Happy Birthday, Horace Mann!
Thanks to Bertis Downs of Athens, Georgia, a public school parent and a director of the Network for Public Education, for sharing this nugget of inspiration about one of the primary founders of public education: “From Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac daily email: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/ It’s the birthday of the man who said, “Education is our only political safety. Outside of th
Teachers United Against TFA
The resistance to teach for America continues to grow. Here is another organization bringing together teachers against TFA. Here is their Facebook page. The leading group of college students organized to resist TFA and to foght for professional teachers is SUPE: Students United for Public Educatuon. SUPE has a mission: “Students United for Public Education (SUPE) evolved out of the work of col
If You Love Dogs As I Do, This Video Is for You
This is the Ultimate Dog Tease. It will make you smile.
This Is What Is Wrong with American Education
In Jefferson County, Colorado, the state’s largest school district, there is an opening for a school superintendent. Representative Mark Waller, who dropped out of the Attorney General’s race, has applied for the job. Waller has no educational credentials. He has never been a teacher, a principal, a supervisor, or a scholar of education. But all his references say he is a really swell guy who gets
Why the Anti-Teacher Book Is Not Selling, Explained
At first I thought that Paul Peterson’s new book about how teachers are blocking school reform was selling poorly, despite a vigorous public relations campaign, because people actually like teachers. Now, I am not so sure. Look at the recommended reading levels and grade levels for “Teachers Versus the Public.” If you know any one-year-olds or first-graders who want to read polling data about vouc
Arthur Goldstein: Why I Don’t Like the New Teachers’ Contract in NYC
Arthur Goldstein is a high school English teacher and chapter chair of the United Federation of Teachers at Francis Lewis High School. He is part of the opposition to the Unity Caucus that leads his union, the UFT in New York City. In response to my post praising the recent contract agreement between New York City and the UFT, Goldstein wrote this dissent: ************ It’s been almost six yea
My Visit to Louisville and the Grawemeyer Award
I was thrilled to learn last winter that I had been chosen to receive the Grawemeyer Award in Education for 2014. To me, the Grawemeyer Award is the most important recognition of work in the five fields it honors: education, music, religion, world order, and psychology. I was especially honored because the award had previously gone to my friends Linda Darling-Hammond and Pasi Sahlberg for their
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 5-3-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGBias in Reporting at Chalkbeat?Chalkbeat is a news organization that covers New York City and recently expanded to Memphis. It was previously called Gotham Schools. Daniel Katz of Seton Hall University recently complained that Chalkbeat is biased in favor of charter schools. He notes that it is funded by the Gates Foundat