Schools Matter:
Schools Matter All Week
By Doug MartinEven though New Jersey hedge fund guru Sean Fieler likes to fight gay-marriage equality and women’s reproductive rights on the national arena, he spends a good deal of his leisure time buying Indiana politicians. Fielder is a big honcho in the school privatization movement in the Hoosier state, although you will never hear a whisper about him in the papers. Here is the nitty-gritt
Value-Added Modeling (VAM) is pseudoscience, but profitable pseudosciences persist
"While value-added models are intended estimate teacher effects on student achievement growth, they fail to do so in any accurate or precise way. — Professor Bruce Baker" Back in early April I penned a piece for K12NN on The American Statistical Association's (ASA) paper on Value Added Methodologies [1]. In it I asserted that the "document provides strong support to those who oppos
Lily Gives Arne a Big Hug
From MicroSoftNBC:Despite the education secretary’s outwardly nonchalant reaction to the NEA vote [calling for his resignation], García says he seemed “hurt” and “surprisingly confused.” In her estimation, he didn’t realize the level of anger he had conjured up. “Arne Duncan is not a bad man,” she said. “I think he sincerely believes this stuff.” Despite their differences, says García, they ended
Behning's Corporate School Money Still Flowing
by Doug Martin (See the important note at the end of this article. Patrick Lockhart is running against Behning, and needs your support. Here is his facebook page. Spread it wide. It is time to take this to a truly grassroots level. Pass this article on to your neighbors, your community members and leaders and to the people in Lockhart’s district, many of them in Indianapolis. It is time to s
Haslam's Secret Meeting at Ground Zero of Secret Classroom Camera Project
Last year we were able to uncover details of a Gates-funded student and teacher surveillance plan that gathered classroom video data and dumped it into a corporate Cloud for sharing among, who knows?Now it seems Governor Haslam is meeting undercover with a group of "educators" in Washington County to find out "what works and what's not." Wonder if the Gov plans to keep it all
Getting to Know KnowledgeWorks, Part 1
Soon after Ted Strickland (D) was elected Governor of Ohio in 2006, he announced that he would rely on the expertise of the KnowledgeWorks foundation to "help shape his administration's education agenda." Really not surprising, since the CEO for KnowledgeWorks, Chad Wick, served as transition team leader following Strickland's election. What does Wick, an investment banker, know about
JUL 24
Our overall scores are unspectacular because of our high rate of child poverty. (WSJ)
Test Scores, Students and LearningOur overall scores are unspectacular because of our high rate of child poverty.Published in the Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2014.When researchers control for the effect of poverty, American scores on international tests are at the top of the world. Our overall scores are unspectacular because of our high rate of child poverty. The U.S. has the second highest l
JUL 23
Why Rhonda's and Lili's Resignations Are More Important Than Arne's
As Weingarten was about to be re-appointed by Saddam proportions (97%) at the recent coronation exercises in Los Angeles, the biggest diversion of the week grew from whether Rhonda would call for Arne's resignation. Ooh! What sad theatre! Sadly, if Duncan were to leave tomorrow to play Golden Oldie basketball full time, another fascist water carrier would be put in his place to implement the ed p
Doug Martin's Podcast on War Report on Public Education Now Up
by Doug MartinMy talk from a few days ago with BATS member Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. on his show the War Report on Public Education is now up as a podcast. Some of the topics covered include:My book Hoosier School Heist which focuses on the corporate-theocratic school movement in Indiana and across the country. FBI. How the Indiana Democratic Party needs to do more than lip-service to suppor
JUL 22
Opt Out: Stop the Education Genocide
by Ira Shor Opt-Out: The REAL Parent RevolutionWe parents can stop the destruction of our public schools. We can stop the looting of school budgets by private charters and testing vendors. We can stop the abuse of our children by the relentless hours of testing. We can stop the closings, the co-locations, the mass firings, the replacement of veteran teachers with short-term Teach for America newbi
JUL 21
Uninformed
To the editor: Antonio Villaraigosa asks"Why are teachers unions so opposed to change?"(July 21). I would like to know why Mr. Villaraigosa is so opposed to learning the facts about American schools and the Common Core. Villaraigosa claims that American students do poorly compared to students in other countries on international tests and that the Common Core will help us do better. Is h
Arizona Charter, Heritage Academy, Teaching the Benefits of Slavery for African Americans
From Atlanta Black Star:A charter school in Arizona has come under fire after it was revealed the school is using controversial books that suggest slavery was actually beneficial for African-Americans.Despite the backlash, the school’s principal is defending the use of the texts in the classroom, claiming that the school is not purposefully trying to change the students’ religious and political vi
JUL 20
Federal Court Rules Against Huntsville's Segregated Caste System of Schools
From Alternet, a clip:. . . . "The record in this case is not as clear as the Board suggests, and the fact that the district integrated the student bodies of many of its schools in the early 1970s does not automatically lead to the conclusion that the district does not currently operate a dual system," she wrote. She pointed out that not only were many schools still segregated, but the o
NEA, SEIU, and Eli Broad
At the recent AFT and NEA coronations, there was news about new linkages with SEIU, whose former president, Andy Stern, had close ties with Broad, Gates, and Obama (Stern had a choice seat in the Obama box at the Inauguration Parade). Below is part of a post I did in 2007, a day or so after a big fund-raiser in Los Angles for charter chain, Green Dot Public [sic] Schools, Inc. To the left of Broa
JUL 19
Why Cuomo Will Lose: Her Name is Zephyr Teachout
Hey--another smart, female, progressive professor running to replace the seedy, corrupt neoliberal good ole boy! Wonder if Warren will come campaign for her.In 2008 Microsoft founder Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men, decided that he should take charge of education policy. He promoted a single set of standards to measure our children's achievements in school. Since then Gates has spent m
Read Sean Crowley
The following was posted at SM as a comment to the Attacking Diane Ravitch? . . . post. It is by teacher, Sean Crowley, who blogs at B-LoEdScene:I think to take on St. Diane one must truly be uninvested in the business of advancing one's career outside of the classroom as a blogger, union hanger on, teacher book writer or any of the various forms of Celebucators we now see in this desperate scram
Beware of Youth Entrepreneurs (YE) Right Wing Indoctrination System
If the Education Writers Association ever gives an award for REAL education reporting, this piece at Huffington Post by Christie Wilkie and Joy Resmovits has to be the winner!Wilkie and Resmovits do a terrific job exposing the Bircher-inspired and Koch funded Youth Entrepreneurs (YE) indoctrination system that is worming its way into public school curriculum around the country. This is a must rea
Doug Martin Guest on the War Report on Public Education Radio Show
By Doug MartinI will be spending an hour with BATS member Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. this Sunday, July 20, on his radio show, the War Report on Public Education, speaking about my book Hoosier School Heist which focuses on the corporate-theocratic school movement in Indiana and across the country. The show starts at 2 pm Pacific California Time. If you are listening in Indiana, the show start