Schools Matter:
Schools Matter All Week
Arne Duncan Praises Worsening Segregation and Calls It A Tribute to Brown v Board
Tennessee's example in the history of Brown actually gives me great optimism. Arne DuncanArne Duncan was in Tennessee last month to deliver the keynote at a corporate Education Writers Association. Duncan loves Tennessee, as it represents one of the few states that has remained loyal to the RTTT plan devised by the Gates Foundation.Since 2009 Duncan has been spewing the bromide that education is
Another reason to dump the Common Core, from NYTimes:. . . .The city’s Education Department turned away from balanced literacy several years ago amid concerns that it was unstructured and ineffective, particularly for low-income children. And Ms. Fariña is facing sharp resistance from some education experts, who argue that balanced literacy is incompatible with the biggest shift in education today
From Politico:— ALEC will also consider two model bills that could vastly expand funding for charter schools, including facilities funds. One would require states or districts to pay charters for their entire first year of operation based on the enrollment figures administrators projected before they opened their doors — not how many students actually show up. (Any discrepancies would be addressed
Learn about TMoE at Chalkface Radio Interview Archive
Chalkface Radio has up a terrific interview archive. Check it out. Here's the one Denise Wilburn and I did 10 months ago, soon after The Mismeasure of Education was published. Current Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Chalk Face on BlogTalkRadioJuly 12 will mark the one year since TMoE was published. How time flies. Buy the book at B&N or Powell's Books or IAP. Please don't buy it
JUN 26
Classroom Video Capture Project Proceeds With No Protocols for Security or Informed Consent
With Bill Gates's yesman, Dorsey Hopson, renewed for another term as non-educator-in-charge of Shelby County Schools, the pressure is on to expand the use of Microsoft's cloud-based technology to every aspect of schooling, from administering high stakes tests to video capture of children and teachers for teacher evaluation. Hopson is urging mandatory use of cameras in the classroom, even though th
Corporate Education Reform: the "civil rights issue" up until it actually addresses civil rights issues like segregation
"Children have a right and a need to have quality schools in their neighborhood." — Francis Howell School District White school district sends black kids back to failed schools The one upside to the article is that it clearly puts to lie the corporate reformers' assertion that equitable funding isn't the issue. The resegregation—and in many cases, the continuation of segregation—of sch
JUN 25
Cheatham & Robertson County School Boards Say No to Charters, 5-0
from the Tennessean:The Cheatham County School Board rejected an application on Tuesday for a proposed charter school.The board voted 5-0 to deny the application for Cumberland Academy. Board member Willy Johnson was absent.Supporters of the school plan to appeal the decision to the board. They have 15 days to make the appeal.“We still feel empowered and committed to our mission. We look forward t
Refuse All the Tests 2014-15
A clip from Peg Robertson:. . . .I am keeping it very simple for the 2014-2015 school year. I have seen the chaos. I have been knocked down many times. And as a result, I have been given the opportunity to see what works and what doesn't work. I get that we all have a role to play, so I am not knocking anyone who chooses a different route. But I'll just say this, refuse the mandates that have b
Houston KIPPsters Blow Off Steam by Hanging Classmate
From Fox affiliate in Houston:By Alexander Supgul, Digital Content Manager - bioOn May 20 during recess at KIPP Academy, David Rodriguez says he quite nearly strangled to death."I thought I was going to die and I was not going to see my Mom, my Dad and my sister," said Rodriguez.David's mother, Zulma Rodriguez, insists her 3rd grader was persuaded by classmates to put a string around his
JUN 24
This Week's Charter Corruption and Crime Log
Charter schools release teacher salaries, withhold admin payCharter school officials face federal bribery chargesMost Michigan charter companies don't follow financial disclosure lawHartford Charter School CEO Acknowledges Inaccurate Academic CredentialSE Idaho charter school could have charter revokedCharter schools under more scrutinyCriminal Convictions Of Charter Schools Group's CEO Raise Ques
Isolation and Restraint: Will MicrosoftNBC Televise School Lockup?
Great reporting by ProPublica and Alternet on the realities that are never presented by the corporate media:Public schoolchildren across the country were physically restrained or isolated in rooms they couldn’t leave at least 267,000 times in the 2011-2012 school year, despite a near-consensus that such practices are dangerous and have no therapeutic benefit. Many states have little regulation or
NJ Legislature Waking Up to Damage of Common Core and High Stakes Testing
This didn't happen by osmosis. It happened because parents, teachers, administrators and citizens in New Jersey have been lobbying their local representatives to end the damage being done to their children by high stakes testing that is abusive and punitive for teachers, schools and communities.The people of New Jersey have had enough of Governor Christie and Common Core Standards tied to multiple
Pence's Indiana Career Council: The Latest Power Grab?
by Doug MartinEarlier, I found the below message posted on facebook. I haven't seen the original text this facebook post quotes from, since it costs money to subscribe to the Indiana Education Insight, but it would not surprise me if there's another attempt in the works to steal power from Glenda Ritz and taxpayers in Indiana.The Indiana Career Council mentioned below met on June 16th. Pence is
JUN 23
Dangerous Racist Fool Proves Himself to be Dangerous Racist Fool
Below is a post from 2011 that gives a little background on why this recent outing of right-wing serial blog commenter could not have happened to a more awful person.John Huppenthal, Dangerous Racist FoolSchools Matter September 28, 2011With every brief and successive generation of Tea Party spokesmen and nutjob officials, particularly in Arizona, the current ones make the previous ones seem like
Whole Brain Teaching, the Latest Lucrative Quackery for Repackaged Rote Learning
There is a respectable body of literature on brain-based learning, but it has nothing to do with the current testing factory craze, Whole Brain Teaching (WBT). WBT represents the same centuries-old memorization and recitation techniques duct-taped to repeated displays of loud chanting and clapping, with some primitive behavior mod thrown to give this latest chain gang craze the thinnest veneer of
The Hastening Demise of Common Core: PARCC Down to 15 Members; Smarter Balanced, 22
Tennessee done. Next likely to be Mississippi and North Carolina. TN Parcc Withdrawal and Attachment
Former Student Sees KIPP As "a cancer"
This student graduated from KIPP in the early 2000s:KIPP at its core means well but it is a cancer, one that threatens children with Machiavellian methods and punishments that are unneccessary.
JUN 22
Learning About Liberty in a Charter Chain Gang
This KIPP knock-off, Nashville Prep, has had numerous complaints about the severity of its penal pedagogy and abuse. Here it is cleaned up for the cameras, i. e., minus the screaming and humiliation and silence. If you find this disturbing, you have to remember that this is what they are most proud of--this is as good as it gets.