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Connecticut: Stefan Pryor Will Not Serve a Second Term as State Education Chief
State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor announced that he would not serve a second term and was seeking other opportunities. Jon Pelto, who hopes to run an independent campaign for governor, says that Governor Dannell Malloy is cutting his losses because of Pryor’s outspoken advocacy of charter schools. Also, says Pelto, Malloy realizes he has alienated teachers and is trying to win back their
As of 1 P.M. Today, More Than 14 Million Page Views on This Blog!
Shortly before 1 p.m., the blog passed 14 million page views! Although I am not afflicted with Triskaidekaphobia, I am nonetheless happy to move on to 14. I confess I am a wee bit superstitious. After all, this was the time that I crushed my knee, underwent two surgical procedures, and am still struggling to recover full mobility. Fourteen million page views doesn’t mean that the blog has that m
Paul Thomas Argues That Poverty IS Destiny and Education Is Not the Great Equalizer
Paul Thomas here takes on some of the most sacred beliefs of U.S. culture. He argues that poverty is destiny, and that education is not the great equalizer. He says that wishing it were so does not make it so. He writes: “In the U.S. both poverty and affluence are destiny, and those who shudder at that reality are confusing verbs: Yes, poverty should not be destiny, but false claims will never a
Schneider: Get Your Scorecard on Common Core Litigation in Louisiana Right Here
It is hard to remember who is suing whom in Louisiana. Fortunately we have Mercedes Schneider to keep us updated on the three different lawsuits, each of which is pursuing a different issue related to the Common Core and the PARCC tests. Try to remember this: as a high school teacher, Schneider is no fan of Common Core and PARCC. She is also no fan of Jindal or White. Jindal used be a fan, but a
New York: Common Core Tests Fail Our Students Again
Carol Burris and Biana Tanis take a close look at New York’s Common Core tests and find them deeply flawed. Burris is a high school principal on Long Island and Tanis is a public school parent and special education teacher in the Hudson Valley. State officials celebrated paltry results: the passing rates on the reading test were flat and increased in math by 4.6%. But nearly 2/3 of the state’s ch
EduShyster Interviews Owen Davis About Newark
Hopefully, you read Owen Davis’ story about what was driving charter expansion in Newark. It precedes this one in the queue. In this post, EduShyster interviews Owen Davis about his investigation of the Newark situation. What’s the story? Money and real estate. Gentrification. What used to be called “slum clearance.” $5 billion in bonds for charter construction. I have reached a point where I lon
Owen Davis: What Is Driving the Charter Movement in Newark?
The title of this article has a one-word answer: money. In this shocking article, journalist Owen Davis explains how the expansion of charters in Newark is driven by two factors: 1) the availability of millions of dollars in federal school construction bonds that have been showered on the charter schools but not the public schools; 2) the Chris Christie administration’s decision to withhold fund
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-17-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Ohio: As Charters Flourish, Accountability DisappearsA reader sent me to this article at The Daily Kos, which asked the simple question: when are students more important than free markets? The author’s argument is that the governor and the legislature are so head over heels in love with free markets that they have exempted charter
