CURMUDGUCATION: Inducing ADHD Inducing ADHD "Maybe you should consider testing him. You know. For ADD." That was my son's kindergarten teacher. His mother and I were in for yet another conference because he was "a problem." The nature of the problem? Well, because of my schedule, he arrived 15-20 minutes before school officially started. His teacher's expectation was that he would sit at his desk
Privatization is part of the ongoing assault on democracy Privatization is part of the ongoing assault on democracy It couldn’t be clearer that the fundamental democratic right to have our voices — and votes — heard is under attack. Just this week, Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated legislature slashed early voting…in the middle of the night…during a lame duck session. Bottom line: there are politi
Schooling in the Ownership Society: The 'end of Camelot'? Not quite. Rahm gives crooked company new lease on life. The 'end of Camelot'? Not quite. Rahm gives crooked company new lease on life. Chicago Public Schools officials are digging out from another Barbara Byrd-Bennett scandal, three years after the former CPS CEO departed the district in disgrace. -- Chicago Tribune Camelot CEO Andrew Mor
Fight for federal right to education takes a new turn Fight for federal right to education takes a new turn A new fight to secure a federal constitutional right to education is spreading across the country. This fight has been a long time coming and is now suddenly at full steam. In 1973, plaintiffs in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez argued that school funding inequities viol
First-Ever Report Details Loss of Revenue to Public Ed Due to Corporate Tax Breaks | deutsch29 First-Ever Report Details Loss of Revenue to Public Ed Due to Corporate Tax Breaks Corporate tax breaks divert public support for a state’s infrastructure into the corporate coffers. It is a way to give away tax money without ever collecting it. One of the lines of defense for the corporate tax break is
Charter School Lobby Silent as Charter Teachers Continue Strike | gadflyonthewallblog Charter School Lobby Silent as Charter Teachers Continue Strike Charter school teachers in Chicago are in their fourth day of a strike . Yet I wonder why the leaders of the charter movement are quiet. Where is Peter Cunningham of the Education Post ? Where is Shaver Jeffries of Democrats for Education Reform ? N
The Tide May Be Turning on Billionaire Backers of Charter Schools in California | Cloaking Inequity THE TIDE MAY BE TURNING ON BILLIONAIRE BACKERS OF CHARTER SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA For years, billionaires have donated millions to promote pro-privatization, school choice candidates in political races ranging from local school board, to state houses, to Washington, D.C. An avalanche of political don
An open letter to Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education - Lily's Blackboard An open letter to Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education The National Education Association stands firmly with the millions of people in the United States, including our students and educators, who identify as transgender, gender non-binary, gender expansive and/or intersex. We are alarmed by recent news report
Dismantling Our Public Schools Dismantling Our Public Schools The District representatives were not helpful in suggesting remedies ” – Cheryl Ortega Under what circumstances should the police be called on a five-year-old child? According to parents at Mayberry Elementary School in the Silver Lake/Echo Park area of Los Angeles, the principal has called the Los Angeles Police Department about stude
CURMUDGUCATION: The Disordered Order of Competencies The Disordered Order of Competencies Competency Based Education (or Proficiency Based Learning, or Outcome Based Education, or Mastery Learning, or whatever new name appears next week) is the up-and-coming flavor of the week in education, even though it is neither new nor well-defined by the people who promote it (or the people who are implemen
Chicago's Charter-School Strike Is the Nation's First - The Atlantic The Charter-School Teachers’ Strike in Chicago Was ‘Inevitable’ The move could signal a shift in the long, contentious relationship between teachers’ unions and these privately run schools. Teachers’ strikes have been a constant across the country in 2018, popping up in six states, from West Virginia to Oklahoma. But so far, the
7 questions educators are asking about their rights to speak out, protest, and engage in activism - Education Votes 7 questions educators are asking about their rights to speak out, protest, and engage in activism With the number of students and educators participating in actions growing each week, many educators have questions about their rights when they engage in activism and protest on social
