Politico Morning Education reports that the movement to make community college tuition-freeis spreading. http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/05/19/states-picking-up-fight-for-free-college-220405 “STATES
Bill Phillis read Betsy DeVos’s prepared remarks at the Brookings Institution and it occurred to him that she literally doesn’t know what she is talking about. Bill is a retired deputy superintendent of schools for the state of Ohio and he works
John Thompson, historian and teacher, submitted this article: The Oklahoma City Public Schools is being clobbered by state budget cuts that could approach $50 million over two years. Anyone who doubts that money matters should take
Anthony Cody, co-founder of the Network for Public Education and retired teacher, describes the day nearly three weeks ago when education activists from across the nation met in a grimy warehouse in Brooklyn to tape videos about the fight for better schools and against privatization. I posted a request on the blog inviting people to join the audience. Several readers asked if the day would be liv
The legislation passed by the House of Representatives aims to cut Medicaid by $880 billion over ten years, and a relatively small but significant chunk of that money pays for special education services in schools. The new law would cut Medicaid by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over 10 years and impose a “per-capita cap” on funding for certain groups of people, such as children and the elderly — a
This story appeared on the blog of Patrick Hayes’ EdFirstSC. In Charleston, South Carolina, Principal Jake Rambo was ordered to evaluate his teachers based solely on the test scores of their students. Not multiple measures. Standardized tests. He refused. He was told that he was being transferred to another school because of his school’s test scores. He said he didn’t want to leave his school. He
Julian Vasquez Heilig, a scholar at California State University in Sacramento, reports on a research project comparing the performance of charter schools to public schools, using state scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and governed by a nonpartisan board appointed by the Secretary of Education. Since members
Bianca Tanis is a teacher of special education in a K-2 classroom in the Hudson Valley of New York. She is also a member of the board of NYSAPE (New York State Allies for Parents and Educators), the statewide group that has led the Opt Out movement. In this post , she excoriates New York’s new standards and says the New York State Education Department ignored the voices of early childhood educato
Sarah Mondale and Vera Aronow announce that their long-awaited film “Backpack Full of Cash” has been completed, and they are now taking it to film festivals and community screenings. This is the film that tells the story of the dangers of public school privatization and the undermining of public education in many districts. Dear BACKPACK Friends and Supporters, We want to share some good news. BA
The State Senate in Texas is still pushing vouchers, even though the last voucher bill was overwhelmingly defeated in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The senate, under the thumb of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (former rightwing talk show host), inserted a voucher program into a budget bill and sent it to the House. The Speaker of the House, Joe Straus, issued the following stateme
Peter Dreier, a professor of political science at Occidental College, gives his political analysis of the Los Angeles school board election. He writes: [Nick] Melvoin and his billionaire backers dramatically outspent school board president Steve Zimmer’s campaign, making the District 4 race the most expensive in LAUSD history. Political pundits will spend the next few days and weeks analyzing the
Jennifer Berkshire (the writer formerly known as EduShyster) is one of the best education writers on the national scene. In this article, she describes the evangelical roots of the present school-choice movement, as personified by Betsy DeVos. You will meet some very peculiar people who loathe “government schooling” and prefer to home school their children. Some will be familiar to you, like the
I recently posted a story about Eagle Arts Academy Charter School in Palm Beach, Florida, which seemed to be in chaos. There was financial mismanagement, constant turnover, and multiple snafus. Peter Greene dug deeper and exposed the back story. He calls it “ Florida Charter Scam: Part 23,174.” He writes: “Gregory James Blount was a 40-ish-year-old former model and events producer who was working
Trump unveiled his first education budget , and it contains many cuts to popular programs in public schools. But it has a bonanza for private alternatives to public schools. The Washington Post obtained a draft copy of the new budget, which has not yet been submitted to Congress. Funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, public-service loan forgiveness would end and hundreds o
John Merrow has been covering education for decades, most recently as education correspondent for the PBS Newshour, and he has learned quite a lot, most of which he puts into his forthcoming book, Addicted to Reform (out on
