I Am Really A Dog Person Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

I Am Really A Dog Person Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

More on the New Charter Operators Moving from Chicago to Indianapolis

3by dianeravitch / 1h

An earlier post this morning said that two young TFA had run a “successful” charter school in Chicago and were invited to open a charter in Indianapolis. They are both under 30. https://dianeravitch.net/2017/07/09/indianapolis-as-

Laura Chapman Exposes the Billionaires Behind GreatSchools, Inc. and Redlining

7by dianeravitch / 1h

Laura Chapman posted this comment, which I hope you will read: Readers should know that GreatSchools.org website supports redlining. This is a non-profit website and organization in name only. Zillow, for example, pays a fee to 

Why Do National Democrats Forget About the Threat to K-12 Schools?

2by dianeravitch / 17min

Every day I get fund-raising appeals from Democratic and progressive national organizations. They usually include a list of critical issues and ask me which one I care most about. They never include K-12 schooling, which is now being 

DeVos: Tough Accountability for Public Schools, Not for Charters or Voucher Schools

8by dianeravitch / 33min

Erica Green of the New York Times wrote that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has “surprised” everyone by insisting that the state accountability plans must be more demanding, more “ambitious,” stronger in setting goals. Please note that DeVos spent over a million dollars rewarding the Michigan legislature in 2016 for blocking accountability standards for low-performing charter schools in Michi

Florida Charter Scandal: You May Think You Have Heard It All!

19by dianeravitch / 1h

This is unbelievable but true. A convicted felon who had served four years in prison for grand theft and arson was chosen as president of the board of a small Florida charter school, where she was convicted of stealing from the school. She is heading back to prison. You can’t make this stuff up. “Despite spending four years in prison for arson and grand theft, and having multiple arrests for writ

Indianapolis: As School Board Plans to Close Public Schools, Interlopers Arrive to Open New Charters

20by dianeravitch / 2h

I wrote a few posts last week (see here and here ) about the devastation of public schools in Indianapolis by corporate reformers. Their short term goal is to close public schools and replace them with privately managed charters. In the meanwhile, they are eliminating the neighborhood high school concept and requiring students to choose a high school based on its programs, not its proximity to ho

YESTERDAY

Here is the Link to MAD Magazine’s Betsy Poster: “We the Unqualified”

3by dianeravitch / 21h

In case you want to print out your very own Betsy poster, here is the link.

Jeff Bryant: Why Democrats Should Unite For a Charter Moratorium

6by dianeravitch / 22h

Jeff Bryant argues cogently in this article that Democrats should unite on behalf of a charter school moratorium. If the Democratic party wants to revive its base–labor and civil rights–it should heed Jeff’s sound advice. Charters and school choice were never a natural fit with the public philosophy of the Denocratic party, which recognized the power of government to advance the common good, beca

Jersey Jazzman: Chris Christie Show His True Colors, on the Jersey Shore

8by dianeravitch / 23h

Jersey Jazzman notes that Chris Christie will soon leave office as the most unpopular governor in the nation. He loved to ridicule those who disagreed with him, and one of his favorite targets was the state’s public schools and teachers, most especially their union. He never acknowled that the state is one of the three top-performing states on national tests (NAEP), the other two being Massachuse

Indiana Voucher Study: Students Fall Behind, But Do They Really Catch Up After Four Years?

33by dianeravitch / 23h

Indiana has one of the nation’s largest voucher programs (34,000 students) and has been in operation long enough to collect four years of data. The latest voucher study reached the conclusion that students who get vouchers fall behind in the first two years, notably in math, but eventually catch up to their public school peers. But do they? Steve Hinnefeld reported on the release of the study, bu

MAD Magazine “Honors” Betsy DeVos With a Poster of Her Own

500+by dianeravitch / 1d

A reader sent me the link to this poster, which appears in the current issue of MAD Magazine. I don’t customarily engage in ridicule, but what DeVos is doing to the public schools of America, what she is doing to civil rights enforcement, and what she is doing to college students struggling to pay for their education is beyond ridiculous.

19 State Attorneys General Sue DeVos for Delaying Rules Protecting College Students from Predatory Colleges

26by dianeravitch / 1d

Led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy, the state attorneys general in 19 states sued Betsy zdezvos, who is failing to protect the interests of college students who are preyed upon by for-profit colleges, like the defunct Trump University. This Secretary has carved out a unique role as the defender of corporate interests against the rights of students. Her motto might as well be “Let t

U.S. News Kicks KIPP NYC School Off Its List of “Best High Schools” Due to Gary Rubinstein’s Analysis

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

Let’s begin with the stipulation that the lists of “America’s Best High Schools” based on test scores or AP coursetaking encourage schools to game the system and are invalid on their face. Then, congratulations to Gary Rubinstein! He not 

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