Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Public support for Obama's school policies is plunging
That's the good news.If you combine Bush and Obama, which is easy to do when it comes to education policy, we're coming up on 15 years of No Child Left Behind/Race To The Top (with waivers).That will make 15 straight years of corporate-style, top-down, metrics-driven, test-based reform. That includes more than 6 years of Arne Duncan's unfettered, single-handed use of federal dollars to impose a sy
AUG 21
Schools play a big role in the Ferguson story. It's a teachable moment in time.
Fergson teachers would rather be with their students in their classrooms. Instead, they spend the day picking up debris, including tear gas canisters, from local streets. SELMA, Alabama -- A sixth grade teacher at a Selma elementary was placed on administrative leave after having students reenact the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown that took place Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Mo. -- AL.com Ferguson s
AUG 20
Battles are usually won or lost before they begin
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”― Sun Tzu, The Art of WarFor Karen Lewis, it's not just about a single election campaign but about laying the foundation for a movement. Ah music to my ears. Before she formally announces her candidacy, she wants to make sure she has enough troops in place behind her and a core group of
AUG 19
Today's test question: Why do police wear camouflage?
WATCHING FROM CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Worst Media Coverage Ever Award belongs to CBS News for this morning's headline: Michael Brown Protests in Ferguson Hijacked by 'Criminals' : Cops. Unless by "criminals" the headline was meant to refer to the Ferguson PD.As the violent and terrifying Ferguson siege by militarized police forces, heads into Day 10, I'm still awed by the courage, anger, and de
AUG 18
Weekend Quotables
Ferguson Protester Lisha Williams. "It was no fight, it was no shots fired. The only ones who fired was police. All we did was march to the command center to fall to our knees and say, 'Don't shoot.' And they started shooting." --CNNMalcolm LondonChicago poet, Malcolm London"They don't talk about white-on-white crime in the news." -- Huffington Attorney Benjamin Crump"What
AUG 15
Militarization vs. the Network Society
I was deeply moved yesterday evening, to be standing with more than a thousand fellow Chicagoans, hands raised in a gesture of solidarity with the family of Michael Brown and the courageous people of Ferguson, MO. Similar demonstrations are taking place in dozens of cities and on university campuses.GAZA, MO...Coming on the heels of the Israeli assault on Gaza, the events in Ferguson, after the po
Corporate reform strategies not working say U.C. prof
NY TimesU.C. Berkeley Prof. David Kirp, writes in the New York Times, Teaching is Not a Business, that corporate reform is not working.TODAY’S education reformers believe that schools are broken and that business can supply the remedy. Some place their faith in the idea of competition. Others embrace disruptive innovation, mainly through online learning. Both camps share the belief that the soluti