The best — and worst — education news of 2018 - The Washington Post The best — and worst — education news of 2018 Every December veteran educator Larry Ferlazzo looks at the year in education news and makes his list of what he thinks the best — and the worst — of it was. Of course it is subjective, and if you disagree with him, tell him (nicely) in the comments. Ferlazzo is a teacher of English a
More Education News from Chicago: WBEZ Publishes the Troubling History of Chicago’s Public School Closures | janresseger More Education News from Chicago: WBEZ Publishes the Troubling History of Chicago’s Public School Closures It is quite a week for education news from Chicago. Yesterday this blog covered the first teachers’ strike at a charter school network, UNO-Acero Charter Schools in Chicag
CURMUDGUCATION: MI: Baldfaced Power Grab MI: Baldfaced Power Grab Lansing is witnessing one of the most extraordinary power grabs ever attempted, and one of the targets of these lame duck Republicans is the state board of education. Several actions are being attempted by the legislature, and they include an attempt to complete supplant the constitutionally established and democratically elected s
Sign Petition to Endorse 2019 Black Lives Matter At School National Week of Action! – I AM AN EDUCATOR Sign Petition to Endorse 2019 Black Lives Matter At School National Week of Action! The national Black Lives Matter At School movement has launched a petition to seek support for its upcoming 2019 week of action from February 4-8. This is a movement that began during the 2016-2017 school year in
More Democrat governors, more skepticism of charter schools More Democrat governors, more skepticism of charter schools Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was not on the ballot in the Michigan governor’s race, but her legacy loomed over the campaign in her home state, which has the country’s highest concentration of for-profit charter schools. Republican Bill Schuette, a DeVos ally and the state’s a
A crowd will face off for Ref Rodriguez's former L.A. school board seat - Los Angeles Times A crowd will face off for Ref Rodriguez's former L.A. school board seat The person who wins the open Los Angeles school board seat in a March special election will serve less than two years and enter the fray during a period of budget strain and labor unrest. The campaign might overlap with a teachers stri
John Thompson: Oklahoma Republicans Long to Copy Florida’s Mediocrity | Diane Ravitch's blog John Thompson: Oklahoma Republicans Long to Copy Florida’s Mediocrity Betsy DeVos says that Florida is a national model. She loves Florida because she invested millions of dollars imposing vouchers and charters, despite the provision of the State Constitution that requires a uniform system of common schoo
Here’s Why Urban Communities Of Color Are Increasingly Rejecting Charter Schools Here’s Why Urban Communities Of Color Are Increasingly Rejecting Charter Schools At a recent school board meeting in New Orleans, more than 100 parents swamped the hearing room , requiring dozens to have to stand. Many of the parents had filled out public comment cards so they would be allowed to address the board. W
Chicago Teachers at 15-School Acero Charter Chain Strike: First Walkout at a Unionized Charter School Network | janresseger Chicago Teachers at 15-School Acero Charter Chain Strike: First Walkout at a Unionized Charter School Network In the first walkout at a U.S. charter school network, 500 teachers at Chicago’s Acero (formerly UNO) charter school chain went on strike Tuesday. Acero Charter Scho
High Tech Innovations and School Reform Joined at the Hip | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice High Tech Innovations and School Reform Joined at the Hip When asked how I got interested in the uses of technology in schools and classrooms, I answer that I was the target for a quarter-century of high-tech innovations and classroom reforms when I taught high school history and as a d
Nation’s First Charter School Teachers Strike Heads for Day Three | deutsch29 Nation’s First Charter School Teachers Strike Heads for Day Three Charter school teachers are not supposed to strike. They are supposed to be at-will employees, able to be fired at the will of their employer, without due process. Such is the dream of market-based ed reform: Power concentrated at the top, with the averag
George H. W. Bush: A Tribute and a Happy Memory of My Time in D.C. | Diane Ravitch's blog George H. W. Bush: A Tribute and a Happy Memory of My Time in D.C. I’m in an airplane, flying from NYC to L.A., where I will attend the annual dinner of LAANE, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. This group fought for and won a battle to raise the minimum wage. I believe and hope they will join the s
CURMUDGUCATION: Real Stupid Artificial Intelligence (Personalized Learning's Missing Link) Real Stupid Artificial Intelligence (Personalized Learning's Missing Link) Good lord in heaven. Intel would like a piece of the hot new world of Personalized [sic] Learning, and they think they have an awesome AI to help. And they have concocted a deliberately misleading video to promote it. In the video, w
Why School Choice Ends Up Creating Injustice and Inequality | janresseger Why School Choice Ends Up Creating Injustice and Inequality In his new book, Educational Inequality and School Finance: Why Money Matters for America’s Students , school funding expert, Bruce Baker critiques the rapid expansion of charter schools for siphoning off dollars from state and local public school budgets. Baker al
CURMUDGUCATION: Education, Bad Leadership, and Harvard Education, Bad Leadership, and Harvard We have a problem with bad management, pretending to be leadership, in this country. And it has infected education. Even in a small area like mine, the symptoms have been plain to see. A major local oil business was put under the leadership of a man who had previously run a soap company and a toy company
Mike Klonsky's Blog: Rahm and his schools CEO try and sell their discredited reforms in D.C. Rahm and his schools CEO try and sell their discredited reforms in D.C. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is so discredited on his education and policing policies that he's been forced out of a re-election bid. But that didn't stop him and his ever-faithful schools CEO Janice Jackson from putting in an appearance in D.C
College dropout named next FL House education chair - YouTube College dropout named next FL House education chair enrique baloyra @ nenebalo This week incoming Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva announced that Mount Dora Tea Party darling Jennifer Sullivan will the new chair of the House Education Committee. Sullivan, who was home-schooled, has zero experience as an educator, has never studied or w
Matt Barnum: “Reformers” on Local School Boards Create New Organization to Promote Portfolio Model | Diane Ravitch's blog Matt Barnum: “Reformers” on Local School Boards Create New Organization to Promote Portfolio Model Matt Barnum reports that school board members in several cities have formed a new organization to consult with one another. They claim they don’t have an agenda but they are fund
Education Research Report Education Research Report Fine motor skills, executive functions, and basic numerical skills in kindergarten by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1h Research Findings : This study examined the interrelations between fine motor skills, executive functions, and basic numerical skills in kindergarten as well as their predictive value for mathematics achievement in 2nd grade in a sample
Betsy DeVos’ Financial Disclosure Fails to Account for Divestiture of 24 Assets - CREW BETSY DEVOS’ FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FAILS TO ACCOUNT FOR DIVESTITURE OF 24 ASSETS Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ Annual 2018 financial disclosure report, obtained by CREW last week, has not been certified by the Office of Government Ethics more than six months after it was filed and fails to document how or
Dogged Advocates for Justice Protest Ohio State School Takeovers of Youngstown, Lorain, and East Cleveland | janresseger Dogged Advocates for Justice Protest Ohio State School Takeovers of Youngstown, Lorain, and East Cleveland After January, John Kasich will no longer be governor of Ohio. House Bill 70, the law that paved the way for the Youngstown—and now Lorain and East Cleveland—school takeov
You Don't Have To Like It (Students Watch and Talk About Us, Anyways) | The Jose Vilson YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT (STUDENTS WATCH AND TALK ABOUT US, ANYWAYS) A few times a month, I’ll be on the whiteboard, jotting down examples for my lesson with my back turned to my students. The students find ways to distract themselves (while believing they have nothing to copy down along with me, but that’s a
Changing One’s Mind about School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice Changing One’s Mind about School Reform The following post is an encore published nearly seven years ago. I have updated and added sections to it. A few years ago, Diane Ravitch told ( The Death and Life of the Great American School System) of her recent switch from championing school reforms (testing, a
CURMUDGUCATION: Florida Contemplates Putting Fox In Charge of Hen House Florida Contemplates Putting Fox In Charge of Hen House As a legislator in Florida (Motto: Why sell swampland when you can just rob schools), Richard Corcoran was determined to make sure that public tax dollars were directed to enriching private school operators at public school expense. Sorry about your future, kid Corcoran
