Pelto Plans Third Party Run in Connecticut
Blogger and former Democratic legislator Jonathan Pelto announced his plans to run as a third party candidate against Governor Dannell Malloy, largely on education issues. See here and here. His running mate is Hartford teacher Ebony Murphy.
Cambridge, MA, School Committee Votes to Delay PARCC Tests
Last night, the school board in Cambridge, Massachusetts, voted to delay the implementation of PARCC, one of the two federally-funded online Common Core assessments. This was something of a problem for Mitchell Chester, Commissioner of the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, because he is chair of the governing board of PARCC. The Cambridge School Committee acted in response t
Parents and Educators Demand Release of Pearson Tests
Take Action and Click Here to Demand the Release of the 3-8 Grade NYS Tests, Only 30 Seconds of Your Time Dear Allies, New York parents and teachers are outraged that they are not allowed to see the NYS Standardized 3-8 grades tests. Before 2011, all tests were posted on the New York State Education Department (NYSED) website. That changed after the State Education Department signed a contract wit
Ira Shor: When Do Kids Count?
Ira Shor describes our complex sustem, based on race, class, income: “Teachers count only if their students count. To count in this society, kids have to come from affluent families; the teachers of those affluent kids are paid more and generally treated better. The vast majority of students in k-12 pub schls don’t count b/c they are poor, working-class, or lower middle-class, many not white, man
Michigan: A Very Curious Story of Charter Management Techniques
This is an astonishing story from Michigan. There, a persistent blogger named “Miss Fortune” discovered that a charter manager was indicted on multiple charges, including tax evasion and bank fraud. His wife and brother plus a local contractor and his wife diverted nearly $1 million of a $1.8 million construction loan to his personal bank accounts. Miss Fortune began digging, as persistent blogger
Peter Greene: Why Are Common Core Standards Written in Stone?
Peter Greene asks a simple, logical question: why are the Common Core standards written in stone? “Not just stone, but stone mounted in cement crazy-glued to bedrock all sealed in amber.” The Common Core standards are copyrighted. “…if you want to use them, you must do so as is, with not a single change. States may add up to 15% on top of what’s there, but they may not rewrite the CCSS in any way,
What Is Likely to Happen if Some States Drop the Common Core
The problems with the Common Core are multiple. Many states are now experiencing a populist revolt against it, sometimes led by extremists parents, sometimes (as in New York) led by responsible veteran educators. Support is strong and includes the Obama administration, major corporations, Republicans like Jeb Bush, and educators who like the new standards. Opposition is strong and spans the ideol
Ohio Virtual Charters Tailor Ad Campaigns to Lure Students
An article in the Akron Beacon Journal shows how virtual charters design advertising campaigns to appeal to students who are unhappy and feel bullied at school “With profits on the line, private charter school companies are advertising on television, radio, billboards, handbills and even automated telephone messages to entice students away from public schools. “And with words such as free, flexi
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-4-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Protest against PISA League Tables Goes InternationalA 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