Murdoch Salutes Cuomo for Defending the 3% in Charters, Slams de Blasio
As reported earlier, Rupert Murdoch is pulling out all the stops to tear down New York City’s new Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio okayed 36 of the 45 co-locations he inherited from Bloomberg; they approved 14 of the 17 charter proposals. But Murdoch insists de Blasio is closing charters and throwing minority kids out on the street. In fact, Murdoch’s favorite charter operator Eva Moskowitz won fi
Leading Educators Support Chicago Test Boycott
Press Release Date: March 9, 2014 Contact: Jesse Hagopian, Teacher, 206-962-1685 hagopian.jesse@gmail.com Brian Jones, Teacher and Doctoral Student, 646-554-8592 brianpjones@yahoo.com Wayne Au, Professor of Education, 425-352-3797 wayne.wk.au@gmail.com LEADING EDUCATORS SUPPORT TEST BOYCOTT In a public petition released today, more than fifty educators and researchers, including some of
Burris: Will New York Legislature Choose New Members for State Board of Regents?
The New York Legislature will decide whether to reappoint four members of the New York Regents on Tuesday. All four have passively supported the botched implementation of the Common Core and CC testing. They should be replaced. A message from award-winning Long Island principal Carol Burris: This Tuesday, the NY legislature will vote yea or nay on the re-appointment of the 4 incumbent Regents.
Mother Crusader Explains Hoboken: Separate and Unequal
Darcie Cimarusti (aka Mother Crusader) dives into the racially charged politics of Hoboken, where charter schools have become a refuge for those who don’t want to go to the public schools, which have an enrollment that is most poor and minority. While many people think that charters are “saving poor minority kids from failing public schools,” charters in Hoboken are a means of encouraging gentrif
Leon Botstein: The SAT Is “Part Hoax and Part Fraud, Albeit a Profitable One”
In a scathing essay in TIME magazine, Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, lacerates the SAT. The recently announced changes, he writes, are “too little, too late,” and are motivated mainly by the competition between the SAT and the ACT, which now tests more students than the SAT. What Botstein makes clear is that the hoops and hurdles of the SAT are archaic and have little, if anything, to d
Myra Blackmon on the Corporate Takeover of American Education
Myra Blackmon, who writes regularly for the Athens Banner-Herald in Georgia, returned from the Network for Public Education conference in Austin ready to write about what she learned and how it applied to Georgia. She realized that the Common Core is just a symptom of a larger problem. She writes: My “a-ha moment” came when I realized CCSS and testing aren’t the real problems. They’re symptoms of
What Voucher Schools Are Teaching
The spread of vouchers in recent years is alarming. Anywhere from 15-20 states have passed legislation to allow children to use public funds to attend religious schools. In two states that passed voucher laws–North Carolina and Louisiana–the state courts have blocked the diversion of public funds to religious schools (in North Carolina, at least temporarily). Note that vouchers have never been app
A Mother, Saved by Her Teachers, Writes Obama
A reader writes. Be sure to read the last lines: Dear President Obama, Let’s face it. Race to the Top is an epic fail just like No child Left Behind. Our children should not be the pawn of politics. Left or right, both have not gotten it right about education reform and it’s time we put that in the forefront. I’m so tired of talking points. Some theories sound great on paper not in practice and th
Murdoch’s WSJ Lashes Out at Sirota: Billionaires Rule!
Rupert Murdoch definitely does not like David Sirota. Sirota is the journalist who broke the story about the Arnold Foundation funding PBS’ pension series. Arnold thinks all those greedy pensioners are bankrupting the country. Can’t have that! Murdoch rushed to denounce Sirota and defend his fellow billionaire. What is it with these billionaires? It is ok for them to live in luxury, right? Why d
Peter Greene: Brookings Institution Wins the Gold for “Most Clueless” CCSS Defense
Peter Greene, high school teacher and blogger in Pennsylvania, is a master analyst of rhetoric. He particularly excels at spotting vapid commentary by non-educators who want to tell him how to conduct his classroom. Fortunately or unfortunately, this might well be a full-time job since there is an education industry of non-educators fully prepared to tell him how to teach. In this post, he select
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 3-8-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGThe Abject Failure of Michigan’s Educational Achievement AuthorityMichigan Governor Rick Snyder’s pet project is the Educational Achievement Authority, where the lowest-performing districts are clustered in a single entity managed by Superintendent John Covington, a Broad Academy graduate. The EAA has been funded not only