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

Bill Phillis: Will the Supreme Court Wipe Out the Ban on Public Funding of Religious Schools?

by dianeravitch / 31min

Bill Phillis of the Adequacy and Equity Coalition of Ohio fears that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, to which Trump added two religious zealots, is on the verge of eliminating the separation of church and state. This would be a huge victory for Betsy DeVos, ALEC, and the anti-government crusaders of the Right. Some states—such as Ohio, Indiana, and Florida— have already decided to igno

YESTERDAY

N.Y. Attorney General: Sackler Family Wired $1 Billion Out of U.S.

74by dianeravitch / 10h

New York State Attorney General Leticia James stated that the Sackler Family was wiring money out of the country to protect their assets from litigation related to the opioid crisis. New York Uncovers $1 Billion in Sackler Family Wire Transfers In a court filing, the state attorney general’s office says that it has found new account transfers by members of the family that owns Purdue Pharma, the

Laura Chapman: The New Line on Private Charters as Spelled Out by the D.C. Establishment

by dianeravitch / 17h

Laura Chapman, our loyal reader and diligent researcher, writes: If you want to get past the Dintersmith rhetoric, carefully contrived to make an appealing plausible story (with some help from Frameworks Institute.org), you need to look at the website Education 2020 (ED 2020) to see the underling incoherence (hot air) in Dintersmith’s project, and who is supporting it. About Education 2020: “We (

Peter Greene: Does Social and Emotional Learning Belong in the Classroom?

by dianeravitch / 20h

Education is always ablaze with the latest fad (think “grit,” “think “self-esteem,” think “character education,” think “growth mindset,” think a hundred other hot topics). Now it is “social and emotional learning.” You might think that SEL is simply built into the classroom experience. But no, there is now a demand from some quarters to teach it as a separate activity or even subject. Peter Green

ProPublica Exposes the Man and the Myths Behind the Trump Campaign

by dianeravitch / 21h

This is a fascinating investigation by ProPublica of the life and exaggerations of the webmaster behind the Trump campaign. Brad Parsquale is a Trumpian figure who is running Trump’s re-election campaign and is paid big bucks to market his life story of rags to riches. But it ain’t necessarily so.

Los Altos, California, Fights Elite Charter School

by dianeravitch / 22h

Los Altos has a problem. Wealthy residents opened a charter school for their children, drawing money from the public schools to support their charter. The Bullis School is a private school that calls itself a “public” school and is funded by public dollars. Vladimir Ivanovic wrote the following update on the community’s efforts to compel the Bullis School to act like a public school, not a privat

Nancy Bailey on The War Against Little Children

100+by dianeravitch / 23h

Nancy Bailey describes here the determined effort by policymakers to stamp out play and childhood, all in the name of teaching reading long before children are ready to learn to read. Because kindergarten has become more advanced, preschool is seen as the time children must have prereading skills for kindergarten. If they don’t, it’s seen as a red flag. This makes teachers and parents push childr

Ted Dintersmith: Why We Must Invest in a New Vision for Education

43by dianeravitch / 1d

Ted Dintersmith was honored by the NEA for his advocacy on behalf of public education. In this article, which appeared in Forbes, he urges support for a national commitment to investing in education and the future of our society. He writes: Education is the single most important issue determining our democracy’s future. If we continue to get it wrong, we’re headed for collapse. But if we bring th

SEP 12

How the GOP in North Carolina Pulled Off Its Sneak Attack on Medicaid Expansion for 634,000 People

75by dianeravitch / 1d

Think dirty politics, think North Carolina. Yesterday, while some Democratic legislators and Governor Roy Cooper attended a 9/11 memorial service, the Republican legislators called a snap vote to override the governor’s veto of the state budget. They had repeatedly assured the Democrats that no votes would be recorded that morning, but they lied. If the full body of representatives had been prese

Los Angeles: Parent Calls on LAUSD Board to Investigate Nick Melvoin

38by dianeravitch / 1d

Tracy Abbott Cook, a parent in District 4 represented by Nick Melvoin, testified to the LAUSD board and asked it to investigate him based on the emails leaked to Michael Kohlhaas. The emails showed that Melvoin had collaborated with opposing counsel from the California Charter School Association. Ms. Cook believes this is a violation of Melvoin’s obligation to the voters who elected him and to hi

Curriculum Company Sues Parent for Criticizing Its Program

40by dianeravitch / 1d

Sarah Sparks writes in Edweek about a curriculum company that is suing a parent in Wake County, North Carolina, for criticizing its math program. The company says the parent is defaming its product. The parent’s lawyer says the company is attacking the parent’s First Amendment rights. As the story notes, this is a SLAPP suit, a suit meant to silence public criticism. The last time I encountered t

