KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all

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

GERM Warfare: Stopping the Global Education Reform Movement

by dianeravitch / 17min

No one has been more effective at describing and fighting the spread of GERM than Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish educator now working to reform education standardization in Australia. I recently visited Pasi and his family in Croatia. He and his Croatian-born wife have two beautiful children, ages 7 and 3. The boys are tri-lingual (English, Finnish, and Croatian). The older boy is learning Chinese.Th

San Francisco: The Mural Dispute at George Washington High School

by dianeravitch / 1h

Tempers have flared in San Francisco because of a panorama of murals created during the Depression by a Communist painter who depicted Washington as a slave-owner and a killer of Native Americans. Critics of the murals say the portrayal of Blacks and Native Americans assert that their representation is offensive. Defenders of the murals say they are a historically accurate representation of our n

YESTERDAY

Colorado: Students Training to Respond to Active Shooter in School

by dianeravitch / 22h

Since the U.S. Senate refuses to consider any regulation of guns, some schools are preparing for the next shooter. In Colorado, students are receiving training in how to respond if they are confronted by an active shooter. Colorado was the site of the Columbine massacre in a high school and the Aurora massacre in a movie theater. Last May, a student was killed in a charter school in Douglas Count

Tennessee: Davidson County School Board Votes to Close Three Charter Schools

by dianeravitch / 22h

The Davidson County School Board voted unanimously to close three “Knowledge Academy” charter schools, citing poor academic performance and financial mismanagement . The charter board will appeal.

Why Donald Trump Can’t Make a Deal—Ever

by dianeravitch / 23h

I added the link, thanks to Lloyd Lofthouse. Donald Trump sold himself to the American Public as the master of The Deal, the Master Negotiator. Now we know that “his” book The Art of the Deal was ghost written by Tony Schwartz, who is a fierce critic of Trump, knowing that he never reads books and is profoundly ignorant. The eminent journal Foreign Policy comments in this article that Trump is a

How DeBlasio Protects the Charter Industry in NYC

42by dianeravitch / 1d

When Mayor Bill DeBlasio was on the Democratic debate stage, he lashed out at the charter industry and vowed to fight the privatizers. But as mayor, he is protecting them. As Leonie Haimson explains , DeBlasio’s Department of Education routinely hands over the lists of public school students to the charters, despite the protests of parents. No other city, she says, voluntarily gives charters the

AUG 29

Connecticut: Court Orders Jonathan Sackler to Testify in Opioid Case

by dianeravitch / 1d

Billionaire Jonathan Sackler of Purdue Pharma and charter school kingpin has been ordered to testify in a lawsuit in Connecticut. https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190829/connecticut-court-orders-jonathan-sackler-to-testify-in-ri-opioid-lawsuit A Connecticut Superior Court ruling this week requires Jonathan Sackler, a member of the family that owns drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma, to testi

Alex Caputo-Pearl of UTLA on Charter Reform Deal

by dianeravitch / 1d

Alex Caputo-Pearl responds to agreement reached between California charter school lobby and supports of public schools to revise the charter school law. Until now, the California Charter School Association had blocked all efforts to hold charter schools accountable and to empower local school districts to determine whether charters could open in their area and to evaluate the fiscal impact of cha

California: Charter Reform Will Allow Districts to Consider Fiscal Impact

31by dianeravitch / 1d

The bill to revise the California charter law has not yet been finalized, but the agreement between the charter lobby and the public school allies will allow districts to take into account the fiscal impact of adding new charters. The financial stability and survival of public schools can be grounds for denying a charter application. At present, charters can expand at will, with no oversight or a

Tom Ultican: Beware the Broadies!

