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

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

Trumped Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

NYC Public School Parent Translates Nicholas Kristof on Bridge International Academies

3by dianeravitch / 1h

Nicholas Kristof wrote an article defending Bridge International Academies’ for-profit schools in Africa. I disagreed with him here. He responded on Twitter by saying, if you want to judge, go visit a government school. His article asserted 

Steven Singer: Learn about Education by Reading Teacher-Written Blogs, Not Corporate Media

1by dianeravitch / 19min

Steven Singer says that anyone in search of understanding education today should turn to teacher-written blogs, not the corporate media. The teachers know what they are talking about. The corporate media, with a few exceptions, recycles the talking points of their corporate owners. He begins by explaining that everyone has a perspective, even though they seem to be objective: “Let’s get one thing

A Letter to Secretary DeVos from a Special Normal Public School Student

12by dianeravitch / 54min

Stuart Egan teaches high school in North Carolina. His son Malcolm was born with Down Syndrome. He is in third grade in public school and is thriving. Stuart helped Malcolm compose this letter to Secretary Betsy DeVos. Malcolm wonders 

Charter Allies Pouring Money into Cuomo Re-Election Campaign

6by dianeravitch / 11min

It’s no secret that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would like to be the 2020 Democratic nominee for president. But first he must be re-elected in New York in 2018. He has already stockpiled more than $25 million, which will intimidate potential challengers. The 1% are on board with Cuomo. Read about his fundraising cocktail party in the Hamptons at a home that cost $147 million. Among his biggest

Jim Hightower: The Plutocrats’ Scheme to Eliminate Public Education

16by dianeravitch / 1h

Jim Hightower pulls no punches as he eviscerates the Koch brothers, Betsy DeVos, and other plutocrats who want to privatize public education. He writes in Salon: “While the Koch brothers have stayed out of the national limelight since the White House was acquired by Trump and Company, that doesn’t mean the two right-wing billionaire brats are any less active in trying to supplant American democra

Betsy DeVos and ALEC: Perfect Together

4by dianeravitch / 3h

Education Week reports that Betsy DeVos and ALEC are natural partners. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos—an ardent school choice supporter who has turned out to be among the Trump administration’s most polarizing cabinet picks—will deliver a speech this week to members of a controversial organization that some argue is her best shot at advancing an aggressive school choice agenda. The Ameri

How to Help Arizona Ward Off Voucher Expansion

11by dianeravitch / 6h

Go to SOS Arizona to learn how to volunteer to gather signatures to stop vouchers. http://sosarizona.org/volunteer Join the campaign here: http://sosarizona.org/pages/110 SOS Arizona has a Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsArizona/ If enough signatures are collected, vouchers will go onto the ballot. Vouchers have NEVER been approved by popular vote. Take action!

YESTERDAY

Florida: State Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to Third Grade Reading Test: Kids Lose, Stupidity Wins

14by dianeravitch / 17h

Peter Greene writes here about the latest setback to Florida parents challenging the state’s law requiring that students take and pass the third grade test or be flunked. Peter explains why this law is useless, although it does have the result of inflating fourth grade scores. We’ve been following this story for a while. Florida has a third grade reading test requirement– Florida’s third graders

Why Are These People Allowed to Tell Schools What to Do?

12by dianeravitch / 19h

Politico discusses the state plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act and raises the question: Why are these uninformed, distant, unqualified people allowed to tell schools what to do? Betsy DeVos and everyone she has appointed hates public schools. Why should they be trusted to give them instructions? Left to her own devices, DeVos would cripple public schools with regulations and manda

Do You Want to Host a Community Screening of “Backpack Full of Cash”?

12by dianeravitch / 20h

Sarah Mondale, Vera Aronow, and Stone Lantern Films have created an excellent professional documentary about the fight to save our public schools from corporate reformers. It is called “Backpack Full of Cash.” They have been showing it at local film festivals. You can host a screening in your community. When PBS aired the slick privatization propaganda called “School Inc.,” the Network for Public

Arizona: Advocates for Public Schools Collecting Signatures to Block Voucher Expansion

8by dianeravitch / 21h

Good news from Arizona. Supporters of the state’s underfunded public schools say they are on track to collect enough signatures to block the expansion of vouchers and force a referendum. “Save Our Schools spokeswoman Dawn Penich-Thacker says the group isn’t releasing an exact count of the number of signatures it has collected so far. But she said the all-volunteer effort should have well above th

Mississippi: The Only Majority-Black District That Earned an A

12by dianeravitch / 22h

A reader who grew up in Clinton, Mississippi, shared this story, which appeared in the Hechinger Report. She was in third grade when the district integrated its schools and made the fateful decision to pursue equity for all students. In 2016, half of all black students in Mississippi attended school in a district rated D or F; 86 percent of the students in those districts were black. In districts

Jan Resseger: The Sordid Story of ECOT and Its Ripoff of Taxpayers in Ohio

8by dianeravitch / 23h

Jan Resseger writes in The Progressive about the biggest charter scam in Ohio . When a charter operator gets a lot of money from the state, and selfsame charter operator gives generously to legislators, how can said charter operator ever be held accountable? In Ohio, the press got fed up with ECOT and started paying attention to charter frauds. Politicians cannot tolerate constant negative press.

Florida Editorial: Will the Fight to Save Public Education Spread?

30by dianeravitch / 1d

Congratulations to the editorial board Of the the Sun-Sentinel in Broward County, Florida, which published a strong editorial lambasting the Legislature for passing HB 7069. Several school districts are planning a lawsuit to stop the law from being implemented. The law will do massive harm to the state’s public schools while diverting millions to the charter industry. Several key legislators have

Diane Ravitch and Carol Burris: A Critical Review of the PBS Special “Schools, Inc.”

53by dianeravitch / 1d

Between April and June of this year, PBS distributed a three-hour documentary called “Schools Inc.” to its member stations. I was invited to comment on the program by WNET, the PBS station in New York City. It was a 10-minute 

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