Paul Horton teaches history at the University of Chicago Lab School. He writes: Creating a Commonwealth: July 4th as a Concept For most Americans July 4th is a celebration of American Independence. It is a day of music, fireworks, and
This is a wonderful bit of trivia about American history. Three of the nation’s Founding Fathers died on July 4. All three were former presidents. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day in 1826. James Monroe died on
Nancy Bailey dedicates her post to the late, beloved Joan Kramer. “On this 4th of July, when we celebrate America’s freedoms, it’s a perfect time to discuss our free public schools, and where we are with them when it comes to school
Bill Phillis retired years ago as a Deputy Commission of Education in Ohio. He is passionate about equitable funding for the public schools. He has been relentless in exposing the raids on the state treasury by private profiteers like ECOT and
What a curiously interconnected world this is! Melissa Heckler read Paul Thomas’s post about his terrible Father’s Day and his reflections on our “gladiator culture.” She is in Namibia. She was moved by it and sent me the speech she gave at Bank Street College in New York City when she received an alumni award. She said: Good Evening. Thank you to the Alumni Board for this award. I am honored. To
An admirer of the late Joan Kramer wrote this poem in her honor: In memory of our friend and dearest warrior Joan Kramer – may we all fight the good fight till the very end. Tribute to the Warriors Dark, deceitful, dreadful The war continues. Hidden from the public Children succumb to oblivion. Masses are found naked In the valley of corporate reform. Masses of children Stripped of their humanity
I always enjoyed July 4 as a day to celebrate our nation and to honor its heroes. With an ignorant bully in the White House, it is hard to feel good about what is happening today. Trump seems eager to demolish the First Amendment and that’s bad for our nation and our future. He wants to remove environmental protection and allow the pillaging of our air, water, and lands. He wants to defund every
Soon we can forget about Chris Christie. He is term limited. He will be gone. But here is typical Christie. All state beaches are closed because of a stalemate on the state budget. But Chris Christie went to a state beach with his family because the state owns a beach house. The beach was gloriously empty. Just for him and his family. He said if you want the use of the beach house, run for govern
Charter schools lain they are public schools. They are not. What public school is part of a corporate chain? What public school operates for profit? What public schools charges fees for service? The KIPP schools in Houston have been charging fees to poor parents. Now that the scam has been exposed, KIPP refuses to refund the money to parents who need the money far more than the multi-million doll
There is one super-smart columnist writing in Esquire, and his name is Charles P. Pierce. He gets it. Unlike the editorial boards of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, he understands that schools don’t get “better” by competing. He understands that what is called “reform” these days is a massive failure. He knows that charter schools, despite the boasting, despite
A California public high school received a grant of $10 million from Laurene Powell Jobs to redesign itself. Guess what? They have gone whole hog for “ personalized learning. ” Known on this Blog as Depersonalized Learning. This is where the computer mines your data all day long and you develop a close relationship with the computer. Meanwhile the giants of Silicon Valley send their own children
We have had an interesting conversation on the blog about the value of AP courses. It was tied to Jay Mathews’ use of AP courses to rank the quality of high schools: the more AP courses, the better the high school. I have made clear two points: One, when I was in high school in the 1950s, there were no AP courses, so I have had no experience with them; and my children graduated high school withou
I often hear AP lauded because it enables students to get through college in only three years, thus saving a year of tuition. What if college were free? Would there be such a rush to get it over with? What’s the purpose of college? Why four years?
