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

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG 

A site to discuss better education for all

Big Education Ape: My New Book Was Just Announced! | Diane Ravitch's blog -https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-new-book-was-just-announced-diane.html

Michigan: The New State Superintendent Brings Hope for Real Change

by dianeravitch / 44min

Michael Rice, the new State Superintendent in Michigan, is an experienced educator, not an ideologue or a politician. His plans are sensible. He wants to steer the state back to responsible policies. He was most recently Superintendent in Kalamazoo, which has one of the best school systems in the state. Itis terrific not because of its demographics or it’s scores but because of the Kalamazoo Prom

YESTERDAY

California Teachers Association on Thurmond’s Charter Task Force Report

by dianeravitch / 11h

Friends of public schools are pleased with the recommendations of Superintendent Thurmond Charter School Task Force. Now it is up to the Legislature to act. June 07, 2019 Governor’s Charter Task Force Recommendations Echo Need for Accountability & Local Control in Legislation Currently Being Considered by California Lawmakers Contact: Claudia Briggs at 916-325-1550 BURLINGAME – The California Cha

California: Hot Off the Presses: Charter School Task Force Report

36by dianeravitch / 17h

The Charter School Policy Task Force Report was just released. The Task Force was charged with making recommendations to reform the state’s 1992 charter law. A large proportion of the 11 members of the Task Force (either 6 or 7) were connected to the charter industry, including two members who work directly for the California Charter School Association, the industry’s lobbying group. Two issues w

Carol Burris: A Message for Elizabeth Warren

100+by dianeravitch / 19h

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education and a lifelong educator, has a message for Senator Elizabeth Warren: There has been much discussion on this blog and elsewhere regarding Elizabeth Warren’s campaign’s choice of a former charter school teacher to introduce Ms. Warren in Oakland. She was a fellow at GO Oakland, an organization funded by billionaires such as the Wa

NYC: Rally and Protest to Reduce Class Sizes!

by dianeravitch / 20h

This Tuesday on June 11 at noon at City Hall, Network for Public Education is co-sponsoring a rally with Class Size Matters and many other organizations to urge NYC to allocate specific funding in next year’s budget towards reducing class size; please come if you can and bring your kids; they have the day off from school. Smaller classes have been linked with more learning and better student outc

Peter Greene: Why Does Anyone Listen to Jeb Bush’s Failed Ideas?

23by dianeravitch / 21h

Peter Greene read an unusually annoying article in the Detroit News that showed just out of touch the authors are. Michigan is a state that went overboard for school choice, thanks to former Governor John Engler and the billionaire DeVos family. Michigan has dropped down to the bottom of NAEP, as scores have collapsed for every group. Jeb Bush arrives to tell Michigan what they need to do is doub

Bernie Sanders Vigorously Criticizes Charter Schools

200+by dianeravitch / 22h

Despite the outrage of the privatization movement, which attacked Bernie Sanders for his position on charters, Sanders doubled down by publishing an article in the San Jose Mercury News reiterating his views. Here is an excerpt, where he accurately cites the study by Gordon Lafer on how charters drain money from public schools and the NPE study showing the waste of federal money spent on charters

Utah Picks a Trouble-Plagued Testing Company to Operate State Tests for $44 Million

by dianeravitch / 23h

Utah state education officials knew that Questar had a problem-filled record, but they picked it anyway and gave it a contract for $44 million. From the Salt Lake City Tribune: In other states, the year-end tests were marked by glitches and cyberattacks and hourlong delays. One school district threw out its results because the software was so unreliable . In another, all of the students had to st

New Bedford, Mass: Parents Block Charter Money Grab,

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

Parents in New Bedford, Massachusetts, managed to stop an outrageous charter money-grab. Here is a report from Local activist Ricardo Rosa writes: An unprecedented charter school model was introduced in the city of New Bedford, MA. Alma Del Mar charter school sought to expand by 1,188 seats, which would have meant the syphoning of $15 million dollars from the city’s public school system and likel

Steven Singer Issues a Correction

26by dianeravitch / 1d

Steven Singer writes: CORRECTION: In the first draft of my article , I called Sonya Mehta a “Charter School Lobbyist” in the title. On further examination of the facts, I realize this is unfair. She was a charter school TEACHER. I apologize to Ms. Mehta and truly regret any harm I have done her. I have changed the title to better reflect the facts. However, be advised that the text of the article

