Start Your Week with Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Start Your Week with Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

BATS Meet with Education Staff of Senators Sanders and Hassan

3by dianeravitch / 13min

Leaders of the Badass Teachers Association met in DC with the education staff of Senator Sanders (VT) and Senator Hassan NH). They spoke for all of us who care about children and fighting back against privatization and standardization. Please read the summary of their meeting. Thank you, BATS!

That Was Fast! Charter Backer Withdraws As a Nominee for Hartford School Board

3by dianeravitch / 47min

Minutes after I blogged that the mayor of a Hartford was set to name Harold Sparrow to the Hartford School Board, I learned that the candidate withdrew his name because of controversy that was distracting. Who caused that controversy? Blogger Jonathan Pelto, who brought to light Sparrow’s history as a corporate reformer, founder of a charter school, trustee of elite private schools, etc. http://j

Senator Tim Kaine Explains Why He Will Vote NO on DeVos

17by dianeravitch / 1h

Just in case you thought that no one on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee understood that Betsy DeVos is a threat to the future of public education, read Senator Tim Kaine’s letter. January 26, 2017 Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX: Thank you for contacting me about the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education. I appreciate hearing from you. Article II, Section 2 of the C

ALERT! Jonathan Pelto: Mayor of Hartford Names Founder of Failing Charter School to Local Public Board

5by dianeravitch / 1h

Jonathan Pelto warns that the vote is likely to be today. The mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, has named the founder of one of the lowest performing charter schools in Massachusetts to the public school board in Hartford. Harold Sparrow previously served as a trustee at two elite private schools. He also was instrumental in closing down a successful early literacy program at the YMCA in Hartford.

What is “Malignant Narcissism?”

3by dianeravitch / 2h

A friend tweeted this article to me . It explains a term I never heard. I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist or in any way qualified to reach a diagnosis about other people.

The New York Times: “Trump’s Muslim Ban is Cowardly and Dangerous”

10by dianeravitch / 3h

The New York Times published a powerful editorial denouncing Trump’s Muslim ban. First, reflect on the cruelty of President Trump’s decision on Friday to indefinitely suspend the resettlement of Syrian refugees and temporarily ban people from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. It took just hours to begin witnessing the injury and suffering this ban inflicts on fam

YESTERDAY

Nick Kristof: A Moving Story About His Father, a Refugee Saved by America

16by dianeravitch / 9h

Nicholas Kristof wrote a moving story about his father, prefaced by a frank admission of the New York Times’s own shoddy history in turning its back on immigrants and refugees in the past. Yet if fear and obliviousness have led us periodically to target refugees, there’s also another thread that runs through American history. It’s reflected in the welcome received by somebody I deeply admire: Wla

Arthur Camins: Which Side Are You On?

29by dianeravitch / 12h

Arthur Camins, scientist and science educator, posted this message on his Facebook page: There have always been two Americas. One is shameful and the other is admirable. Now, every citizen needs to decide: In which America do you want to live? For which will you take a stand? We have been the America that stole land from and exterminated Native Americans. We have been the America that limited the

Reince Priebus: Green Card Holders Won’t Be Barred from Entry

8by dianeravitch / 18h

Reince Priebus modified Trump’s executive order by saying that green card holders won’t be banned, but confusion reigned at major airports as crowds of protestors assembled to object to the religious-based test for entry. Seems we are headed for four years of chaos, confusion, and instability with amateurs running the country. Steve Bannon as a full-fledged member of the National Security Council

The New York Times: Alternative Facts vs. Objective Reality

7by dianeravitch / 20h

I won’t summarize this story for you. ‘Up Is Down’: Trump’s Unreality Show Echoes His Business Past – The New York Times https://apple.news/AJdjqug_SQMOEWu6v8InxcA I urge you to read it.

The True Spirit of the American People

13by dianeravitch / 20h

Read this heartwarming story about the synagogue members in Glencoe, Illinois, who welcomed the last Syrian refugee family to arrive at O’Hare Airport before the travel ban was signed.

Marco Rubio Wants to End Gun Control in DC: Why Not in The Capitol Too?

8by dianeravitch / 21h

Colbert King writes about Marco Rubio’s determination to get rid of D.C.’s tough gun control law. King asks, why not abolish gun control in the Capitol if that’s the way to make everyone safe? The Capitol has a gun control ban that is absolute. After all, nowhere is the lawful exercise of the Second Amendment, as Rubio and the NRA define it, more infringed upon than at the U.S. Capitol. Congress’

DeVos Pushing More Public School Closings, But Only African American Schools Are Targeted

500+by dianeravitch / 22h

The following article was sent to me by education researchers Russ Bellant and M. Denise Baldwin. Baldwin is a former teacher in Saginaw. Recently, I was on an NPR program hosted by Warren Olney with three other people, one of whom spoke on behalf of Betsy DeVos’s American Federation for Children. He insisted that not a single public school in Detroit had ever been closed. This article says that

ThinkProgress: The Rise of Alternative Sites on Twitter for Government Agencies

7by dianeravitch / 23h

The beginning of resistance. The National Park Service tweets. Now there is a twitter account called “AltNPS.” Read here. It all started with those inauguration crowd shots. President Trump, a man who has never indicated that he is fixated on the size of things, was none too thrilled when the National Park Service retweeted photos that showed the crowds on the National Mall at President Obama’s 2

Thousands of Academics Sign Petition Against Trump Immigation Ban

13by dianeravitch / 23h

Here is the petition Here are articles about growing protests. CNN The Washington Post. BBC World News: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38781420 The Guardian: Green cards holders included in ban: