College Board Will Revise SAT: FairTest Says Drop SAT
David Coleman, president of the College Board (and architect of Common Core), announced plans to revise the SAT. Read here about the changes. Critics now believe that the SAT accurately measures family income, especially the ability to pay the cost of expensive tutors. Coleman says that will change. Currently, the ACT has more test takers than the SAT. FairTest is not satisfied with the changes
A Public School Teacher Explains How His School Differs from Eva’s Charters
Arthur Goldstein has been teaching high school students in New York City for 29 years. He has a blog called NYC Educator. This is his reaction to the charter flap in New York City, caused when Mayor de Blasio approved 39 out of 49 charter applications (some of the new charters will be given space in public school buildings, displacing public school students), approved three new charters for Succes
Rupert Murdoch’s War on Mayor de Blasio
After eight years of Rudy Guiliani and twelve years of Michael Bloomberg, the 1% is accustomed to getting whatever it wants in Néw York City. They like to cover their “wants” in deceptive rhetoric suggesting they are doing it “for the kids” or for “civil rights.” Media Matters here reports on billionaire Murdoch’s vendetta against Mayor Bill de Blasio. Our newly elected progressive mayor is now th
Paul Horton on the What the NPE Conference Meant to Him
Paul Horton, teacher of history at the University of Chicago Lab School, wrote the following after participating in the first conference of the Network for Public Education: Attending the NPE inaugural conference was an exhilarating experience! As Diane said in her keynote, we cannot afford to exclude anyone. We all met hundreds of amazing and dedicated folks in Austin. I had a conversation with
The Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters
The New York City tabloids–whose owners are zealous about charter schools–have whipped up a frenzy against Mayor Bill de Blasio because he did not approve every single charter application rushed through the Bloomberg board at its last meeting in October 2013. That board, which never said no to Mayor Bloomberg, approved an unprecedented 49 charter applications, some of which are co-locations. A co-
Bloggers React to the NPE National Conference in Austin
I had planned to publish each of the bloggers’ descriptions of the first conference of the Network for Public Education, but it would take weeks to report them all. Here is the initial wave of comments. My impression from the conference was that people were ecstatic. They loved the conversations, the debates, the solidarity. Robert Perry, communications director of NPE, and a middle school teac
Funny Bu$iness at Florida Air Base
The Tampa Bay Times wrote an editorial urging the state to reject a for-profit charter school at Tinker Air Base. The base already has an on-base public school that was A-rated by the state for 12 of the past 13 years. But Governor Rick Scott encouraged the creation of a charter on the base. As the editorial says, the local school board rejected the application: “But organizers now are appealin
Georgia: Legislators Dumbing Down the Kids and the State
There are people who hate public education and don’t care much about any kind of education. Some are legislators. Some have positions of influence in states like Georgia. Here Maureen Downey writes about the latest legislative assault, which started as an attack on Common Core and grew into something far worse. As one who has been critical of Common Core in its current form, I want to disassocia
Myra Blackmon: Why Don’t Legislators Leave Schools Alone?
Myra Blackmon writes in Online Athens (Georgia) about the legislators who listen to al the wrong people. She writes: “….our lawmakers need some new ears, to hear the voices of parents, teachers and people who spend their time and energy in public education. “They need new ears that won’t hear the twisted “facts,” crazy ideas and pronouncements from wealthy people and others who have a financial i
Michigan: Governor Snyder’s Plan to Destroy Public Education
Dale Hansen in the Detroit News explains in this blog post how Governor Rick Snyder has underfunded the public schools while claiming (falsely) to have increased funding. By the way, the title of his article is: “Governor Rick Snyder Is Working to Destroy Public Education.” He shows how the Governor is pushing teachers out of the pension system, contributing to its woes as there are fewer teachers
Microsoft and Pearson Join Forces to Create Common Core Curriculum: Are You $urprised?
A reader forwarded the following story. Microsoft and Pearson will join forces to build “the first curriculum…for a digital personalized learning environment that is 100 percent aligned to the new standards for college and career readiness.” Now we see the pattern on the rug. It begins like this: New York, NY (PRWEB) February 20, 2014 Today Pearson announced a collaboration with Microsoft Corp. th
Watch the Brilliant Speeches by John Kuhn and Karen Lewis Here
John Kuhn and Karen Lewis spoke as keynoters at the first annual conference of the Network for Public Education at the LBJ Center at the University of Texas in Austin last weekend. Watch and listen here.
NPE Leadership Calls for Congressional Hearings About Misuse and Costs of Testing
Here are links to the Network for Public Education’s resolution calling for Congressional hearings on the misuse, abuse, overuse, and cost of standardized testing in our schools: PRESS RELEASE: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/press-release-npe-calls-for-congressional-hearings/ SUMMARY: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/ FU
Sharon Higgins on New and Coming Gulen Schools
From Sharon Higgins, a parent activist in Oakland who keeps track of the Gulen charter movement: “List of active Gulen charter schools @ http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/p/list-of-us-gulen-schools.html “More information about recently approved/proposed Gulen charter schools @ http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/proposed-gulen-charter-schools.html. “GULEN CHARTER SCHOOLS ALREADY APPROV
Iris Rotberg: Charter Schools Exacerbate Segregation
There has long been evidence that charter schools are more segregated than the districts in which they operate, and a few scholars–like Gary Orfield at UCLA have systematically documented the segregating consequences of charters. Public officials tend to shrug off such concerns as irrelevant to the quest for higher test scores or just an unfortunate fact of life over which they are powerless. But
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-4-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Diane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4th pass) on Vimeo #npeconferenceDiane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4th pass) on Vimeo: Diane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4th pass) from Vincent Precht on Vimeo.NY Teacher Mercedes Schneider shreds Common Core from NPE Conference #npeconferenceNY Teacher Mercedes Schneider shreds Common CoreThe Networ
Diane Ravitch Education - Diane Ravitch Schools Us On Public Education - Esquire
Diane Ravitch Education - Diane Ravitch Schools Us On Public Education - Esquire: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-4-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for allDiane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Diane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4th pass) on Vimeo #npeconferenceDiane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4th pass) on Vimeo: Diane Ravitch at NPE Conference (4t