JUN 06

New Haven, Connecticut: Students Protest Teacher Layoffs

300+by dianeravitch / 1d

Students at Hill Regional Career High School conducted a peaceful protest because of layoffs of some of their teachers. During their last period, Career students stepped out onto the grassy field behind the school. They carried a wide pink banner with the names of four teachers who received notice last week that they would be involuntarily transferred out of the school. Others held up signs that

California: About that $50 Million Charter School Heist

66by dianeravitch / 1d

As reported earlier today, online charter operators in California with multiple shell corporations have been indicted for embezzling more than $50 million for their charters. Also indicted were the leaders of the tiny rural school districts that authorized their charters as a way to collect fat fees for doing nothing. This feature is a serious flaw in the state’s notoriously lax charter law. A ti

FairTest: Security of SAT Biology Exam Compromised

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

This just in from FairTest: FairTest National Center for Fair & Open Testing for further information: Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 mobile (239) 699-0468 for immediate release Thursday, June 6, 2019 GLOBAL SAT SUBJECT TEST SECURITY BREACH LAST WEEKEND; SCORES COMPROMISED BY ADVANCE CIRCULATION OF EXAM; QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ALSO POSTED ON REDDIT WEB SITE MANY HOURS BEFORE ADMINISTRATIONS BEGAN IN

California: Teachers in New Haven District on Strike

61by dianeravitch / 1d

Teachers in New Haven, California, have been on strike since May 20. The superintendent is intransigent. The strike has lasted longer than the Los Angeles or Oakland teachers’ strikes. For more than two weeks, 585 brave New Haven teachers have been standing united for the schools their students deserve , on strike for as long as it takes to get a fair, student-centered agreement. Since New Haven

Peter Greene: The Education Commissioner of New Hampshire Has an Unusually Pernicious Idea

55by dianeravitch / 1d

Peter Greene writes here about one of the worst education ideas of the decade , an idea so bad that only Betsy DeVos and Jeb Bush could like it: He calls it “Learning Everywhere.” That translates into “Learning everywhere except in a public school.” Here is the most important thing to know about the state commissioner of education: All of his children were home-schooled. Frank Edelblut was a busi

Closing! Delaware Charter that Won $10 Million XQ Award

200+by dianeravitch / 1d

Kevin Ohlandt has the story: The Design Thinking Academy, a charter school that won Laurene Powell Jobs’ XQ competition to “reinvent” the high school, is closing. Ohlandt has documents demonstrating that the school was done in by adult mismanagement and greed. The school received a five-year grant of $10 million in 2016. It was supposed to be a “school of the future,” but it experienced high teac

California: Online Charter Scam Cost Taxpayers More Than $50 Million, Says Indictment

48by dianeravitch / 1d

With the encouragement of the super lobbyists of the California CharterSchoolAssociation, the California Legislature continues to block any meaningful reform of its lax charter law, even as the news breaks that online charter operators were charged with scamming more than $50 million from taxpayers. Peter Greene calls this one “a spectacular charter scam.” He is right. We have seen plenty of gard

Jack Schneider: Why Are Americans Turning Against Charter Schools?

99by dianeravitch / 2d

Jack Schneider, a historian of education who often collaborates with Jennifer Berkshire, analyzes the fading allure of charter schools. After years of claims that they would “save” public schools and poor children, the public has given up on them. Why? They have not delivered, and the public gets it. For most of the past thirty years, charters seemed unstoppable, especially because their expansio

JUN 05

Steve Lopez: Why Measure EE Lost and What It Means for the City’s Future—And America’s Future

75by dianeravitch / 2d

Steve Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times, is outraged by the low and negative vote on Measure EE . He wrote that city gave a collective shrug. On this, the last week of school before summer break in the Los Angeles Unified School District, voters have sent a loud and clear message to roughly 600,000 students: Your schools may be crumbling, your libraries may be closed, your class sizes may be

UTLA Reacts to Loss on Measure EE

by dianeravitch / 2d

Measure EE went down to defeat in Los Angeles yesterday. It was an effort to raise taxes mostly on commercial real estate to raise $500 million a year for the schools—to reduce class sizes, hire librarians, nurses, social workers, and psychologists and to expand classes in art and music. An election this important should appear during a general election, when most people vote. For immediate relea

News from Pastors for Texas Children

by dianeravitch / 2d

There is no more effective advocate for Texas children and public schools than Pastors for Texas Children. Through their dedication and hard work, they have played an important role in blocking vouchers and encouraging the passage of a new state budget that adds billions of dollars for public schools. Dear Friend of Pastors for Texas Children, My name is John Noble. I’m currently a ministerial st

Please Send an Email to Congress to Block Betsy DeVos’ Charter Slush Fund!

