All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
From WaPo, on teacher demographics
A student laments in a blog for the Washington Post that his “school district hires too many white teachers.” My PhD dissertation was specifically on the lack of men in education, especially at the early childhood level. Overcoming the gender roles, sexism, and homophobia, among other things, that created the “feminization” of the teaching profession, […]
Van Roekel to NEA: With what will you replace the accountability system?
It’s not the first time Dennis Van Roekel (DVR) has asked this loaded question. Last year, DVR asked the NEA membership at large, during an interview, with what they would purport to replace the Common Core State Standards, if we did get rid of them. Now, he’s asking the same question, but regarding the current […]
YESTERDAY
Video: My Five Minutes on Louisiana Public Broadcasting
As a means of addressing issues from the recent legislative session, Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) produced two shows involving three legislative issues: abortion clinic regulation, oil and gas companies/coastal preservation, and Common Core (CCSS). The first video aired weeks ago and featured individuals supporting one viewpoint (as concerns CCSS, that CCSS is good). On June […]
At the Chalk Face programming updates
First, we want to thank everyone out there for listening and supporting At the Chalk Face radio. Ever since we started broadcasting in the winter of 2010, we knew the show fulfilled an important niche in the overall education dialogue that was unavailable at the time. I don’t think anyone else delivers it like we […]
Parent and Teacher Groups Stand Together in New Mexico
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the evening of June 25, Parents and Teachers Educating the Community (PTEC) hosted a viewing of the education documentary Standardized: Lies, Money, and Civil Rights. The group was diverse and included people from several different activist groups, elected officials, and even New Mexico’s gubernatorial challenger to Susana Martinez. The most important […]
La. State Board Not “Bound by Law” to Either CCSS or PARCC
On June 18, 2014, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal made the executive decision to remove Louisiana from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated assessment, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). The way that Jindal approached the issue was to cancel both the PARCC MOU stating that Louisiana agreed to […]
Anatomy of a hashtag and the @amprog report #forthecore
The Center for American Progress, often touted as a “liberal” think tank, released a set of recommendations to make Common Core implementation successful. The release was accompanied by a media event just the other day, shared on social media with the hashtag “forthecore.” Let us first dismiss any arguments that CAP is actually a “liberal” […]
Who Are We? We Are the Resistance
Who Are We? We Are the Resistance. via Who Are We? We Are the Resistance.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JUN 26
The Troubling Realities of School Segregation
I read this story twice and also read this blog to learn more about the situation and it has left me with many unanswered questions. But first let me see if I have the facts right regarding this troubling story: Two years ago the Normandy school district that is 97% black and poor was merged […]
Obama Education Agenda and the Tone-Deaf Follies
Obama Education Agenda and the Tone-Deaf Follies. via Obama Education Agenda and the Tone-Deaf Follies.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JUN 25
Oklahoma Makes History, and Not Just in Edu-Politics
It looks like Paula Sophia will be elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Unlike Paula, I never served in Iraq, but we were comrades in a “broad church” of open arms. Paula is a 22-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Back when our neighborhood was still the turf of the Hoova’ set […]
@amprog imitates neoliberal wankers and excludes educator voices
A panel on the Common Core today from the Center for (on?) American Progress. See the speakers. Any educators in site? Introductory Remarks: Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress Panelists: Gov. Jim Douglas, Former Governor of Vermont Gov. Ted Strickland, Former Governor of Ohio Chester E. Finn, President, Thomas B. […]
JUN 24
Interview Archive for At the Chalk Face (by name)
Archive of interviews At the Chalk Face (by name). This is a work in progress which includes all broadcasts going as far back as 1/6/2013. Check back frequently for updates. Scroll through the alphabetical list, find something you like. Use any of these shows for your own purposes, broadcast them at meetings, workshops, professional development. […]
Will Free-Pass Mainstream Media Clean Up Their Chetty Mess?
Will Free-Pass Mainstream Media Clean Up Their Chetty Mess?. via Will Free-Pass Mainstream Media Clean Up Their Chetty Mess?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Interview At the Chalk Face: Critical Free Press
Interview At the Chalk Face: Critical Free Press. via Interview At the Chalk Face: Critical Free Press.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JUN 23
The United Way Now Promotes the Common Core
United Way Worldwide offers the following as its mission statement: United Way envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives. Our mission: To improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good. The goal of the United […]
Education Reform as the New Misogyny: A Reader
Education Reform as the New Misogyny: A Reader. via Education Reform as the New Misogyny: A Reader.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JUN 22
Common Core Memorandum of Understanding Not Just for “Development”
On June 18, 2014, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he had contacted the National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to tell them that he was terminating Louisiana’s Common Core State Standards (CCSS) memorandum of understanding (MOU), the document that he and former state superintendent Paul Pastorek signed tying […]
Discussions of race at the chalkface. It’s TL for you, then fine, DR.
Last night, perhaps during the day yesterday, I was engaged in a debate on race via Twitter. There seemed to be some misunderstandings, which is very easy to do on Twitter. That’s why I personally have a love/hate relationship with the medium. I really hate it. But then again, well, I don’t love-it-love-it. It’s more […]
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl
Originally posted on Bill Ayers:My brother Rick was one of the heroes of the American war against Viet Nam—he helped to organize and articulate war resistance in his unit, refused to kill people or to be killed in pursuit of the rulers’ imperial dreams, and deserted the US Army, spending the next decade on…
JUN 21
Notes on a co-location. It’s the little differences. #charterschools @revolutionfoods
We are often told that, in some areas, charter schools are STILL public schools, as if this is meant to placate any of our concerns. This comment proves that we should have something to worry about. I can think of innumerable ways charter schools are both exactly like public schools and not in the least […]
Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview
On June 7, 2014, Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton published a blockbuster article largely based on a 28-minute interview she had with Gates following his keynote speech at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ (NBPTS) Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2014. I am writing my second book, this one on the origins of the Common […]