Offensive TV Program “Bad Teacher” Canceled
Good news! Obnoxious TV program –”Bad Teacher”-/slandering an entire profession was canceled. One reader described it as the TV equivalent of “Waiting for Superman.” ******** Randi put out this statement, which is how I learned about it. For Immediate Release April 29, 2014 AFT’s Weingarten on Discovery’s Decision to Cancel ‘Bad Teacher’ Washington—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on D
Celebrity Comedian’s Common Core Rage on Twitter Goes Viral
Louis C.K. Is a comedian with a huge following. He has more than 3 million followers on Twitter. More important, he has two young daughters in the New York City public schools. He vented his rage against the Common Core tests in. Series of tweets that have now been reported in many new après. This one appeared in Salon Here is a story in the New York Daily News. Here is the New York Post. I noti
Student Power in Providence!
There are two groups that can’t be attacked by corporate reformers as greedy and self-interested: parents and students. The fake reformers automatically dismiss the voices if educators, but they can’t dismiss parents and students. No, wait, Arne Duncan ridiculed parents in Néw York as “white suburban moms” who were disappointed to find out their children weren’t so bright after all. But so far h
Thank You! Vivian Connell’s Trip is Fully Funded!
The blog has had a few posts about Vivian Connell (see here and here and here,) who left teaching in North Carolina to go to law school; graduated with honors, then learned she had ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and only a few years to live. Vivian has returned to teaching and decided that she wanted to make her time count. She started a fund to take a class of 32 children to the U. S. Holocaust Mem
Who Wrote the Common Core Standards. part 2
Mercedes Schneider continues in her task to determine who wrote the Common Core State Standards. The first work group had 24 members; the second had 51. Very few in either group were teachers. The standards were produced in remarkably short order. Typically, it takes years to write state standards when major stakeholders are part of the process. So was ther. Secret 24? A secret 51? Or, as some thi
Bruce Baker: The Magical Secrets of Awesomeness
The charter sector is riddled with fraud. The fraud gets uncovered whenever you see a charter claiming a miraculous success with poor, inner-city kids who are identical to the kids in the neighboring failing public schools. When they boast of their 100% graduation rates or their 100% passing rates on state tests, look behind the curtain. Watch a master at work as Bruce Baker pulls back the curtai
Why is Greenwich Lying to Its Parents?
Sarah Darer Littman is a journalist in Connecticut who writes frequently about education. She is a public school parent. She wrote this post in response to an email sent to all public school parents by the superintendent of schools in Greenwich: “When I was growing up, my parents had Dorothy Law Nolte’s poem Children Learn What They Live hanging in the wall in our house. A few lines: If children
Kindergarten Show Canceled so Children Can Get “College-and-Career-Ready
Yes, you read that right. School officials in Elwood, Néw York, canceled a kindergarten play scheduled for May 14-15 because it would take time away from getting the little tykes “college-and-career ready.” Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss called the school for confirmation. It sounded too crazy to be true. But it is factual. The interim principal sent a letter to parents of children i
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-28-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jeff Bryant in Salon: Why Common Core Is in Deep TroubleJeff Bryant is a marketing and communications expert, and he understands why Common Core is in deep trouble. The “education reform movement” is not really a movement. It has no mass base. It is a public relations campaign created by a very small number of people with deep po