38by dianeravitch / 2d

Please make sure you send emails to your Senator to ensure they cut off Betsy DeVos’s charter slush fund. Don’t waste another $1 billion on charters that never open or close right after opening. The Network for Public Education makes it easy. Just click here .

You Must Watch This: The Leader of the Free World Offers Hope and Inspiration

21by dianeravitch / 2d

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke at Harvard’s commencement ceremonies. She was eloquent and spoke to our dearest values and ideals, exactly what we hope to hear from the leader of the West, which we called “the Free World.” That used to be the President of the United States. No longer. Our president is an isolationist who treats our allies with contempt and showers love on dictators. Angela

Little Rock: Please Don’t Destroy Our Public Schools and Our Children

300+by dianeravitch / 2d

Dr. Anika Whitfield, an education activist in LittleRock, Arkansas, wrote an open letter to State Commissioner Johnny Key and the members of the Arkansas State Board of Education. She appeals to their humanity, forgetting for the moment that the state of Arkansas is owned by the Walton Family Foundation: Mr. Key and the Members of the AR State Board of Education, Students, families, schools, and

Mercedes Schneider: The Walton Foundation Funds a New “Grassroots” Initiative

63by dianeravitch / 2d

Mercedes Schneider discovers that a prominent reformer has a new career . Hanna Skandera was State Commissioner of Education in New Mexico, where she tried to impose the “Florida Model of Mediocrity.” She fought with the state’s teachers for seven years and accomplished nothing. New Mexico remained at the bottom of NAEP, as one of the poorest states in the nation. Her goal of raising test scores

Bad News from L.A.: Landlords Win, Students Lose

27by dianeravitch / 2d

Voters in Los Angeles yesterday turned down Measure EE, which would have raised $500 million yearly for schools. The measure required a 2/3 yes vote, but didn’t win a majority. It would have been funded mostly by taxes on commercial properties, and the LA Chamber of Commerce mounted a campaign to defeat it. It would have funded smaller classes, nurses, social workers, librarians, arts and music.

Peg Tyre: Teaching Creativity in Japan

by dianeravitch / 2d

Peg Tyre is a veteran education journalist who is currently tracking the path of education reform in Japan. She reminds me of something that I learned when I visited schools in other countries. Education officials and teachers wonder how Americans are able to teach their students creativity, critical thinking, imagination. While we obsess over test scores, other nations are awed by our students’

OECD-PISA Leader: Arts Education May Be More Important for the 21st Century Than Test Scores

300+by dianeravitch / 3d

This is an ironic story. There is no one and no institution that has done more to set off an international test score competition than Andreas Schleicher of the OECD, which administers the periodic international tests called PISA, the Programme in International Student Assessment. Every nation wants to be first. Every nation waits anxiously to see whether its test scores in reading, mathematics,

JUN 04

Senator Sanders: This Is Where I Came From

43by dianeravitch / 3d

This article by Senator Bernie Sanders appeared in the New York Times. My father came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 with barely a nickel in his pocket. I spent my first 18 years, before I left home for college, in a three-and-a-half-room, rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn. My mother’s dream was to own her own home, but we never came close. My father’s salary as a paint salesman

U.S. Department of Ed Says Eva Violated FERPA Privacy Right; Eva Will Appeal

52by dianeravitch / 3d

The U.S. Department of Education criticized Eva Moskowitz for releasing the private disciplinary record of a student whose mother repeatedly criticized the school. This comes soon after the ED awarded Success Academy $10 Million to expand. Leonie Haimson, advocate for student privacy, comments: This press release is also posted here . For immediate release: June 4, 2019 For more information conta

Chicago Teachers Union Wins Some Victories in Legislature

by dianeravitch / 3d

The Chicago Teachers Union reports on some gains. Most notable is that individual school districts will be able to limit charter school expansion into their districts, a battle now being fought in California. The issue is whether the wishes of charter entrepreneurs should outweigh democratic local control of schools. Illinois says no. While some gains have been made, equity agenda in Springfield

Steven Singer: It Is Time for Senator Warren to Make Her Education Views Clear

300+by dianeravitch / 3d

Let me make clear that I have enormous respect for Senator Warren. I met her in her office in 2015, gave her a copy of my book, Reign of Error, and was greatly impressed by her thoughtfulness and intellect. A few months ago, I attended a fundraiser for her at the home of a mutual friend in Manhattan and was again wowed by her fierce intellect and passionate critique of the status quo. But I want

