California: Torlakson Will Seek Appeal of Vergara Decision
Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Schools in California, issued a statement today declaring his decision to seek appellate review of the Vergara decision. Torlakson is a veteran educator. His opponent Marshall Tuck immediately attacked Torlakson. Tuck, a former investment banker, was active in the charter school movement. Tenure is not the only or the most important issue that divides them. T
Jon Pelto: The End of His Campaign But Not His Advocacy for Education and Democracy
Jonathan Pelto will not be on the ballot in Connecticut as a Gubernatorial candidate. He did his best but did not collect enough signatures. He raised important issues, which should be raised by the media and the public during the campaign. That is the role of protest candidates. Thank you, Jon, for being a stalwart champion of children, teachers, and public education. Here is his statement: “Pe
Texas Tribune: The Best Article on Texas School Funding Decision
Morgan Smith wrote the best article I have seen so far on the decision by Judge John Dietz ruling that school funding in Texas is inequitable and unconstitutional. This article includes links to the decision and findings. I repeat what the judge said last year because it is so simple yet eloquent as an explanation of our civic duty to our children. Note also that the judge ruled against the appea
Peter Greene: Are Duncan’s Waivers Unconstitutional?
Peter Greene discovered an article in the Vanderbilt Law Review by University of South Carolina law professor Derek W. Black that argues that Arne Duncan’s waivers from NCLB are unconstitutional. Greene writes, quoting the article by Black: “Two of the most significant events in the history of public education occurred over the last year. First, after two centuries of local control and variation,
Flash! Palm Beach County, Florida, Considers Opting Out of State Testing
Does Palm Beach County, Florida, have the nerve to follow the example set by Lee County, Florida, which voted last week to opt the entire district out of state testing? The Palm Beach County school board is weighing that decision, according to the Sun-Sentinel. “Palm Beach County School Board members want to opt out of state-required testing, a controversial move that could jeopardize funding, a
Annie Gilbertson: L.A. Officials on Tech Bid Committee Got Free iPads, Resort Trip
Annie Gilbertson of public radio KPCC in Los Angeles has another scoop. Officials who were on the committee to choose the winning bid for LAUSD’s huge technology purchase received free iPads and the cost of their trip to a meeting at a resort was underwritten by the Pearson Foundation. She writes: “Los Angeles Unified officials who evaluated bids for its massive technology project received iPads
Duncan Punishes Oklahoma for Repealing Common Core Standards
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan decided to punish Oklahoma for revoking the Common Core standards, according to Caitlin Emma in Politico. Oklahoma will lose its federal waiver from the structures of No ChildLeft Behind, which mandates that all students in grades 3-8 must be proficient in math and reading by this year. Since this is in fact an impossible goal, all public schools in Oklahoma wil
Paul Horton: Why the War on Tenure is an Attack on the Black Middle Class
Paul Horton continues to provide a historical context for issues of our time. In this post, he shows how the birth and growth of the black middle class was integrally related to the union movement and public sector employment. Horton writes: “The biggest lifeline that middle class blacks could grasp was public sector employment. The last thirty years have seen an increase in the employment of bl
Paul Horton: Why is the Obama Administration Making War on Teachers?
Paul Horton here attempts to understand why the Obama administration is waging war on teachers. He reminds us of Central Falls, when the Obama administration supported firing the entire staff of the high school. He remembers when the administration was neutral during the Chicago teachers’ strike, and Arne Duncan’s support for the noxious Vergara decision. He could have mentioned many other instanc
Paul Horton: A History That Must Not Be Forgotten
Paul Horton, who teaches history at the University of Chicago Lab School, took his son on a visit to the Delta. There they went to historical exhibits that were reminders if a brutal past. Reminders of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, racial subjugation, and resistance to oppression. You won’t read this in the textbooks.
Milwaukee: Ruth Conniff on the Disgrace of Voucher Schools
Last May, Ruth Conniff, editor of “The Progressive,” joined a group of other women on a tour of voucher schools in Milwaukee. The others included another journalist, a state legislator, and Milwaukee grandmothers Gail Hicks and Marva Herndon. “Herndon and Hicks formed a group called Women Committed to an Informed Community, also known as the “mad grandmas,” to bring attention to the voucher school
Ohio: Will the Court Allow White Hat Management to Privatize Its Public Assets?
Another post by the tireless public school advocate Bill Phillis of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy: Unconscionable, far-reaching consequences intrinsic in the White Hat Management company’s claims of private ownership of school assets purchased by public funds A lot of public school personnel in Ohio at this time are embroiled with the question of, “To have or not to have Common Core.
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-28-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: “The People Who Write These Tests Don’t Know You…”I received news from England that a letter written by Rachel Tomlinson, the head of Barrowford, a primary school in Lancashire, went viral. The letter was a clone of one written by American teacher Kimberly Hurd Horst on her blog. No claims of plagiarism here. Maybe every principal