2017 Financials of the Koch’s Dark Money Network 2017 Financials of the Koch’s Dark Money Network The Koch network: as powerful as ever Charles and David Koch maintain an extensive, powerful network of nonprofit organizations to further their libertarian and conservative ideological values. Four nonprofits at the crux of the network — the Charles Koch Institute, Americans for Prosperity, American
The Charter School Shell Game | Inweekly The Charter School Shell Game By Duwayne Escobedo Marcus May’s greed had no limits. Two 45-foot yachts. Jet ski. Maserati and Triumph cars. Multiple houses for himself and a house for his mother. Exotic trips. Rolex watch and other jewelry. In the end, May, the founder of Newpoint Education Partners charter school, robbed the school districts of Escambia,
21st-Century Education Policy Enters Its Afternoon Rerun Stage - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week 21st-Century Education Policy Enters Its Afternoon Rerun Stage It's good to be back. While I was on blog break, talking about my new Bush-Obama School Reform volume and reading the post-election education policy punditry, I was struck by something: 21st-century education policy has staggered in
New York Times Exposes Louisiana School’s 100-Percent-College-Acceptance Lie, and More | deutsch29 New York Times Exposes Louisiana School’s 100-Percent-College-Acceptance Lie, and More If you read about a school with a 100-percent college acceptance rate for its grads, keep in mind that one of the surest ways to achieve such astounding results is to lie– to whip up fictitious student success sto
Badass Teachers Association: Solidarity with #UTLAStrong! Solidarity with #UTLAStrong! Things are heating up in Los Angeles...and we are paying close attention! We have mentioning the contract campaign that UTLA has been running since we first spoke with UTLA leadership this summer. What first sparked our interest in this contract campaign was how UTLA went about developing the demands for their
The LAUSD Widget Factory The LAUSD Widget Factory All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall ” – Roger Waters The Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) School Experience Survey is an opportunity for parents and guardians to grade the District’s performance. Included in this questionnaire are important statements such as “Reports of bullying are taken seriously at this school” and “
Wow.This full page ad in today's @latimes by @UTLAnow Big Education Ape: Time’s 2018 Person of the Year? How about the American teacher? - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2018/12/times-2018-person-of-year-how-about.html
Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole | Capital & Main Doris Fisher: Down the Dark Money Rabbit Hole Doris Fisher and her family have quietly become among the largest political funders of charter school efforts in the country. Much of her money goes to promoting pro-charter school candidates and organizations. A s co-founder of the Gap, San Francisco-based business leader and philanthropi
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2) ICYMI: Here's December Edition (12/2) Oh, that month again. Here's some reading from the week. Remember to pass along what speaks to you. Common Core Creator Slammed Reading Teachers for Having a Research Gap-- How Ironic Nancy Bailey sounds the irony alert on a critique of teachers and research. Why New Educators Resent "Reformers". Let's hea
Education Rebranders | Gary Rubinstein's Blog Education Rebranders For the past ten years, there have been two ‘sides’ in the debate over how to best improve schools in this country. On one side, you had people like Michelle Rhee, Jeb Bush, Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, Mike Bloomberg, and Rahm Emanuel. On the other side, you had people like Randi Weingarten, Diane Ravitch, Deborah Meier, and Leonie H
Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents Vocabulary Used to Sell Technology to Teachers and Parents It’s the use of only technology in education without qualified teachers that is the concern. It’s “tech without teachers” and without public school buildings, a sense of community, student socializing, and the misuse of data collected on children that keep parents and teachers up
Top Posts This Week 12/1/18 Top Posts This Week 11/24/18 #REDFORED A Washington Post Discussion about Education | Diane Ravitch's blog This Week In Trump's 'Alternative Facts' : NPR What’s Behind the Chan Zuckerberg (CZI) Push for “Brain Science?” CURMUDGUCATION: Trump, Apple, but No Teacher CURMUDGUCATION: The Factory, The Computer, and the Marketing Problem Badass Teachers Association: Just say
