Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

7-8-14 Schools Matter All Week

Schools Matter:





The Gild Is Already Off the Lily, But She is Golden for Gates
No sooner was the NEA president's office cleared of the sickly sweet stench of corrupt corporate lackey, Dennis Van Roekel, than a new CorpEd chief enabler was enthroned as head of the nation's largest dress-up-and-go-to-lunch teachers' professional organization.Enter Stage Right, Lily Eskelson Garcia, with her guitar and plenty of cute protest songs to titillate teachers who prefer to dance to th


Doug Martin's Letter to the Indiana State Board of Education, July 8, 2014
Dear State Board of Education: As you seek to dismantle public education and democracy, I want to remind you of my book, HoosierSchool Heist, which is becoming quite popular.  Although it's hard to determine (since I don't have billionaires behind me to pay for someone to track the data), my educated guess is at least 250,000 people know about this book.  The FBI even reads Hoosier School Heist.


Duncan's Latest Party Balloon Just Got Popped in Tennessee
When NAEP reported in May that Tennessee high school seniors finish next to last in NAEP proficieny in the latest testing derby (just behind West Virginia), it took some of the glory from the earlier report on NAEP scores for grades 4 & 8 that Kevin Huffman and his band of TFA lawyers plastered on every available wall space at the TN State Department of Education--even the elevators. But Huffm
The Meaningless Moratorium Has Ended Before Anyone Knew It Began
The union misleadership stooges of the NYSUT have signed on to a Gates-approved moratorium that just ended.  Under a plan that Cuomo will sign into law, teachers, as the headline goes, get a "break" from teacher evaluations based on test scores.  Or, rather, they got a break in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The moratorium is over before anyone could celebrate the big victory that Weingarten,
Email the Indiana State Board of Ed: Another Power Grab in the Works
by Doug MartinOnce again, former conservative radio show host/free-market Christian/current Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his corporate theocrats on the State Board of Education (made up of Koch Brothers-connected Indiana Policy Review Foundation fake scholars, former Christel DeHaan operatives, and hedge fund Democrats, among others) are seeking to strip supt. of public schools Glenda Ritz of m


7-7-14 Schools Matter All Week
Schools Matter: Kindergarten Achievement Tests Before KindergartenRiverdale and Horace Mann are now using a new test to make sure that only kids who can afford IPads and tutoring get in. Could you pass the test? Which flag completes the pattern?2 by Jim Horn / 1h 7-6-14 Schools Matter All WeekSchools Matter: Ravitch Waves Goodbye to Common Core "Testing" and Throws Kisses to Dennis and R