Two Champs Charter Schools Won’t Open in Palm Beach County, Florida
Two Champs charter schools were supposed to open in Delray Beach and Riviera Beach, Florida, but they failed to enroll enough students. They told Palm Beach County school district officials they will never open. Each was supposed to enroll 112 students but enrolled only 2 or 3 students. Is the public wising up? Or is the market saturated?
No Charter School for Cheatham County, Tennessee
The school board of rural Cheatham County, Tennessee, voted 6-0 against opening a charter school.
Schneider: Why Jindal Lost in Court on Common Core and PARCC
A Louisiana judge ruled against Governor Jindal in his efforts to dump Common Core and PARCC. Mercedes Schneider read the court decision and concludes that Jindal lost in court against proponents of Common Core because his lawyer didn’t make a good case. She says he better get a better legal team or be prepared to lose again.
Democrats for Public Education Launches New Group to Support Public Schools
Readers of this blog are familiar with the many organizations that have been created to attack public schools and teachers’ rights, including groups like Democrats for Education Reform (hedge fund managers); Stand for Children (pro-charter); StudentsFirst (pro-charter, pro-voucher, anti-union, anti-teacher); Teach for America; ConnCAN and 50StateCAN (pro-charter); Students for Education Reform; Te
FAIRTEST: Flat ACT Scores Show Failure of NCLB, Race to the Top
Give it up, reformers. The scores on the ACT are flat from 2010-2014, despite the billions wasted on testing, test-based teacher evaluation, and merit pay. Your reforms have reformed nothing. They have failed. Pay attention. Improve the lives of children and families. Improve working conditions in the school. Demand equitable resources for schools. Reduce class sizes for needy children. Do what w
Common Core Support Eroding, Especially Among Teachers
A poll commissioned by “Education Next,” a conservative journal, finds that the public supports the idea of common standards but the support drops sharply when asked about Common Core. See the Edweek account here. The biggest declines from 2013 to 2014 were among teachers and Republicans. Support among Democrats remained steady at about 63-64%. The proportion of Republicans supporting Common Core
Utah: Common Core Tests Cause Proficiency Rates to Fall Below 50%
The first results of Utah’s Common Core tests are in, and they follow the pattern of other states: a sharp drop in the proportion of students who are “proficient.” “The percentage of Utah students who scored proficient or better in science ranged from 37 percent to 45 percent, depending on grade level. In math, anywhere from 29 percent to 47 percent of kids scored proficient. And in language arts
Florida Law Requires Multiple Tests for Kindergartners
Florida has gone bonkers. State law requires children in kindergarten to take tests for every subject taught in kindergarten. Some counties will develop as many as 15 different tests, ranging from physical education to art. Most children will be required to take seven tests. State Sen. David Simmons, a member of the education committee, said “For us to assure that schools do their jobs we can onl
Michelle Gunderson on the Ethical Use of Student Data
On Anthony Cody’s new independent blog site, “Living in Dialogue,” Chicago teacher Michelle Gunderson offers her views on the ethical use of student data. In her many years as an elementary school teacher, she has seen standardized tests evolve from a sorting instrument to a means of punishing children to an excuse for privatizing public schools. She will not be complicit in any of these uses
Texas: Latino Activists Declare Their Education Agenda
Next year, students of Hispanic descent will be a majority in the public schools of Texas. Yet the voices of Latino parents, educators, and advocates are seldom heard in legislative hearings. Instead, it is usually business leaders calling the shots. A new organization called the Latino Coalition for Educational Equality has emerged to express their views and to release the results of a survey. W
Florida: A Haven for Scams and Fraud
In a two-part article called “Florida’s Charter Schools: Unsupervised,” Karen Yi and Amy Shipley of the Sun-Sentinel describe how the state’s weak laws allows charter school operators in South Florida to profit while wasting taxpayers’ money and children’s lives. South Florida has more than 260 charter schools. Local districts are supposed to oversee them. The laws about who may open a charter sc
Meet Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Néw NEA President
This is a good article about Lily Eskelsen Garcia, who assumes the presidency of the NEA in September 1. She taught for many years in Utah, ran unsuccessfully for Congress, and was Utah’s Teacher of the Year. Read her interview with Valerie Strauss. She knows how stupid VAM is, and she has a few choice words for Campbell Brown. She thinks Arne Duncan is a nice man who is “wrong, wrong, wrong.” Li
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-18-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: New York: Common Core Tests Fail Our Students AgainCarol 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 res