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

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

Friday News Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

Civil Rights Activists Outraged by Trump Choice to Lead Civil Rights Division at Justice Department

by dianeravitch / 33min

The key job in the federal government in terms of civil rights enforcement is the leader of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. Trump has selected Eric Dreiband, who has represented numerous clients accused of violating civil rights laws. Activists are outraged. The selection of Dreiband is in keeping with 

Los Angeles Times: Cheerleading for Privatization and the Trum-DeVos Agenda

4by dianeravitch / 16min

The Los Angeles Times editorial board published an editorial today chastising the California Teachers Association for resisting privatization of public education via charters. I assume that this editorial was in no way influenced by Eli Broad, who subsidizes the Times’ education coverage, which is a blatant 

We Lost a Dear Friend of Public Libraries and Public Schools: Joan Kramer of Los Angeles

7by dianeravitch / 43min

Joan Kramer, a hero of public libraries, public education, and the common good, died a few days ago. Joan was a hero to all who knew and loved her. This is a tribute from some of her friends who knew her well. Here she is testifying before 

Big Oil Sells Fossil-Fuel Love to Children in Elementary Schools

by dianeravitch / 5min

This is an alarming story, prepared by the Center for Public Integrity. . Teaching materials are being distributed by the fossil fuel industry to elementary schools. It begins: “Jennifer Merritt’s first-graders at Jefferson Elementary School in 

National Education Policy Center: New Research on Virtual Charter Schools

1by dianeravitch / 22min

The National Education Policy Center has released new research on virtual charter schools that shows variation among those in different states, though all have poor academic results: Key Takeaway: Case studies from the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute suggest that policymakers should prioritize understanding and improving virtual school performance before permitting further growth Pre

Nancy E. Bailey: Beware! Computer Instruction is NOT Inclusion!

1by dianeravitch / 22min

Nancy E. Bailey writes here about current efforts to put children with disabilities on a computer and call it “personalized learning” and “inclusion.” It is neither. “Personalized learning must not be mistaken for inclusion. The reality is that it’s student isolation! “Inclusion is generally defined as the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure. Doing school

Montana Teacher: Questions About AP Courses

5by dianeravitch / 1h

This comment by a reader called amontana Teacger continues a discussion of the value of AP courses. My observation: AP courses are a big money-maker for the College Board, which on its face is nonprofit, but aggressively pursues opportunities to generate revenues, like claiming that access to AP courses promotes equity. Other posts are here and here . Montana Teacher writes: “Thank you for all of

Tomorrow Is My Birthday!

3by dianeravitch / 2h

Tomorrow I will be 79! My older sister says that it’s all downhill from here, but I’m not going anywhere, not without raising a ruckus. Carol Burris has created a giant birthday card for me. I hope you will consider signing it. https://networkforpubliceducation.org/2017/06/help-wish-diane-happy-birthday/ This will be the first time in my life that I ever asked anyone to sign a birthday card that

Urgent Note to Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan: Hands Off Our Schools and Our Children!

37by dianeravitch / 3h

Education Week reports on the plans of billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to redesign American education. They have launched something called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative–or CZI Initiative–to carry out their plan for “personalized learning”‘( I.e., “depersonalized learning”) to remake education into whatever they think in their limited experience is best. They have hired J

June 30: Join Student Data Deletion Day!

9by dianeravitch / 4h

Today is the first Student Data Deletion Day. This is a parent’s response to the obscene amounts of personal data collected about every child. Why do they do it? Because they can, and because you let them. Please open to see the many links. As usual, this is an excerpt: “Our K-12 public schools are collecting an enormous amount of data about our kids that will pre-determine whether their dream sc

YESTERDAY

Phyllis Bush: Facing Cancer Head On, with Humor and Determination

100+by dianeravitch / 21h

My dear friend and ally, Phyllis Bush, started a blog to write about her experience with cancer, which she insists on calling cancer schmanzer. She is feeling better . She is cleaning closets. She is ready for the fight for her life. Phyllis keeps me informed about the corporate and billionaire funded effort to destroy public education in Indiana. She is a fighter. She is a founding board member

Twelve Seconds of Gunfire on a Playground in South Carolina

10by dianeravitch / 22h

This is a heartbreaking story . A young man appeared at a playground in Townsville, South Carolina, where first-graders were playing. He opened fire. A child died. The shooter, it turned out, was not a man. He was 14 years old. He stopped when his gun jammed. He was captured. There are states and cities that think the answer to school shootings is to arm teachers. Given the speed of this shooting

North Carolina: Employee of State’s Largest Voucher School Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $400,000

36by dianeravitch / 23h

Isn’t it great to be free of people watching over your shoulder when you are in charge of the money? That’s what the employee of North Carolina’s largest voucher school thought. He just pleaded guilty to embezzling $400,000 over an eight-year period from the school. Lindsay Wagner writes: Heath Vandevender is a coach, teacher and the employee tasked with managing the payroll operations of the sta

Mercedes Schneider: A Close Reading of the Church-State Decision

4by dianeravitch / 1d

Mercedes Schneider is not a lawyer but she is a very smart reader, who cuts to the chase. She read the recent decision by the Supreme Court about the church that wanted to participate in a state program to resurface its preschool playground with recycled tires. The decision doesn’t reach the voucher issue but it gives strong hints about where justices are likely to rule when they do get a voucher

Steven Singer: If Churches Get Public Funds, They Should Pay Taxes and Anticipate Government Regulation

27by dianeravitch / 1d

Steven Singer has a new view of the recent Supreme Court ruling that the state of Missouri is obliged to pave the playground of a church. If churches are going to receive federal funding, he writes, they should pay taxes. What is more, think long term. Church schools that receive federal and state funding should expect to meet accountability standards for their curriculum and their hiring practic

NAACP on Charter Moratorium: “We Won’t Back Down!”

33by dianeravitch / 1d

Corporate privatizers like Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump, Arne Duncan, and Peter Cunningham (previously Duncan’s communications director, now editor of the billionaire-funded Education Post) claim that turning public money over to 

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