Join the Network for Public Education on October 11 at “Public Education Nation”
JOIN US FOR THE FIRST PUBLIC EDUCATION NATION ON OCTOBER 11! NBC has abandoned its annual “education nation” funded by Gates and featuring the leaders of privatization and high-stakes testing. Now is our hour! We are here for you! We are here for the millions of students, teachers, parents, and administrators who are part of public education. We are here permanently. We are not going away. Comin
Charter Advocates in NYC Launch Ad Buy, Rally This Week
The charter school industry plans a half-million dollar TV campaign this week in New York City, capped by a big rally later in the week. By closing their schools, they can turn out tens of thousands of children and parents, especially if their charter school directs them to show for the rally and provides buses to transport them. What if the public schools held a rally for the 1.1 million childre
Adam Urbanski: Teacher Ratings Are Nonsensical
Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester, Néw York, teachers’ union, is struggling to make sense of the state’s teacher and principal evaluation system, which varies wildly from district to district. Scarsdale, perhaps the most affluent and high-scoring district in the state, had no “highly effective” teachers. But Rochester, one of the districts with high poverty and low scores, had many. The re
How Do New York Parents Grade Common Core?
The New York State School Boards Association is running a poll to ask parents their views about the Common Core standards. When I last checked, the results were overwhelmingly negative, with 78% saying the CC “hindered” learning, and 85% saying that the CC standards were viewed unfavorably by parents in their district.
Tim Farley to a Former Regent: Please, Don’t Stay the Course
Tim Farley, a school administrator in New York, has become an education activist. He feels that he must, for the sake of his own children and for the sake of the children in his school. He is a leader in the group of parents and educators from across the state called NYSAPE (New York State Allies for Public Education). Farley writes: As a school administrator, I receive NYSSBA’s (New York State
Denny Taylor Responds to Marc Tucker About the Power of Elites and $$ to Control Our Lives
Denny Taylor, a professor emerita of literacy studies at Hofstra University, here comments on the recent exchanges among Marc Tucker, Anthony Cody, and Yong Zhao about high-stakes testing and education reform. The key issue, she believes, is not so much about policy as it is about money, power, and control. When big money takes control of public policy, what is at risk is not only children’s lives
Nancy Bailey: Most Freshmen at the Top Universities are Graduates of Public Schools
Nancy Bailey taught for many years but retired due to the misguided reforms that now plague our students, teachers, and schools. She lives in Tennessee. She now devotes her time to writing in support of public education and sensible reforms. In this post, she asks a simple question: if our public schools are “failing” (PS, they are not), why is that the majority of freshmen at our nation’s most p
Veteran Teacher In California Named Teacher of the Year
Glendale Unified School District in California named math teacher Win Saw its teacher of the year. The son of two teachers in Burma, Win Saw never expected to be a teacher. But while in college at Santa Barbara, he realized that was his calling. He has been inspiring students for more than 20 years. With all the attacks on tenure and experience, it is easy to forget that teachers like Win Saw are
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 9-27-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGYohuru Williams: Attacking Teacher Tenure Does NOT Promote Civil RightsYohuru Williams, a historian at Fairfield University, sharply rebukes those who seek to eliminate tenure and claim to be advancing “civil rights.” His article on Huffington Post is titled “Lies My Corporate Ed Reformers Told Me: The Truth about Teacher