other words, they are not public schools. If they were public schools, they would be “units of the state” and could be audited by the State Comptroller. As private contractors, they audit themselves.
Charter School Magnate Wants to End Local School Boards: Democracy is the Problem
Reed Hastings, the founder and CEO of Netflix, is a major player in the corporate reform movement. He is on the board of various charter schools and charter chains, including Rocketship and KIPP. The organization fighting the proliferation of Rocketship charters forwarded his address to the California Charter School Association: Watch the 2 minute synopsis video. Get the story and the full keynote
Will Sheldon Silver Stop the “Protect Eva” Act?
In New York state, the Assembly is led by Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the Assembly. In this interview, he expressed opposition to the State Senate’s bill to protect Eva Moskowitz and to assure that all of New York City’s nearly 200 charters get rent-free space in public school buildings. Eva has a chain of 22 charters. Mayor de Blasio just agreed to give her five more, but turned down three propose
Charters Rule: New York State Senate Proposes to Protect Charters But Not Public Schools
The New York State Senate has drafted a budget proposal to make sure that Eva Moskowitz gets the eight charters she wants, not just the five that Mayor Bill de Blasio approved. This is how big money talks. Under the proposal, Eva can kick the special education kids out of their school to make way for her new middle school, which has no high-needs special education students. Furthermore, the propos
Julian Vasquez Heilig: How Billionaires Co-Opt Minorities to Promote Corporate Reform
Half a century ago, as the civil rights movement grew in strength and intensity, “school choice” was understood to e a synonym for segregation. Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., fought for a democratic and equitable public school system. But, oh, how times have changed. Now there are organizations led by African Americans who want vouchers and charters to escape the public schools. No matt
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-13-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Meet the Néw Undersecretary of Education!Ted Mitchell, CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund, was selected by the Obama administration to hold the #2 job at the U.S. Department of Education. Mitchell is a strong proponent of privatization. The NewSchools Venture Fund exists to promote privatization. Of course, we should not be surpris