Julian Vasquez Heilig on Our Segregated Charter Schools

by dianeravitch / 1d

This is an interview with Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig, the scholar who was recently named dean of the University of Kentucky School of Education. JVH’s scholarship focuses on equity. He has written about charter schools and Teach for America. https://progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/segregation-worse-charter-schools-vasquez-heilig-miller-190909/ From the Progressive: Vasquez-Heilig and his c

Jack Hassard: Trump’s Outrageous War on Science

26by dianeravitch / 1d

Jack Hassard Taught science education for many years. He used to write a blog called “The Art of Teaching Science,” but became so upset about current events that he renamed his blog “Jack Hassard’s Blog.” In this post, he excoriates Trump’s war on science. He begins: Science was under assault last week by an un-educated President and his staff who believe that they can supercede the findings of s

Kentucky PTA Lawyer: The Other Side of the Story

by dianeravitch / 1d

I posted Gay Adelmann’s account of her efforts to see the financial records of the Kentucky PTA. Both sides ended up in court. https://dianeravitch.net/2019/09/09/kentucky-what-is-the-state-pta-hiding/ I heard from S. Coy Travis, whose law firm represents the Kentucky PTA. He wanted readers to know both sides. I invited him to write a commentary, and he did. He wrote: Isn’t Kentucky PTA subject t

Steven Singer: Time to Close Every Single Charter School, Every One

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

Steven Singer, a teacher in Pennsylvania, has concluded that there are no good charter schools. The problem, he says, is not implementation but the concept , which, he insists, is wrong. He writes: The problem with charter schools isn’t that they have been implemented badly. Nor is it that some are for-profit and others are not. The problem is the concept, itself. Put simply: charter schools are

Mineola, N.Y.: A Third-Grade Classroom Where Students Spend 75% of The Day on Their iPads

by dianeravitch / 2d

Four years ago, the Hechinger Report described a third-grade class in an affluent suburb of New York City where children spend 75% of the day on their iPads. Is this the future? It is not a cost-saver, since there is still one teacher and a class of 20+ students. In most tech-infused projections, this is called “personalized learning,” and it is pitched as a way to cut costs by increasing class s

SEP 11

North Carolina: Republican Legislators Trash Democracy

34by dianeravitch / 2d

Republican legislators in North Carolina pulled a fast one on the Democrats. After assuring them that no votes were scheduled, the Republicans took advantage of the Democrats’ absence to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of the Republican budget. https://apple.news/ARwmvDp7KQ1O0PQfx-alHAA NBC reported: “North Carolina House Democrats are calling foul on their Republican colleagues for voting to

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family Reach a Deal That Leaves the Family Billionaires

by dianeravitch / 2d

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family have reached a settlement that will leave the family with many billions of dollars. The company is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy imminently. The settlement, which was described by two people involved in the negotiations, involves the dissolution of Purdue Pharma as it now exists, the formation of a new company that will continue to sell its signat

Ann Cronin: Healing from Our Current Wreckage

by dianeravitch / 2d

Ann Cronin posted about the efforts of some Americans to heal divisions instead of widening them. She writes here about one of those Americans who sought to bridge differences. Grief doesn’t ever go away, but Manal Ezzat, a Muslim woman and engineer with the U.S. Army who was present at the attack on the Pentagon, took her grief and used it to connect with others in need. She was the project mana

Robert Kuttner: The Case for Patriotism

32by dianeravitch / 2d

Robert Kuttner writes and edits “The American Prospect.” He reminds me of myself. I am a patriot but since the 2016 election, I have not felt patriotic. I have been ashamed of my president and my nation. Hateful, crazy people had taken control of our government. It seemed like every ounce of compassion and respect for the rule of law had been stamped out. Kuttner explains why we must recapture ou

Providence: Acting Superintendent Wastes $187,000 on “Inspirational” Books

28by dianeravitch / 2d

The public schools of Providence have been taken over by the state because of very low test scores. The interim superintendent Frances Gallo is the same person who threatened to fire the entire staff of Central Falls High School in 2010 because of its very low scores. Central Falls was taken over by the state. It still has the lowest scores in the state. From the Boston Globe, which is behind a p

NY State Teachers Retirement Invests In K12 Inc.