Reed Hastings Funds Anti-Abortion Extremists in Missouri in Hopes of Getting Their Votes for Charter School Bill

48by dianeravitch / 3d

Reed Hastings, the billionaire founder of Netflix, funded anti-abortion Republicans in Missouri as a way to win their votes for charter school legislation. Hastings likes to portray himself as a “progressive.” What kind of progressive would fund a total ban on all abortions, including abortions related to rape, incest, and the health of the mother? New York (CNN Business) Netflix has taken a stan

Florida: A Teacher Quits, Beaten Down by the State’s Toxic Testing Culture

300+by dianeravitch / 3d

Florida has a large teacher shortage, about 10,000 at last count. Under the tutelage of Jeb Bush, the Florida Legislature has made testing and privatization the centerpiece of state education policy, while treating public schools and their teachers as enemies for almost 20 years. Florida holds public schools to strict accountability, based on test scores, but imposes no accountability for the rel

Jeff Bryant: Democrats Must Choose Between Raising Teacher Pay and Funding Charters

22by dianeravitch / 4d

Jeff Bryant explains here why Democratic candidates will have to make a choice between raising teacher pay and funding charter schools. Up until recently, candidates spoke only about pre-K and postsecondary education. But the time has come to set forth their ideas for K-12. In Florida, the choice is stark. Voters pass tax increases dedicated solely to funding their local public schools, but the L

JUN 03

Fordham Institute and Center for American Progress Collaborate on “Moon Shot” for Kids

59by dianeravitch / 4d

You probably thought that the rightwing Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which supports charters and vouchers but not public schools, was on the opposite side of the political aisle from the Center for American Progress, which is described by the New York Times and the Washington Post as “left-leaning” (which is inaccurate). Well, they are on the same page in sponsoring a low-budget “moon shot for ki

Mayor Lori Lightfoot Announces New Members of Chicago School Board

100+by dianeravitch / 4d

This is a school board unlike anything Chicago (or other big cities) has seen. It consists of experienced people with a history of involvement in the lives of children and schools. No hedge fund managers (wrong: there is one, but he was a teacher first)*! No CEOs of major corporations! No privatization devotees! How remarkable! *Revuluri is currently the Managing Director of Strategic Development

West Virginia: State Senate Wants to Please DeVos, Punish Its Teachers

57by dianeravitch / 4d

Politico Morning Education reports: BANNING TEACHER STRIKES?: West Virginia’s GOP-led Senate approved the ban on teacher strikes 17-14 as an amendment to broad education reform legislation that DeVos urged the lawmakers to pass. The amendment was approved with “heavy opposition” from Democrats, the Associated Press reported. — GOP Sen. Charles Trump, who sponsored the amendment, said it’s meant t

Los Angeles: Vote for Measure EE on June 4! Vote for Students! Vote for the Future!

by dianeravitch / 4d

Resident of Los Angeles: Vote for Measure EE on June 4. Measure EE is not “just another tax.” It will bring in $500 million every year in ongoing funds, and is what the teachers and the community fought so hard to get through the strike. LA, don’t leave the job you started on the picket lines unfinished! Measure EE is desperately needed to give local neighborhood schools the resources to educate

California: Two of Four Charter Reform Bills Remain Alive; Will Charter Lobbyists Block Them?

by dianeravitch / 4d

While the charter lobbyists (who call themselves “families”) managed to knock out two bills to harness their unrestricted expansion, two others remain alive, thanks in part to the vigorous efforts of the California NAACP, whose education leader is charter expert Julian Vasquez Heilig. The two that remain viable are AB 1505 and 1507, which establish local control and oversight of charters. ● AB 15

Valerie Strauss: Florida High School Stops Valedictorian from Giving Graduation Speech, Then Apologizes

83by dianeravitch / 5d

Valerie Strauss wrote a well-documented and alarming story about a high school valedictorian who was prevented from giving the graduation speech because school officials did not like certain words and topics. When the affair became public, the school board and superintendent apologized and invited the graduate to deliver her speech to the school board, promising to tape it and put it on their web

JUN 02

Elaine Chao: Transportation Secretary, Mitch McConnell’s Wife, Denizen of the Swamp

500+by dianeravitch / 5d

The New York Times published a shocking story about Elaine Chao , Trump’s Transportation Secretary and Mitch McConnell’s Wife. Her family owns a major shipping company in China. She has no ownership of the shipping company, but her father has given Elaine and Mitch millions of dollars. Under Elaine Chao’s leadership, the American maritime industry has gone into decline. Over the years, Ms. Chao h

