CURMUDGUCATION: Competition vs. Quality : Competition vs. Quality It is an oft-stated truism-- competition creates excellence. If you are running a race, you will run faster and harder to beat people who are also running fast. If you are playing football, you will train to be better than the team facing you on the field. It seems sensible. There are some problems with this model just on its face.
Diane Ravitch to Sen. Alexander: Yes, Betsy DeVos is an education extremist. Don’t confirm her as education secretary. - The Washington Post : Diane Ravitch to Sen. Alexander: Yes, Betsy DeVos is an education extremist. Don’t confirm her as education secretary. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate committee that is voting on the nomination of Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos as
Make your school a safe zone for all students : All students are welcome. Make your school a safe zone Ensuring that all students have the right to a public-school education—no matter where they live or where they’re from—is our primary responsibility. That makes us social justice warriors as well as educators. In that spirit, we are championing the cause of undocumented students who are at risk
Betsy DeVos’ big education idea doesn’t work. : Betsy DeVos’ Big Education Idea Doesn’t Work She embraces an outmoded version of school choice without government interference—even though the movement she claims to champion has realized that model is bunk. Of all Betsy DeVos’ stated priorities as America’s presumed next education chief—and there have not been very many—her desire to let parents pi
GOP Senate chair rejects Democrats' bid for second hearing on Trump education nominee : GOP Senate chair rejects Democrats' bid for second hearing on Trump education nominee The Republican chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Monday rejected a formal request from Democrats to hold a second confirmation hearing for , President Trump’s choice to head the
Betsy DeVos’s ethics review raises further questions for Democrats and watchdogs - The Washington Post : Betsy DeVos’s ethics review raises further questions for Democrats and watchdogs Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Education Department, promised late last week to divest from more than 100 entities to avoid potential conflicts of interest with her new job. But there are impor
Dear students, Betsy DeVos may not be prepared for office, but you must prepare for her - The Hechinger Report : Dear students, Betsy DeVos may not be prepared for office, but you must prepare for her The confirmation vote on the Secretary of Education nominee has been delayed amid criticism Dear students: The confirmation vote on the U.S. Secretary of Education nominee has been delayed until Jan
Five misconceptions about Michigan education and Betsy DeVos - The Hechinger Report : Five misconceptions about Michigan education and Betsy DeVos Cutting through the partisan noise President Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos — a Michigan philanthropist and school choice advocate — for Secretary of Education is thrusting Michigan education into the national education debate. DeVos played a role i
Schools Matter: Buffoonery, De Damned : Buffoonery, De Damned Just back from DC, where the Women's March brought out more than a half million people to assert their determination to maintain a constitutional democracy and the civil and human rights that our predecessors over many generations have fought and died for. If it comes down to it, the millions that gathered around the country this past
New Reports Reveal The Big Charter School ‘Accountability’ Lie : New Reports Reveal The Big Charter School ‘Accountability’ Lie In one of the testier moments in what was the testiest ever confirmation hearing for US secretary of education, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia questioned if nominee billionaire Betsy DeVos would demand the same kind of accountability from the full range of educ
Charter School Industry raised more than $24 million in 2016 record breaking defeat In Massachusetts - Wait What? : Charter School Industry raised more than $24 million in 2016 record breaking defeat In Massachusetts The final campaign finance reports have been submitted and the Charter School Industry raised and spent $24,476,132 in its losing effort to raise the cap on the number of charter sch
Betsy DeVos’s Institutional Racism Problem | educarenow : Betsy DeVos’s Institutional Racism Problem As have no doubt heard, the State School Reform Office of the state of Michigan has released the names of the 38 schools that are slated for possible closure. These are schools that have been determined to be among the “lowest performing” schools in the state as measured by “achievement data” for
Public Schools “Flush with Cash”? | janresseger : Public Schools “Flush with Cash”? In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump declared that public schools are “flush with cash.” That phrase confirms something I’ve always suspected. President Trump has never been inside a public school. The public schools I know generally have old fashioned waxed tile floors—work done by a custodian after t
Bill Ayers believes opposition to Trump should come from the people—not the Democratic Party | Politics | Chicago Reader : Bill Ayers believes opposition to Trump should come from the people—not the Democratic Party The author and former Weatherman says modern revolutionaries also don't have to look to the 1960s for inspiration. Bill Ayers COURTESY HAYMARKET BOOKS ere's a reason why Donald Trump
Badass Teachers Association: How Defending Public Schools and the Environment Can Save the Democratic Party by Cheryl Gibbs Binkley : How Defending Public Schools and the Environment Can Save the Democratic Party by Cheryl Gibbs Binkley Originally posted at: http://3rdmillenniumteacher.blogspot.com/2017/01/how-defending-public-schools-and.html There has been much speculation about the whys and wh
Judging Success and Failure of Reforms in Classroom Practice | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : Judging Success and Failure of Reforms in Classroom Practice The dominant standard used by most policymakers, media editors, and administrators to judge success is effectiveness : What is the evidence that the policy has produced the desired outcomes? Have you done what you said yo
Turtle Learning: World Wide and not just Nation wide revolt against the new POTUS : World Wide and not just Nation wide revolt against the new POTUS "WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CANNOT REST..." ELLA BAKER January 21st was a day of hope -- real hope! Over 3 - 4 million people world wide demonstrated and marched against the presidency of a man who basically disrespects and wants to deport and or jail
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Still on Low End for Children for a Major U.S. City : Seattle Still on Low End for Children for a Major U.S. City There are several reasons to raise this issue. One reason is the growing gentrification of this city which is likely to push out groups that traditionally have more children - immigrants (especially Latinos.) Another reason is the rising costs
State-level Elected Officials Write Letter of Support for DeVos the Same Day As Her Awful Hearing | deutsch29 : State-level Elected Officials Write Letter of Support for DeVos the Same Day As Her Awful Hearing In a letter dated January 17, 2017, 137 state-level Republicans wrote to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair, Lamar Alexander (also a Republican), in support
Schooling in the Ownership Society: The language of reform. Corporate 'Collectives' for the Elite. : The language of reform. Corporate 'Collectives' for the Elite. Over the years I've gotten used to the way corporate reformers appropriate the language of radical social change to give themselves a progressive facade. Take the word, collective , for example, as in socialist collectivism, collective
NYC Public School Parents: On class size, teacher recruitment and retention : On class size, teacher recruitment and retention Tomorrow there are NYC Council hearings on teacher retention and attrition. Here is what I will say. This testimony is also available as a pdf here . Testimony to the NYC Council Education Committee on the impact of class size reduction on teacher recruitment and retentio
All Things Education: #WomensMarch 2017 : #WomensMarch 2017 I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the Women's March on Washington this past weekend. I went with my husband, parents, and my three children. My mom's sister was also there and so were my husband's parents. And countless friends and family friends were there. It was incredible. Like nothing I have ever seen or been a par
Torlakson Announces Digital Citizenship Week - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education) : State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Educational Resources, Activities for 2017 CDE Digital Citizenship Week SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that the California Department of Education (CDE), the California State Library, and Common Sense Media will celebrat
Trump education pick blames staff for poor word choice on Twitter - CBS News : Trump education pick blames staff for poor word choice on Twitter Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, blamed her staff earlier this week for a message sent out via her Twitter account that misused the word “historical.” DeVos originally tweeted out that she was “[h]onored to witness
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/23/17 Featured Post An Open Letter to Senator Lamar Alexander Regarding Betsy DeVos | Diane Ravitch's blog Don't Just Show Your Support - Do Something! - SF Public School Mom by mike simpson / 2h Don't Just Show Your Support - Do Something! - SF Public School