55by dianeravitch / 2d

Why do teachers’ pension funds invest in stocks of corporations that are actively undermining public schools and their teachers? K12 Inc. manages a chain of online charter schools that are noted for low performance, high attrition rates, and low graduation rates. Their teachers never meet students. They have large classes, no union. New York State Teachers Retirement System Makes New $100,000 Inv

Donald and the Black Sharpie

35by dianeravitch / 2d

I have read “Harold and the Purple Crayon” for many decades. First to my children, then to my grandchildren. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post re-imagines the iconic children’s book brilliantly. The best commentary I have read in a long time on our national nightmare. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-and-the-black-sharpie/2019/09/06/44202240-d0b9-11e9-b29b-a528dc82154a_story.html

The Untold Story of the Greatest Boatlift in History

by dianeravitch / 2d

This is a powerful documentary about the Great Boatlift on 9/11/01. Boats of every type and size converged on Lower Manhattan to rescue half a million people who were trapped after the Twin Towers fell. It reminds us of the power of good that brings people together in common purpose.

A First-Person Account of 9/11

35by dianeravitch / 3d

My friend Bernadette Hoban was attending a business meeting at 120 Broadway, near the World Trade Center, when the first plane hit the first building. She worked for a large insurance company. She never told the full story of what happened that day. Until yesterday when she posted this account on her Facebook page. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, by all accounts it was a beautiful day. I par

SEP 10

Leonie Haimson: New York Must Protect Student Privacy from Predators

by dianeravitch / 3d

Leonie Haimson warns that New York State is considering changes that would make students’ personal data available to vendors without the knowledge or consent of their parents. https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2019/09/make-your-voices-heard-urge-nysed-not.html She writes: “The New York Board of Regents is currently considering whether to approve a radical weakening of the state student

Robin Lithgow: What You Need to Know about Rhetoric

by dianeravitch / 3d

Robin Lithgow spent many years in charge of arts education for the Los Angeles public schools. Having retired, she is now writing a book and blogging about the arts, especially theater and drama and their relation to cognition. I think you will enjoy this delightful meditation about rhetoric, what it meant in Shakespeare’s day, and what it means today. What’s with all the rhetoric? She begins: Th

Peter Greene: Privatization and the Weather Service

64by dianeravitch / 3d

Did you ever stop to wonder why you get weather forecasts for free? The National Weather Service is a federal agency that provides this information to the public, and we pay for it with our taxes. Bad news, Peter Greene reports. A commercial weather service called Accuweather, which sells advertising, thinks it is unfair that the National Weather Service gives the weather forecasts for free. Dona

Arthur Camins: Fight for First Principles

24by dianeravitch / 3d

Arthur Camins insists that voters should stand by their principles in the 2020 elections. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2019/9/6/1883805/-Fight-for-First-Principles In 2020, let’s elect people who don’t temper and undermine first principles like high-quality universal education and health care, with a soul- and hope-crushing, “But let’s be realistic about what’s achievable.” Don’t start with the

Texas: Commissioner Threatens to Dismiss Elected Board Because One High School Has Low Scores

49by dianeravitch / 4d

Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath has threatened to take over the state’s largest school district —Houston Independent School District—because one high school has persistently received low test scores. That school—Wheatley High School—enrolls high proportions of students who are low-income (88%) and in need of special education (19%), but Morath doesn’t care. Morath sent similar letters

SEP 09

Ed Johnson on the Non-Renewal of the Atlanta Superintendent’s Contract

30by dianeravitch / 4d

The Atlanta Board of Education announced earlier today that it was not extending the contract of its superintendent. Ed Johnson has been an outspoken critic in Atlanta of the drive for privatization and the behaviorist methods that have been in favor in Atlanta since the arrival of the late Superintendent Be early Hall, who literally drove teachers, principals, and students to produce higher test

Breaking News! Atlanta Will Not Renew Superintendent’s Contract

32by dianeravitch / 4d

In a surprise announcement, the Atlanta School Board decided not to renew the contract of it controversial Superintendent Méria Carstarphen. https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/divided-atlanta-school-board-meets-today-discuss-superintendent-future/udqiT86GLYtGnEpXUCQPJL/ She supports the transformation of the city’s schools into a portfolio district with many charters. It appeared that she h

NYSAPE: Opt Out Movement Denounces State Tests, Again

33by dianeravitch / 4d

https://www.nysape.org/nysape-pr-opt-remains-strong.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 9, 2019 More information contact: Jeanette Deutermann (516) 902-9228; nys.allies@gmail.com Kemala Karmen (917) 807-9969; nys.allies@gmail.com New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) Opt-Out Remains Strong Despite the former Commissioner’s Scare Tactics; Room Continues to be Made for Whole-Child I

Kentucky: What is the State PTA Hiding?