58by dianeravitch / 1d

Tom Ultican, retired teacher of advanced mathematics and physics in California, has written a well-documented critique of the Broad Academy. He describes its origins and purposes. Its primary purpose is to privatize public education. The Broad Academy, he writes, is the powerful force driving the Destroy Public Education movement. Including the current cohort, 568 people have learned the disrupti

Ohio: CEO of Lorain Schools Receives Ineffective Evaluation

200+by dianeravitch / 1d

Earlier this year, Peter Greene wrote two major posts about the state takeover of Lorain, Ohio, under HB 70 Greene started his teaching career in Lorain. The takeover meant that local democratic control was abolished and all authority was vested in one person, the CEO, David Hardy Jr. Greene wrote: The law is nuts; it establishes the CEO as an unchecked tsar of the district with all the powers of

Bombshell in California: E-Mails Reveal Charter Lobby’s Goal of Complete Privatization of All Schools in the State

1Kby dianeravitch / 2d

Blogger Michael Kohlhaas received a huge trove of leaked emails from the Green Dot Charter School organization in Los Angeles. He has been releasing them as he reviews them. No one has disputed their accuracy. Yesterday, Kohlhaas released one of the most startling of these documents, in which the charter lobby reveals its ultimate goal: by 2030, every student in the state of California will atten

Glenn Sacks: The Secret of the “Success” of Charter Schools and Magnet Schools

57by dianeravitch / 2d

Glenn Sacks is a teacher in Los Angeles and co-chair of the UTLA at James Monroe High School. The title of the article is “Charter Schools’ Success Is an Illusion.” The following article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. This is remarkable because the WSJ is relentlessly pro-charter, pro-voucher, anti-union, and anti-public school. It publishes article after article celebrating the successes o

AUG 28

Breaking News: California Strikes a Deal to Reform Charter Law

200+by dianeravitch / 2d

After months of debate and disagreements, the charter lobby and its critics have reached an agreement to reform the current charter law, the first time it has been reformed in 25 years. Both Governors Schwarzenegger and Brown protected the charter industry. Gavin Newsom took an active role in bringing the two sides together. According to the LA Times, both sides gave up ground. The deal, announce

Mattis Tells His Story, But Tiptoes Around Trump

by dianeravitch / 2d

The Washington Post published this excerpt from the new book by former Defense Secretary James Mattis, which was originally published in the Wall Street Journal: In the excerpt, published Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal, Mattis writes about the need for leaders to appreciate the value of allies without explicitly mentioning Trump, who has made a slogan of “America First.” “Nations with allie

Speduktr: Why I Pay School Taxes

41by dianeravitch / 2d

A reader who goes by the sobriquet “speduktr” wrote: I have never really understood the choice mantra. My taxes were not tuition for my children, and they certainly are not intended for someone’s individual use now that I have no children in the system. They were and are meant to support the education of every child in my community. Parents are not entitled to a chunk of that money to be used how

Los Angeles: Controversial Charter Leader Takes Over Low-Performing “Learn4Life” Centers

by dianeravitch / 2d

Caprice Young is a star of the charter industry in California. She was a member and president of the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. She was founder of the California Charter Schools Association, the well-heeled lobbyists for the private charter sector, which fights off accountability and transparency with the help of billionaires like Reed Hastings and Eli Broad. She is a gradu

Douglas County, Colorado: District Debates Charter School Over Teachers Carrying Guns

34by dianeravitch / 2d

Last May, there was a school shooting in the STEM Academy charter school in Douglas County, Colorado, one of the most affluent districts in the state, and a student was killed by another student. Now there is a debate between the school district leadership and another charter school about arming teachers. On the one side of the argument is Superintendent Thomas Tucker, who says guns have no place

Gary Rubinstein’s Favorite Top Ten Posts: Enjoy!

by dianeravitch / 3d

Gary Rubinstein offers his favorite posts, his Top Ten. Every one of them is a jewel, reflecting Gary’s inside understanding of TFA and corporate reform, and his frank acknowledgement of their failures. He left out many wonderful posts, including his careful exposes of the failure of the Tennessee (Non)Achievement School District, which consumed $100 million of Race to the Top funding and still f

John Thompson Reviews an Important New Book About Privatization of Public Services

200+by dianeravitch / 3d

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher, reviews an important new book. Lawrence Baines’ Privatization of America’s Public Institutions: The Story of the American Sellout combines analyses of assaults on four public sectors, the military, corrections departments, public schools, and higher education, to reveal the immense scale of privatization and its dangers. Dr. Baines, the Associate Dean

AUG 27

Sackler Family Offers $10-12 Billion to Settle All Litigation

by dianeravitch / 3d

The Sackler Family is reputedly worth $14 billion, but who knows if it is more or less. This money derived from the manufacture and marketing of OxyContin, a highly addictive opioid, by Purdue Pharma. With lawsuits filed in 2,000 jurisdictions, the Sacklers offered $10-12 billion to selle all the lawsuits. Fighting all of them could bankrupt the company and the family. https://www.golocalprov.com

ALERT: Watch This Show Tonight!

by dianeravitch / 3d

A friend advised me that there will be a show tonight at 10 PM on a cable called TruTV. The show is called “Adam Ruins Everything.” Tonight Adam will “ruin” one of Corporate Reform’s favorite causes. There will be a cameo appearance by one of our favorite bloggers. I am not allowed to share the secret. Please watch and prepare to enjoy.

