One Aspect of the Charter Industry
A reader says this about charter schools: “Charter schools, which are investment tools for the wealthy are hijacking our public schools. One CEO of three charter schools in NYC makes $475,000.00 plus benefits. As an investment advisor I expect a return on my investment.. My property taxes and federal tax as well as state taxes are going to professional hijackers. We are all losing except the rich
Write Your Senator to Stop Charter Favoritism Bill Passed by House
Led by conservative Republican leader Eric Cantor, the House of Representatives passed a bill that grants new funding and exemption from federal laws to charter schools. The bill passed 360-45. Wrote the D.C. Paper, “The Hill,” “Republicans have touted the issue of school choice and access to charter schools as a way of limiting the federal government’s role in education policy. Charter schools r
GF Brandenburg: How Flat Are the NAEP Scores?
A brilliant post by G.F. Brandenburg about NAEP scores. Shows how little has been gained by the Bush-Obama demolition derby of testing, closing schools, firing teachers and principals, opening charters. It is all a mighty failure that has not improved test scores or education Hoax!
North Carolina: McCrory Proposes to Raise Teachers’ Salaries
North Carolina, once seen as the most forward-looking state in the South, has become an educational backwater in recent years, despite winning Race to the Top funding. The governor and legislature have skimped on public schools, cut their budgets, while expanding deregulated charters and introducing vouchers. They even eliminated their own NC Teaching Fellows program to prepare career teachers whi
Parent: Why I Refused the Tests for My Children
This New York parent decided the state tests were useless and worthless. She went to hearings and rallies and realized that state officials made only minor changes but that her children would continue to sit for 500 minutes of state testing in grades 3-8. She thought it made no sense. So she opted her children out of state testing. Here is her letter to the editor of her local newspaper. She writ
Arthur Camins: What if We Used Assessment to Learn Rather than to Judge?
Arthur H. Camins, director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., is an insightful critic of contemporary “reforms.” In this post, he envisions a different way to use assessments. “Frequent high-stakes testing and its misuse for teacher evaluation are poisoning the assessment waters. Assessment should not be the g
Letter Protesting PISA Over-Emphasis on Standardized Tests Now Translated into Other Languages
I just received notice from the organizers of the letter opposing the league tables of PISA that the letter has been translated into Swedish and German. Hopefully, it will be picked up and translated worldwide. If you are in Korea or Japan or South America or anywhere else where the local language is not English, please translate the letter, send it to the local news media, and let me know abo
Peter Greene: How to Cash in on the Charter School Craze
It is National Charter School Week, President Obama issued a proclamation in their honor (did he forget National Teacher Appreciation Week?), and here is the best piece yet on what a sham industry this is. Peter Greene gives sound advice here on how to score big in the charter industry. It gets funnier as he goes on, so I am only posting the beginning. You have to read the whole thing to get
Literacy Expert to Obama on PARCC Test: Too Hard, Too Confusing, or Absurd?
Rebecca Steinitz is a literary consultant, writer, and editor in Massachusetts. She has a Ph. D. In English, coaches in urban districts, and has a daughter in seventh grade. She wrote a letter to President Obama about the PARCC Tests, which her daughter must take, but the President’s will not. Her daughter has always done well in school, but the PARCC test was a trial. Here is a typical questio
I Am in Surgery Today
I am getting a total knee replacement today. But don’t think for a minute you won’t hear from me! I have written several posts in advance to cover for my absence today and tomorrow. I will have my iPad in the hospital and in the rehab that follows. Several people asked if they could send flowers. In a word, no. If you want to make me happy, send a gift to the Network for Public Education
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-8-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: NEPC: Charter School “Wait Lists” Are Overstated, Possibly MeaninglessA new report from the National Education Policy Center reviews the “wait lists” that charter advocacy groups regularly publicize and finds them to be vastly inflated. Charter advocacy groups claim that nearly one million students are wait-listed for admission, bu