'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. and Today ...Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. and Today ...Diane Ravitch's blog

Christine Langhoff on the Latest Trumpian Evil: Deporting Parents, Putting Their Children in Foster Care

2by dianeravitch / 25min

Yesterday I heard from my friends at Pastors for Texas Children about parents who had been deported while their American-born children were left at the church, in East Texas. Christine Langhoff added that this is now policy: cruel, inhumane, and swift: “Here’s an example of Trumpian evil: “Head of Homeland Security John Kelly proposes to separate children from their mothers when they are detained

Ethics Agency Criticizes Kellyanne for Promoting Ivanka Products on TV; White House Says WH Employees Not Subject to Ethics Law

5by dianeravitch / 1h

This is an extraordinary exchange of documents, which I learned about by reading Bill Moyers’ website. Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Governmental Ethics, wrote a letter to the White House saying that Kellyanne Conway should be disciplined for using her official position to encourage people to buy Ivanka Trump’s merchandise. The White House responded by saying that officials who work for

Steve Bannon: The Man with No Address

4by dianeravitch / 1h

In this article , the Washington Post tries to figure out where Steve Bannon has lived for the past three years. He is now the most powerful advisor to the president. But who is he? Where does he vote? Where is his home? Does he have one?

Denver Charter Chains Seek to Fulfill DeVos Privatization Agenda

7by dianeravitch / 2h

Now that the U.S. Department of Education has an advocate for privatization in charge, Denver’s charter chains have moved for rapid expansion. Denver has been under corporate reform control for several years. The charter industry and 

Chicago: Parent Discovers Massive Breach of Privacy of Student Records

4by dianeravitch / 36min

A parent in Chicago discovered a massive breach of private data about students in private schools receiving special education services. The data was controlled by Chicago Public Schools, but obviously with little regard for privacy. The parent was a student Privacy activist, Cassie Creswell. The following post is by Cassie Creswell, a Chicago parent activist from Raise Your Hand Illinois and a ke

Singapore Will Drop Grades, Reduce Testing

25by dianeravitch / 1h

Singapore has decided to eliminate grades. No more standardized testing for young children. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39142030 Singapore has decided that values and character must be emphasized, not test-taking skills. The BBC reports: “Singapore is in top place in the international rankings for education. But it wants the next upgrade of its school system to focus on keeping students posi

Peter Greene: ESSA is Now Officially a Big, Hot Mess

6by dianeravitch / 2h

At the end of 2015, Congress finally replaced No Child Left Behind–ten years late–with a new law called Every Student Succeeds. The two names actually mean exactly the same thing, and mean nothing at all. Does anyone really believe that a federal law will cause “no child” to be “left behind,” or that “every student” will “succeed”? Washington ships out some money and some mandates, and therefore

YESTERDAY

Seattle Withdraws Investments in For-Profit Prisons

28by dianeravitch / 20h

This report from In the Public Interest: Earlier this month, the Seattle City Council voted not to renew its contract with Wells Fargo, pulling more than $3 billion in city funds from the Wall Street giant. Headlines focused on the bank’s financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline and its recent fake account scandal. And rightly so—Wells Fargo defrauded over two million of its own customers. But Sea

PEN: Artists, Writers Detained by Trump Travel Ban

23by dianeravitch / 21h

PEN International represents artists and writers around the world. I am a member. It advocates for freedom of expression. It recently issued this condemnation of Trump’s travel ban. https://pen.org/interrogation-us-border/ It begins like this: “The Trump Administration’s draconian immigration policies, from the Muslim ban to the deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers of hard-

What You Need to Know about Putin and Trump

8by dianeravitch / 22h

This is a long, a very long, article in the New Yorker. It was written by Evan Osnos, David Remnick, and Joshua Yaffa. David Remnick is the editor-in-chief of the New Yorker and a Russian specialist. The article is a history of the past twenty years of relations between the United States and Russia. It gives an in-depth explication of Vladimir Putin. It explains the origins of the new cold war. I

CNN: Bizarre Computer Contacts Involving Trump-Russian Bank-DeVos

10by dianeravitch / 23h

In a strange political Year, this story is one of the strangest. The FBI is checking into an unusual number of contacts between the Russian mega-bank Alfa and the Trump Organization. Stranger still are the hundreds of contacts between Alfa Bank and Spectrum Health, owned by the DeVos family. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/fbi-investigation-continues-into-odd-computer-link-between-russian-

Nicholas Kristof: Is It Possible to Connect the Dots Between Trump and Putin?

7by dianeravitch / 23h

Nicholas Kristof reviews the questions about the Trump campaign that can be answered only by an independent special prosecutor who conducts a nonpartisan investigation, if that is possible. Was there collusion between the Trump team and the Putin regime? “There are a lot of dots here, and the challenge is how to connect them. Be careful: Democrats should avoid descending into the kind of conspira

Quote of the Day: Hapless Rep. Shimkus of Illinois

11by dianeravitch / 1d

In a debate about health care, Republican Rep. Shimkus asked why men should pay for prenatal care. Does he think all children are virgin births? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/09/is-that-not-correct-male-gop-lawmaker-asks-why-men-should-pay-for-prenatal-coverage/ At the start, Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle (Pa.) was talking with Republican Rep. John Shimkus (Ill.) about Shi

The Nation: Teachers Are on the Front Lines to Protect Vulnerable Students

11by dianeravitch / 1d

Teachers are on the front lines to protect students targeted by the Trump administration: immigrant students, Muslim students, transgender students. Never in our national history has the federal government threatened the safety and security of students. It is a new and terrible day in America. Teachers are first responders in protecting their students. The article reports on a march sponsored by

John Kuhn: Vouchers Are the Civil Wrongs Movement of Our Time, Hurting the Children They Pretend to Help

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

John Kuhn is an eloquent, wise superintendent in Texas who spreads truth to power. In this address to the Association of Texas Professional Educators, he warned that the very existence of public education was under fire by a coalition of the rich and the greedy. He is so brilliant, so eloquent, and so on target that it is hard to excerpt his speech. I urge you to read it in full. If you know anyo

Helen Gym: How Philadelphia Beat Back the DeVos Privatization Agenda

39by dianeravitch / 1d

Helen Gym is a parent activist in Philadelphia who recently won a seat on the City Council, where she advocates on behalf of the city’s beleaguered and underfunded public schools. In this article in The Nation , Gym explains that Philadelphia parents and activists have developed a successful way to fight back against the DeVos agenda. DeVos, she notes, was confirmed in a Senate vote that was humi

More on Demise of John King’s Regulations

18by dianeravitch / 1d

The Senate, in a narrow vote, ditched John King’s last-ditch effort to preserve NCLB accountability by regulation. http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25920011&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Fblog%2F49%2F%3Fuuid%3D65341&cmp=RSS-

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