Tennessee Outsources State Testing to Pearson

83by dianeravitch / 5d

Tennessee has had endless problems with its state tests. They are called TNReady, but they are NeverReady. The state just chose Pearson to manage its testing program, despite Pearson’s long history of problem-plagued tests. The British publishing house has been dropped by other states, but Tennessee is placing its bet on Pearson. New York dropped Pearson after the #pineapplegate affair. See here

South Carolina: Two People Who Are Making a Difference

87by dianeravitch / 5d

I have written before about Arnold and Carol Hillman. See here and here . They were educators in Pennsylvania who retired to South Carolina. Being educators, they couldn’t really retire; they got involved. They created an organization called the South Carolina Organization of Rural Schools, to raise awareness of the schools that are underfunded in impoverished rural areas (check out its Facebook

Leonie Haimson: Join Us for a Rally and a Party!

by dianeravitch / 5d

Dear Friends- 1. Save the date! On Tuesday June 11 at noon at City Hall we will be rallying for smaller classes, urging the Mayor and the City Council to allocate funds in this year’s budget for class size reduction. Please come and bring your kids – they have the day off from school! Co-sponsored by Class Size Matters, NYC Kids PAC and the Network for Public Education. A flyer to post & distribu

What Will Happen to the Public Schools in Rochester, N.Y.? 56% of the Children Are Poor!

100+by dianeravitch / 5d

The Mayor of Rochester, Lovely Warren, has called upon the New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents to take over the city’s public schools, oust the elected board, and appoint a different board of its choosing. She claims that Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has a plan, but apparently this is not the case. To say this is incoherent is an understatement. The state has not expressed

To Understand Teach for America, See Who Funds The Organization

200+by dianeravitch / 6d

Follow the money is a basic principle. To understand an organization, see who funds it. Take Teach for America. It presents itself to the public as a noble charity. Unfortunately, it promotes the bad idea that anyone with five weeks of training can teach. That has the effect of undermining teaching as a profession. Does anyone believe that five weeks of training is adequate to become a doctor or

Worrisome News About Elizabeth Warren

500+by dianeravitch / 6d

This arrived last night from a friend in the Bay Area: Most of the Democratic presidential candidates are here in the Bay Area this weekend. Elizabeth Warren held a huge rally in Oakland, and she was introduced by a representative of Great Oakland Public Schools, a billionaire-funded anti-teacher, pro-charter, pro-“reform” operation. I’m pointing this out with some hope that someone has access to

JUN 01

Peter Goodman: Charter Lobby Headed for Setback in New York Legislature

by dianeravitch / 6d

The charter lobby in New York State had a clever strategy: Invest campaign cash in Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and in the Republican-controlled State Senate. For years, it worked. Cuomo gave the charter industry whatever it wanted. The Republican Senate showered favors on charters, even requiring the City of New York to give them free space in public school buildings, and if they didn’t like

The Bronx, New York: You Are Invited to a Free Screening of “Backpack Full of Cash,” June 11

by dianeravitch / 6d

This is a terrific documentary, created by professional filmmakers at Stone Lantern Films. It will be shown in Spanish and in English. If you want to show the documentary in your community, contact the filmmakers by email, listed below. MEDIA ALERT ____________________________________________________________________________________ THE UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS HOSTS SPECIAL SCREENING OF THE

Michigan: State Attorney General Will Take a Position Opposite to the Governor in Detroit Literacy Lawsuit

53by dianeravitch / 6d

Now, this gets interesting. Two days ago, I posted about the battle in Michigan over who is responsible for the deplorable conditions in the public schools of Detroit. Critics claimed that Governor Whitmer was abandoning her campaign promises. The new Democratic Governor Whitmer disappointed some supporters by asserting that the state was not responsible for the miseducation of the children of De

National Education Policy Center Reviews Claims about Fiscal Impact of Charters and Finds Them Shallow and Misleading

by dianeravitch / 6d

Bruce Baker of Rutgers University reviewed three policy briefs produced by the pro-charter, pro-choice Center for Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington and found them to be “generally superficial and misleading.” The apparent intent of these briefs was to influence the policy debate in California, in which Governor Newsom and the Legislature are considering whether to take

Pennsylvania: Charter Lobby Pushes to Remove All Quality Controls and Allow Unlimited Expansion

23by dianeravitch / 7d

Two officials of the Philadelphia school system wrote an opinion piece warning that proposals for “charter reform” are actually a blank check for unlimited charter expansion with no regulation at all. Dr. William R. Hite is superintendent 

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