Schools Matter:
Schools Matter All Week
David Brooks: In Praise of Segregation
It's not often that NYTimes conservative columnist, David Brooks, finds any way to use science try to justify the lifestyles of the rich and separate, but someone sent him news of a study that he obviously felt he could manipulate to rationalize the continuing resegregation of America and its schools. Good fences make good neighbors. When ethnic groups clash, we usually try to encourage peace
JUL 03
Picket, Boycott, Shut Down Weingarten's Common Core Convention
From Inside AFT: The AFT convention, set for July 11-14 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will focus on fighting back and fighting forward on key domestic issues to reclaim the promise of America, including the Common Core State Standards . . .
JUL 02
Join Me at the Rise Above The Mark Kokomo Show, July 17th
By Doug MartinI will be in Kokomo on the Rise Above the Mark after-movie panel on July 17 at the South Branch of the Kokomo library. I will be signing copies of Hoosier School Heist from 4:30 to 5:30pm. Here is the press release. Please share this far and wide and follow me on twitter: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 1, 2014 RISE ABOVE THE MARK, DOCUMENTARY FILM DETAILING THE ATTACK ON INDIANA'S P
JUL 01
A bad way to rate teachers
Sent to the Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2014Contrary to Eric Hanushek's statement ("How Teachers Unions Use 'Common Core' to Undermine Reform," June 30), there is no movement by anybody to "eliminate school accountability and teacher evaluations." There is a movement to eliminate the use of standardized test score gains to evaluate teachers, and there is good reason to do so.
JUN 29
Kevin Carey Plays His Fear Card about American Colleges: It's a Deuce
With ALEC far on in writing model legislation to put steerage of higher education under the ham hands of the Tea Party and the Oligarchs (sounds like the worst band ever, right?), and with the federal government too in debt to the oligarchs to do anything about it, the only remaining stumbling block is the need to convince the public that higher ed is going to hell in a hand basket. Enter, Kevin
JUN 28
Arne Duncan Praises Worsening Segregation and Calls It A Tribute to Brown v Board
Arne Duncan was in Tennessee last month to deliver the keynote at a corporate Education Writers Association. Duncan loves Tennessee, as it represents one of the few states that has remained loyal to the RTTT plan devised by the Gates Foundation.Since 2009 Duncan has been spewing the bromide that education is the civil rights issue of our time, but in Nashville in May, Duncan took his game up a no
Common Core Writers Hate Balanced Literacy
Another reason to dump the Common Core, from NYTimes:. . . .The city’s Education Department turned away from balanced literacy several years ago amid concerns that it was unstructured and ineffective, particularly for low-income children. And Ms. Fariña is facing sharp resistance from some education experts, who argue that balanced literacy is incompatible with the biggest shift in education today
ALEC's Model Bill to Get Public Money for Corporate Charters Before Any Students Enroll
From Politico:— ALEC will also consider two model bills that could vastly expand funding for charter schools, including facilities funds. One would require states or districts to pay charters for their entire first year of operation based on the enrollment figures administrators projected before they opened their doors — not how many students actually show up. (Any discrepancies would be addressed
