Breaking News: Florida School Board Wants Entire District to Opt Out!
The Lee School Board in Florida wants to opt out of all standardized testing. They have listened to parents. They are tired of enriching Pearson. “FCAT. Florida Standards. Common core. “No matter what you call it, the school board wants it gone. “Board members unanimously expressed their disdain for standardized testing at the school board meeting Tuesday, pledging to research the possibility of
Breaking News: Michelle Rhee Will Step Down as CEO of Students First
Joy Resmovits of Huffington Post reports that Michelle Rhee is stepping down as leader of StudentsFirst, a group she founded in 2010. She is likely to remain a board member. She recently changed her name to Michelle Johnson. “StudentsFirst was launched on Oprah’s TV talk show in late 2010 and immediately set ambitious goals, such as amassing $1 billion in its first year and becoming education’s lo
Michigan: State Board of Education Debating New Rules for Charters
Lori Higgins reported in the Detroit Free Press on Monday that the State Board of Education was debating new rules to make charter schools more transparent and accountable. Most charters in the state operate for profit and don’t believe in opening up their operations to prying eyes. We will see how this turns out. She wrote: “The State Board of Education on Tuesday is set to debate a proposal to
New York: Report on Inequitable Funding
Governor Cuomo oftens complains about spending on public schools. But he fails to mention budget cuts and inequitable funding. A new report by the Alliance for Quality Education lays out the facts and their consequences for Néw York’s public schools. Good report /summary below of funding gap and education cuts since CFE. New York state’s public schools have suffered devastating budget cuts over th
Mourning a Great Teacher: Robin Williams
We have become accustomed in recent years to seeing films in which teachers are shown as lazy, greedy slugs. This fits nicely with the corporate reform narrative that seeks to strip all honor, dignity, and rights from teachers. Teachers don’t deserve those mean-spirited caricatures, nor the treatment they receive from legislatures. Remembering Robin Williams’ portrayal of English teacher John Keat
Linda Darling-Hammond: California Is NOT Lowering Standards for Teachers
In the past few days, there has been vigorous debate about whether California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing was lowering standards; some critics went so far as to claim that future teachers in core subject areas would no longer need a four-year degree of any kind. None of this was true. I reached out to friends across California who assured me that it was untrue. Just this morning, the Sac
Schneider: Are Common Core and Common Core Testing Illegal?
Federal law states clearly that no agent of the federal government may seek to influence, direct, or control curriculum or instruction. For many decades, both parties agreed that they did not want the party in power to use federal power to control the schools of the nation. Thus, while it was appropriate for the U.S. Department of Education to use its funding to enforce Supreme Court decisions to
Lisa Woods: Why Schools Don’t Run Like Businesses
Lisa Woods, who has taught for 25 years, explains clearly in this post why schools will never run like businesses. It originally appeared. In the Greensboro (N.C.) News-Record. She asks readers to imagine a job where one’s compensation depends one’s “job performance and value” depend on the following conditions: “* You are meeting with 35 clients in a room designed to hold 20. “* The a
Long Island Educators Invite You to Dream About Better Education
Join educators and community leaders for an important one day Summer Institute to provide an alternate pathway to the test based accountability system. On August 21st, leaders will convene at Dowling College from 8:30am- 3:00 pm to explore the work of Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves (Professional Capital) as they work collaboratively to build the social capital needed to confront the de-profess
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-11-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Mercedes Schneider: Who Is Campbell Brown?Mercedes Schneider checks out the origins and development of Campbell Brown, who is now threatening to take Michelle Rhee’s place as the leader of the anti-union, anti-teacher campaign. Mercedes hails from Louisiana, and so did Campbell. Campbell came from a very poor town called Ferriday.