Connecticut: AFT PAC Endorses Anti-Teacher Governor
Jonathan Pelto reports that the AFT’s Legislative and Political Action Committee endorsed Governor Danell Malloy for re-election, despite his dismal record on education. The committee did not interview Pelto. He wrote: “The decision to endorse Malloy without an open process is a sad commentary on the state of politics. Putting aside the work I’ve done to speak out for teachers and their unions
Linda Thomas: The Arizona Voucher Hoax
Linda Thomas is the school board president of a small rural district in Arizona. She is a strong advocate for public education as a public responsibility. In this post, she reminds us that 85% of children in Arizona attend public schools despite the state ‘s trepidation as the “wild west” of charters. She also describes the legislsture’s devious efforts to expand vouchers. She writes: “When vo
Heilig: High-Stakes Testing Does Not Curb Inequity
On his blog, Julian Vasquez Heilig explores how the federal courts have failed to confront the racially disparate impact of high-stakes tests. When the courts were asked in Florida to recognize the unfairness of denying a diploma to students who could not pass the exit examination, in light of the racial disparities in passing rates, the federal court upheld the exams. Not only that, but the cour
Protest against PISA League Tables Goes International
A few weeks ago, educators Heinz-Dieter Meyer of the State University of New York and Katie Zahedi, principal of the Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, New York, wrote a protest letter against the international horse race inspired by OECD’s PISA examinations. They gathered other signers and went public. Since then, the letter has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, German, French, and Sp
SEC Charges Chicago’s Largest Charter Chain with Fraud
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the federal SEC has “charged the clout-heavy United Neighborhood Organization and its charter-school network Monday with defrauding investors in a $37.5 million bond deal by “making materially misleading statements” about contracts that funneled millions of state taxpayer dollars to organization insiders.” Federal officials say their investigation is continuing
Pearson: Follow the Money
It is curious indeed that Pearson has been so effective at buying a controlling interest in American education. It is curious because in school we were always taught that heathy competition produces better products, that America reveres an open field for new products, and that monopolies are clumsy and inefficient. We were also taught that the public sector belongs to the public, not to private co
Florida Students Avoid Mandatory Online Classes
Back in 2011, the Florida legislature decreed that every student must pass an online course as a graduation requirement. Was this decision based on research about the value of online learning? No. It was justified as a means of readying all students for an online workplace but there is as yet no solid evidence that students learn better online. Perhaps it was sheer coincidence that the legislature
YESTERDAY
Cursive Writing and Me
I earlier posted about an article in the New York Times that expressed concern about the loss of handwriting, as children are taught keyboarding at younger and younger ages. The article said that some researchers believe that a loss of handwriting skills may be associated with a loss of cognitive development. As I read the comments on this post, I felt inspired to share my own experiences with ha
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-3-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Edushyster: Graduation Rate at Boston Charters No Better Than Public SchoolsMassachusetts is preparing to lift the cap on charter schools, the assumption being that they have cracked the code to educating the neediest children. The Boston Globe has been cheerleading for the charter sector, along with the usual hedge funders and phi