Breaking News: NC Judge Blocks Anti-Tenure Law
A judge in Guilford County, North Carolina, ruled that the district and Wake County do not have to comply with a state law intended to take away tenure. It’s not yet clear whether e the ruling applies statewide or only to the districts that opposed the law. But for now, teachers view it as vindication of their claim that the law violates the state constitution. Districts were supposed to offer
Greet the Hedge Funders and Cuomo with a Picket in the Pines!
When the union-busting Wall Street crowd gathers with Governor Cuomo at their pretentious “Camp Philos,” there won’t be any public. School parents or teachers there. The few willing and able to fork over $1,000 were told they were not welcome. So Cuomo and his buddies want to “reform” public schools without the voices of those who matter most: Students, patents, and teachers. The New York State U
Hedge Fund Group Pours Money into Newark Mayor’s Race for Charter Supporter
According to the first filing of spending in the Newark race for Mayor, the hedge fund managers’ group Education Reform Now has given $850,000 to Shavar Jeffries, a charter school supporter. Jeffries’ spending is about triple the spending of his chief opponent Ras Baraka, and the gap is expected to grow given the deep pockets of Jeffries’ supporters on Wall Street. The Network for Public Education
Alex Pareene in Salon: Time to Fire Everyone on the New York Times’ Opinion Page
Alex Pareene does a demolition job on almost the entire staff of the New York Times’ opinion page. That page is the most valuable space in American journalism today, yet several of the regulars seem to have grown stale and lazy, recycling opinions based on little more than gossip they heard at the latest high-powered cocktail party or something that Bill Gates–who knows everything–may have said in
Pennsylvania: 1 of Every 6 Charters Succeeds; Cyber Charters Are Low Performing
A report released by Representative James R. Roebuck, chair of the House Education Committee, found that one of every six charters in the state is “high-performing. None of the state’s cyber charters is high-performing. Pennsylvania has 162 brick-and-mortar charters, with 86 in Philadelphia. It has 14 cyber charters. Representative Roebuck recommended that public schools might learn from the pract
The Day That Susan Ochshorn Nearly Dropped Her iPhone
Susan Ochshorn is an advocate for early childhood education who keeps track of the good and bad developments affecting young children. She is, needless to say, appalled by the increasing emphasis on academic activities and testing in the early years. So this is the reason she nearly dropped her iPhone. She opened her phone screen one day recently and discovered an article in Forbes magazine extol
Florida’s Largest For-Profit Charter Chain Under Federal Investigation
The Miami Herald reports that the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General is reviewing the business practices of the Academica charter chain, a for-profit and highly profitable charter chain. Ironically, at the same time, the charter-friendly Florida legislature is considering legislation that would weaken district oversight of charter school corporations. The charter industry makes sub
ALEC Model Legislation for the Third Grade Reading Guarantee
ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) is an organization founded in 1973 to promote free-market ideas throughout society. ALEC has about 2,000 members who belong to state legislatures. It is funded by major corporations. Its purpose is to write model legislation that members can bring back to their state, to spread the gospel of ALEC. It supports charters, vouchers, online charters–all
Wendy Davis Takes on The Testing Industry in Texas! Go, Wendy!
Wendy Davis is running for Governor of Texas. She is going after the testing industry, which spends big-time for lobbyists to make sure that no child is left untested, even children in pre-school. From: Wendy Davis for Governor Date: April 22, 2014 at 8:34:08 AM Subject: Davis Campaign Files Open Records Request on Abbott and Testing Industry Reply-To: press@wendydavistexas.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELE
EduShyster Visits Arne Duncan’s Alma Mater
EduShyster visited the University of Chicago Lab School, where Arne Duncan was a student from K-12, thirteen years. She met his favorite teacher, who has been teaching for 49 years. She searched for the secret sauce that makes him tick. She would have been better off searching for whatever ingredient led him to look upon public schools with such disdain. Perhaps she found it. It is just a ston
Who Wrote the Common Core Standards? Here is a List
There has been much debate about who wrote the Common Core standards. Here is a press release that lists the names of the writing teams for each subject as well as “feedback” groups. You will notice a large representation of people from the testing industry (College Board and ACT), as well as people from Achieve, a D.C. think tank. Notice that the statement says: “The Work Group’s deliberation
4-22-14 LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Time for an Anti-Testing Movement in Upstate New YorkA reader sent this comment: Dear Diane, I was wondering if you could create a post to get the anti-testing movement that seems to be thriving downstate to garner some more support upstate. I teach in a suburb of Rochester, NY. My school is on the “west side,” where household inco