Mark Weber: Don’t Mess with Teacher Tenure in New Jersey
Mark Weber, also known as blogger Jersey Jazzman, advises New Jersey legislators not to mess with teacher tenure. New Jersey has tenure laws tat work, he says. For one thing, they keep political patronage–for which the state is infamous–out of the schools. He writes: “Over the years, while so many of New Jersey’s public institutions have fallen victim to cronyism, teaching staffs have remained
Dave Cunningham to Editorial Writer: You Were Wrong to Vote Against School Budget
Michael Dobie, an editorial writer at Long Island’s Newsday, wrote an opinion piece in which he explained with a certain amount of embarrassment why he voted against the school budget for the West Babylon public schools, where his daughters attended, graduated, and went on to outstanding colleges. West Babylon asked voters to approve its budget because Governor Cuomo put a tax cap on every distr
Jesse Hagopian: Dr. Frankenstein Meets His Monster
Jesse Hagopian, a teacher at Garfield High School in Seattle, here describes the decision by the Gates Foundation to delay the high-stakes consequences of the tests promoted by—-the Gates Foundation. Hagopian writes: “How do you know the United States is currently experiencing the largest revolt against high-stakes standardized testing in history? “Because even the alchemists responsible for con
Why the Los Angeles School Board Ousted Stuart Magruder
Columnist Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times explains why the school board did not reappoint Stuart Magruder to the “independent” Bond Oversight Committee: He asked too many questions about why Superintendent Deasy was tapping the school bond fund to buy iPads instead of spending the money as voters intended, for construction and repairs. Magruder “just had to speak up. The arrogance, the temer
Peter Greene: North Carolina Has the Worst Legislature in the Nation
Peter Greene has scoured the nation to determine which state legislature is most hostile to teachers. Here he explains why North Carolina wins that dubious title. He begins: “There are several state legislatures that are working hard to earn the “Worst Legislature in America” medal. Florida, where it’s cool to use terminally ill children as political tools and their families as punching bags, ha
Philadelphia: Much Reform, Little Change
In this article, veteran journalist Dale Mezzacappa reviews the tumult in Philadelphia and interviews people who have known the issues for 20 years or more. Given the high poverty in the district and the state’s neglect, not much has changed for the better. Mezzacappa says there are more choices than ever. But the district is in terrible trouble: “The state took over the District’s governance. C
Anthony Cody Refutes John Merrow on Vergara
Anthony Cody calls out John Merrow for inconsistency on the Vergara decision. Merrow, Cody notes, has become increasingly outspoken as a critic of high-stakes testing, et fails to appreciate that his support for the Vergara decision is support for bubble testing as the ultimate judge of teacher quality. Cody writes: “The Vergara decision follows the poorly founded logic of the Chetty study, whic
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-15-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Andrea Gabor: An Inspection of New York State’s Secret ELA TestsSomehow, Andrea Gabor got a copy of most of the New York State English Language Arts Common Core-Aligned State tests. She describes them here. She writes: Once again I am in possession of a bit of educational contraband. For the second year in a row, I have recei