College Board Abandons “Adversity” Score

20by dianeravitch / 3d

The College Board has dropped the controversial idea of giving students a score for their social-economic circumstances. The College Board is abandoning its plan to assign an adversity score to every student who takes the SAT, after facing criticism from educators and parents. Instead, it will try to capture a student’s social and economic background in a broad array of data points. The new tacti

California: Schools Tied to Massive Online Charter Scandal Are Closing

47by dianeravitch / 3d

Will Huntsberry of the Voice of San Diego reports that all the online charters connected to the biggest charter fraud in U.S. history will close. Huntsberry writes: An online charter school empire whose leaders have been charged with enrolling fake students and misappropriating $80 million in public funds will be forced to close all of its schools across California. In May, the San Diego district

What Happened to the Students Who Began KIPP-Philly in 2003?

22by dianeravitch / 3d

Marc Mannella opened the first KIPP middle school in Philadelphia in 2003. He started with 90 students in fifth grade. KIPP promised that students who stuck with the “no-excuses” regimen would go to college. Avi Wolfman-Arent of WHYY in Philadelphia tracked down 33 of those students to find out what happened to them. The former KIPPsters are now about 25. Of the 90, 25 dropped out in the first ye

Justin Parmenter: What Happened What a Private Segregationist Academy Turned into a Charter School in North Carolina

28by dianeravitch / 4d

Justin Parmenter here tells the story of the “white flight academy” that decided to turn itself into a charter, thus relieving the parents of the burden of paying tuition. Now the taxpayers of North Carolina get to fund this school with a long history of fighting desegregation. Hobgood Academy was founded in 1969 and opened in 1970 as a private academy for white parents who didn’t want their chil

Tennessee: Pro-Voucher Republican Replaced by Anti-Voucher Republican as Speaker of House

24by dianeravitch / 4d

Great news from Tennessee! The Speaker of the House, Glenn Canada, who rammed through a voucher bill, was replaced by Cameron Sexton, an anti-voucher Republican. Tennessee replaces its voucher-friendly House speaker with a voucher opponent Marta W. Aldrich of Chalkbeat reports: The House overwhelmingly elected Rep. Cameron Sexton on Friday as its speaker to replace Glen Casada, who stepped down e

AUG 26

Robert Kuttner Has a Dream

28by dianeravitch / 4d

If only. Today from the American Prospect AUGUST 26, 2019 Kuttner on TAP I Have a Dream. My dream is that some senior member of the Trump administration makes a public declaration that Donald Trump is clinically insane. Everybody knows this, but his appointees keep behaving as if the mad king has clothes. The Republican primary challenge to Trump by former Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh softens

Robin Lithgow: A Blog to Celebrate the Arts in School

by dianeravitch / 4d

Robin Lithgow was in charge of arts education for the Los Angeles Unified School District. She learned to deal with bureaucracy, frustration, and budget cuts, but she never lost her joy and passion for the arts and their power to change students’ lives. Now in retirement, she has become a student of the history of the arts.she believes that the justification for the arts cannot be demonstrated wi

Carl J. Petersen: Watch Nick Melvoin Give Away Public Facilities to the Charter Industry

24by dianeravitch / 4d

Carl J.Petersen describes the machinations of Nick Melvoin, a school board member who was put into office by the money of the charter school lobby. As blogger Michael Kohlhaas has demonstrated by publishing leaked emails between Melvoin and leaders of the California Charter School Association, Melvoin is looking out for the interests of his sponsors.

