Parents in Connecticut, pay attention and take action! The Parent Coalition for Student Privacy has sent out an urgent message to parents in Connecticut. The legislature is holding hearings on Monday (tomorrow) on a bill that would strip privacy protections from your children. In January, a legislator proposed to remove all privacy protections from student data. Because of outrage expressed by pa
The election for the Los Angeles USD school board is Tuesday. Once again, the charter industry is trying to buy control of the school board. Once again, the charter billionaires are dumping obscene amounts of money into the races in different districts. In District 2, Charter QueenPin Monica Garcia is facing tough competition from two strong opponents: parent Carl Petersen and teacher Lisa Alva.
NPE Action urges you to write a letter to state senators in Kentucky. Please read about the harm that this bill will do to the public schools . The bill now moves to the Kentucky state senate. Many, perhaps most, of the senators represent rural districts, where the public school is the heart of the community. They should oppose this law, as charters will take resources out of their public schools
As the prospects for passage of voucher legislation diminish in Texas, it is time to give thanks to the tireless work of the Pastors for Texas Children. The battle is not over until the legislative session ends, but it is still time to thank those who have worked so hard on behalf of our children, their teachers, and their public schools. This is an organization with some 2,000 members who repres
Here is some good news: “State Rep. Dan Huberty, a Houston Republican and chairman of the House Public Education Committee, said Tuesday morning that school choice legislation has no path forward in the House during the current
A team of researchers associated with the University of Arkansas studied the first two years of the Louisiana Scholarship Program. Their report was released in late February . For those hoping to see a validation of the transformative power of vouchers, the results were disappointing, to say the least. “The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a statewide private school voucher program availabl
Martin Carnoy is a professor at Stanford University who has studied education systems around the world. Carnoy wrote a report for the Economic Policy Institute about the efficacy of vouchers, or their lack thereof. The report is titled “School Vouchers Are Not a Proven Strategy for Improving Student Achievement.” Carnoy reviews the longest-running voucher programs in the U.S. and other countries
Gay Adelman of Save Our Schools Kentucky published the following letter to the editor in the Louisville Courier-Journal: “Kentucky is one of only seven states that has managed to avoid jumping off the charter school cliff, so far. However, our state legislature is poised to pass a charter school bill this month. As a parent volunteer and staunch advocate for public schools, everyone keeps telling
Now that Republicans control the Governorship and the Legislature in Kentucky, they finally got a bill authorizing privately run charters through the lower house of the legislature. Kentucky is one of the few states that does not allow charters, or has been until now. In the world of Republican politics, it is important not to be different. One must run with the crowd, even if they are running of
Tonight, I watched “The White Helmets,” which won the Oscar for best foreign documentary. It is well worth watching, though I don’t recommend that you watch it while eating a meal. It is heart-rending. It is about a corps of volunteers who save lives in Syria when the bombs are falling. Not much is said about politics. It is about humanity. It is hard to forget that the bombs are falling because
If you have been following the video contest started by the Netherlands, you know that there is a website called everysecondcounts.eu, where the comedians of many EU countries have made videos directed to Donald Trump. Each of them acknowledges that Trump said in his inaugural speech that “from now on, it’s America First.” The Netherlands made the first video, saying it’s fine if America is first
This is a fun debate to watch, sponsored by Intelligence Squared. The proposition: Are Charter Schools Overrated? The debaters: For the proposition: Julian Vasquez Heilig and Gary Miron. They argue that charter schools are overrated. Against the proposition: Jeanne Allen and Gerard Robinson. They argue that charter schools are great.
Portland parents, if you want to learn more about the person who is going to be your next school superintendent, please contact Ed Johnson, a watchdog over the Atlanta Public Schools. Edward Johnson: edwjohnson@aol.com
Tom Engelhardt writes in the Nation that Trump’s rise to power was facilitated by the reign of the billionaire class, a tiny class to be sure, but very powerful. He assumes that Trump is a billionaire. If we ever see his taxes, we may learn that his greatest hoax was persuading people he was a billionaire. He once called himself “the king of debt.” He may owe billions. His new job may help him pa
The hedge-fund manager group called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is conducting an aggressive telephone campaign in D.C. to promote the Common Core and high-stakes standardized testing. The rhetoric is deceptive, as usual. Jeffrey Anderson writes in the Washington City Paper: “In a one-party city with a civic focus on education, an advocacy group like Democrats for Education Reform (DFER)
In a hotly contested race, a former principal of a KIPP charter school is running for a seat on the Portland, Oregon, school board. The website of the candidate, Jamila Singleton Munson, does not mention her role in the KIPP corporate chain or the fact that she was chief of staff for Teach for America. Apparently she is still employed by TFA. TFA has a branch–Leaders for Educational Equity–that e
Susan Ochshorn writes frequently about early childhood education: policy and practice. In this post, she reports on an epic battle in Nevada between teacher Angie Sullivan and an alt-right critic of early childhood education. I have often cited Angie’s work in Nevada. She teaches little kids in Clark County, and her students are poor and include many who don’t speak English. She fights for them l
A retired teacher shared the story of Mike a Pence’s role in transforming the schools of Indiana: Our former governor, Mike Pence, absolutely loves vouchers.Under his “leadership” Indiana became a national leader in giving vouchers to students and families. In fact, we have the dubious reputation of being one of the fastest-growing voucher states. We have a ridiculous merit pay system where highl
Steven Singer has dreamed up a way to win Trump’s support for education: Declare a war on ignorance! https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/how-to-get-trump-to-support-public-education-a-military-proposal/ If Trump can be persuaded that
