Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Let’s “turn the ship around” on education policy
A lot of public school advocates have become pretty disillusioned trying to find a politician from either party who seems to actually “get it” when it comes to public education. So many teachers and parents are yearning for a candidate who supports traditional public schools, recognizes charter schools as an expensive, unnecessary, and dangerous distraction, and reject all efforts to privatize our schools via vouchers, or “education tax credits,” or “education freedom scholarships,” or any other patriotic-sounding euphemism the neo-liberal ed reformers come up with.
But who are our options?
Cory Booker? No.
Beto O’Rourke? No.
So, reading this recap of a recent meeting of public school parents and activists in New York City was an astonishingly fresh breath of air. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that Diane Ravitch, perhaps the most vocal defender of public schools, teachers, and students today, was on the panel:
(Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) nodded in agreement when Diane Ravitch, historian and author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System, criticized anti-democratic efforts to privatize public goods and encouraged parents to resist by refusing standardized testing for their children. When AOC had the floor, she made a strong call to “turn the ship CONTINUE READING:Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Let's "turn the ship around" on education policy | Eclectablog
Beto O’Rourke’s Charter School Problem: Hint–It’s His Wife
I keep reading about how Amy O’Rourke, Beto’s wife, is a “long time educator“. I may be overly sensitive about this, but to be considered a professional “educator” I believe that a person must have earned a degree (or multiple degrees) in education, have held valid state teacher certification at one time, and have experience as a certified, qualified classroom teacher of some sort.
Kind of like how most of us would consider someone who claimed to be a “physician” would have to have a medical degree, hold a valid medical license, and be a practicing doctor.
Or a person who claimed to be an “attorney” would need to have a law degree, pass the bar, and be a practicing lawyer.
Here’s what we know about Amy Sanders O’Rourke…
College degree: bachelor’s degree in psychology from Williams College–no education degree.
Teacher certification: according to the state of Texas, Ms. O’Rourke has never held a valid teaching certificate.
Teaching experience: “Amy spent a few months teaching kindergarten in Guatemala City after graduating from Williams College in Massachusetts.”
Capitalizing on that scant teaching experience, Ms. O’Rourke then became the principal of La Fe Preparatory School in El Paso, and now runs a non-profit that’s trying to attract more big charter CONTINUE READING: Beto O’Rourke’s Charter School Problem: Hint–It’s His Wife