Larry Lee: What Charter Pushers Don’t Understand About Rural Communities Like Fruitdale

30by dianeravitch / 5d

Larry Lee writes about a small town in Alabama called Fruitdale. He describes the central role of the public schools in that community. It is the anchor of the community. The charter lobby doesn’t care about Fruitdale, its history, its people, its future. They have dollar signs in their eyes. He begins: Sweet Jesus. It was hot, like really, really hot. But what do you expect on an August afternoo

Louisiana: The Failure of Vouchers

100+by dianeravitch / 5d

When I first started writing this blog in 2012, Louisiana’s then Governor Bobby Jindal was crowing about his new voucher plan. He and his state commissioner John White insisted that vouchers were a wonderful innovation. They would save poor children from failing public schools. They would give poor children the same choices that rich children have. All the DeVos baloney was served up. We now know

AUG 25

My Gift to You, an Hour of Sheer Pleasure

by dianeravitch / 5d

I recently watched the PBS special about the Jewish legacy on Broadway, and I enjoyed every minute. It is online, and I share it now with you. I hope it is still online. I have always loved Broadway musicals, and many are reprised in this special. But in addition to the entertainment and the rich cultural history, we see a very contemporary story of immigrants coming to America and becoming quint

Bill Phillis: Those Who Know Public Schools Best Love Them

48by dianeravitch / 5d

Bill Phillis points out the annual paradox, reported in every poll about public schools: the public has a low opinion of American education but a very high opinion of their neighborhood public school, the one they know best. This is the result of more than thirty years of public school bashing, launched in 1983 by the Reagan-era “Nation at Risk” report. To the great frustration of the Disruption

Larry Cuban: Why Standardizing Teaching Causes More Variation, Not Less

29by dianeravitch / 6d

Larry Cuban writes that efforts to standardize teaching invariably fail because teachers adapt whatever they are given to the students they teach. The past half-century has seen record-breaking attempts by policymakers to influence how teachers teach. Record-breaking in the sense that again and again (add one more “again” if you wish) federal and state policymakers and aggressive philanthropists

Jersey Jazzman: Clapping for the Dead Merit Pay Fairy

by dianeravitch / 6d

Jersey Jazzman continues to write about the ignominious failure of the highly hyped merit pay fairy in Newark. He takes this development as a sign that all other districts should pay attention. In this post, he writes about those who were bewitched by the promise of merit pay: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2019/08/clapping-harder-for-merit-pay-fairy.html One of those who went gaga for merit p

AUG 24

David Koch Dies, Funder of Attacks on Public Schools

300+by dianeravitch / 6d

David Koch died of cancer a few days ago. He and his brother funded the free-market libertarianism that fueled the rise of the Tea Party and Trumpism. They zealously fought to destroy any government program that helped people, from Medicare to Social Security. They were major funders of ALEC. They opposed any government regulations. The story in the New York Times falls to mention that they funde

California: Charters Criticize Inspire Chain for Poaching Their Students

by dianeravitch / 6d

Charter vs. charter! Charters in California are angry at the Inspire Charter chain for poaching their students. Inspire is the chain that caters to homeschooling parents. Critics of Inspire accuse the charter of using unethical practices to entice parents and students to leave their current charter schools and go to Inspire. A spokesperson for Inspire says the criticism is the result of the chart

Jan Resseger: For-Profit MGT Did NOT “Turn Around” the Schools of Gary, Indiana

46by dianeravitch / 6d

Jan Resseger noted that the Colorado state board of education awarded a contract to MGT Consulting based on their “success” in turning around the public schools of Gary, Indiana. She shows in this post that there was no turnaround. She writes: Colorado state school board members praised MGT’s record in the so-called turnaround of the only whole school district it has managed—for the past two year

Mercedes Schneider: Can Privatizers Win Elections Without Billionaire Cash?

by dianeravitch / 7d

Mercedes Schneider reports that the Louisiana PAC created by a small number of out-of-state billionaires to buy control of the State Board is disbanding. She writes: In 2015, six out-of-state billionaires from four families contributed a combined $3M to influence the outcome of Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) election. The PAC was just dissolved. What will happen in

Jersey Jazzman: The Death of the Merit Pay Fairy in Newark

by dianeravitch / 7d

Jersey Jazzman has posted an obituary for the Merit Pay Fairy. He says it died in Newark, when teachers negotiated a new contract, deep-sixing a Merit Payplan that they endorsed in 2012. JJ demonstrates with facts and evidence 

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