Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True? + Susan Ohanian: See Bill. See Money. See News.

Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True?:

Guest Post: To Good to Be True?

 By Alison McDowell

Alison is a parent of a public school student and a member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools

February 17, 2016

On February 16, 2016, Diane Ravitch's blog promoted a vision statement for the future of Texas public education that had been developed by a group of 35 Texas superintendents between 2006 and 2008. If you simply read the excerpted portions quoted on the blog, you'd likely find the sentiments expressed sympathetic to those who opposed the test and punish system. However, if you continued past the first twelve pages of the document, you'd have been abruptly confronted with "Article 1: The New Digital Learning Environment" that is at its core essentially a pitch for online learning. As a parent involved with opt out in Pennsylvania, I found many elements from these pages and the more-detailed tables available in a companion document, eerily similar to changes proposed for the PA school code that are now under consideration in my home state.

The corporate interests aiming to "transform" our schools know what we want to hear. They know we are weary and looking for hope wherever we can find it. They are not above manipulating our emotions to get what they want. They will distract us. They will speak our language, while at the same time sowing seeds like this "Article 1" that are meant to destroy neighborhood public schools. Pay attention and stay on your guard. If it sounds too good to be true...dig down until you find the real truth.

To read the comments Alison's made to the post on Diane Ravitch's blog click here.  Schools Matter: Guest Post: To Good to Be True?:

See Bill. See Money. See News.

 by Susan Ohanian

 

 

The Money

            Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant

            New Venture Fund

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              Date: June 2015 
              Purpose: to enable the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) to improve student learning
              across the nation by defining, sharing and advocating for effective teaching practices and policies 
             Amount: $1,000,000

The Money Traveling as News

February 16, 2016

Nation's top teachers back PARCC and Smarter Balanced 

Over two separate weekends in August and September of last year, 23 State Teachers of the Year each huddled for nearly 20 hours at a hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The teachers assembled to participate in a first-of-its-kind study: a deep and thorough analysis of the two new assessments used in 27 states in 2015 (named PARCC and Smarter Balanced) judged against previous tests used in several states.
Commissioned by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY), the study found a marked preference for Smarter Balanced and PARCC. . . .

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See the   Coincidence:

• The Executive Director and CEO of NNSTOY served as Director of Policy and Partnerships for the Center for See Bill. See Money. See News.