Philadelphia: Celebrate The Notebook June 10
The Notebook is a reliable source for honest, balanced journalism in Philadelphia. If you are in the area, please celebrate its 20th anniversary, as well as its tribute to local high school journalists. Please reserve your spot for the Notebook’s annual Turning the Page for Change celebration on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at the University of The Arts, Hamilton Hall, 320 S. Broad S
Anthony Cody Disagrees with Randi and Linda
Anthony Cody does not agree with Randi Weingarten and Linda Darling-Hammond. They recently published an article saying that California would be a model for the success of Common Core, because the new tests would be used to help schools, not to close them or to evaluate educators. Cody posts a video from the Common Core website. Here is the script: “Like it or not, life is full of measuring stick
Is Louisiana Superintendent John White Doing a Good Job?
Vote here: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/06/education_supt_john_white_how.html#comments
Friedman Foundation Disagrees with Peter Greene
The Friedman Foundation, which has been porting vouchers and the dissolution of traditional public schools for many years, here disagrees with Peter Greene’s critique of school choice. The foundation’s namesake, Milton Friedman, began advocating for vouchers in 1955. The idea didn’t gain any traction until 1990, when Milwaukee adopted a voucher program. Today, Milwaukee is one of the nation’s lowe
Peter Greene: Why School Choice Is UnAmerican
Peter Greene maintains that advocates of school choice have sold us a pig in a poke. Or maybe they put lipstick on a pig. Whatever. He says that school choice is unAmerican. The goal of school choice is to turn us into consumers whose only interest is the welfare of our own child. But, he says, we all have an interest in the well-being of public schools, even if we don’t have children. Not only t
Peter Greene: Why Conservatives Should Oppose School Choice
Peter Greene says that there are at least four good reasons why conservatives hold oppose school choice. Before I tell you what his four reasons are, I will tell you that there are even more reasons for conservatives to support public schools. Conservatives generally are not radicals or anarchists; they typically “conserve” traditional institutions, not blow hem up and start over. Conservatives us
The Inside Story of How Bill Gates Bought the Common Core Standards
In a remarkable job of reporting, Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post describes the creation of the Common Core standards. Two men–Gene Wilhoit and David Coleman–went to see Bill Gates in 2008 to ask him to underwrite national standards. He agreed, and within two years, the standards were written and adopted by almost every state in the nation. This is the closest thing to an educational coup i
YESTERDAY
Breaking News: Alabama Judge Overturns Law Giving Public Funds to Private Schools
A circuit court judge in Alabama ruled that a law to give public dollars to private schools is unconstitutional. “A program that pro-public education activists have called a throwback to the 1950s–a time when Alabama tried avoiding integration by directing public school funds to private schools–has been ruled unconstitutional by a Montgomery County circuit court judge. “The Alabama Accountability
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 6-7-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGGeorge Joseph: Exposé of Trafficking in TeachersThis is an amazing story, written by investigative reporter George Joseph. It seems there are recruitment agencies that go to other nations, the Philippines especially, hire good teachers, charge outrageous placement fees, and send them to work in American schools. He writes