23by dianeravitch / 4d

Gay Adelmann, founder of the parent activist group called Dear JCPS, recently requested the financial records of the Kentucky PTA . The PTA refused to turn them over, although they are supposed to be a matter of public record. (Jefferson County is synonymous with Louisville.) Dear JCPS co-founder, Gay Adelmann recently made a routine records request of the largest school district in Kentucky (27t

Tulsa: How Data and Gates Consultant Persuaded Public to Close Public Schools and Cut Their Budget

25by dianeravitch / 4d

This is a curious article about the makeover of Tulsa Public Schools, where the superintendent is Broadie and former Rhode Island Superintendent Deborah Gist. https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/columnists/ginnie-graham-tulsa-public-schools-has-gone-through-major-reforms/article_4bc36885-c247-5858-99f1-7387c48b4fab.html Under the previous superintendent, a plan called “Project Schoolhouse” resulte

Tom Ultican: D.C.’s Very Expensive, Ineffective Charter Sector

21by dianeravitch / 4d

Tom Ultican, retired teacher of advanced mathematics and physics, has written a series of posts about the Destroy Public Education Movement. In this comprehensive post, he reviews the unimpressive but very expensive charter sector in the District of Columbia. Many charter operators have made big salaries and the British testing corporation Pearson has been enriched, but charter performance has la

Sarah Lahm: Why Democrats Should Speak Out Against Nonprofit Charter Schools

by dianeravitch / 5d

Sarah Lahm writes about education in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis. In this post , she says that Democratic candidates should speak out against nonprofit charters. Charter schools, once the darling of politicians on the right and left, have become a hot potato in the Democratic Party 2020 presidential primary with nearly every candidate voicing some level of disapproval of the industry. A common

SEP 08

Shani Robinson Speaks About Her Trial in Atlanta

by dianeravitch / 5d

Shani Robinson is one of the teachers who was convicted of cheating in the infamous Atlanta case. In her absorbing book None the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators , Robinson makes a convincing case that she was railroaded by an over-zealous, unscrupulous and racist prosecution. In this brief video , she ex

District of Columbia: Rachel Cohen Explains How Taxpayers Fund an Army of Charter School Lobbyists

24by dianeravitch / 5d

In an insightful article in the Washington City Paper, Rachel Cohen describes how the charter industry in the District of Columbia has organized campaigns to prevent any accountability , and has arranged that taxpayers fund their lobbying efforts, with the help of a few billionaires. It takes money to persuade politicians to vote your way, and the charter industry has figured out how to get the p

Wall Street Journal: Schools Invest Zillions in Technology, Parents Push Back

74by dianeravitch / 5d

Technology in the classroom has become so ubiquitous that the use of papers and pencils or pens seems innovative. The Wall Street Journal published a front-page story about the high-powered push to buy technology and the growing disillusionment of some parents and teachers. When Baltimore County, Md., public schools began going digital five years ago, textbooks disappeared from classrooms and pap

New Yorker: Did Jeffrey Epstein, Sexual Predator, Persuade Bill Gates to Donate $2 Million to MIT Media Lab?

by dianeravitch / 6d

The New Yorker magazine published an expose of Jeffrey Epstein’s connection to the MIT Media Lab and its efforts to conceal the connection. After the story appeared, the director of the Lab resigned. The article: The M.I.T. Media Lab, which has been embroiled in a scandal over accepting donations from the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had a deeper fund-raising relationship

SEP 07

John Thompson: The Corporate Makeover of Tulsa University

100+by dianeravitch / 6d

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, writes here about the philanthrocaptalist makeover of Tulsa University. A tale of our times. Surely we can agree with The Tulsa World’s Randy Krehbiel, who says that the faculty and administration “disagree bitterly … about whether that transformation will be good or bad for the university. ” Krehbiel provides plenty of space for the case

Betsy DeVos Floods New Hampshire with $46 Million for Charters

2Kby dianeravitch / 6d

Perhaps Betsy DeVos knows that the Trump administration’s days in power are winding down. She is throwing $46 million in federal money at New Hampshire in an effort to destroy the state’s public schools. This grant will double the number of charter schools in the state. Most of the state is rural or small towns. The largest city in the state is Manchester, with a population of about 100,000, with

Betsy DeVos: The Musical!

39by dianeravitch / 6d

Quinn Strassel, a drama teacher at Ann Arbor Community High School has written a music about Betsy DeVos, the arch-for of America’s public schools. The Michigan media took note. Strassel recruited Diane Hill, his former Ypsilanti High School drama teacher, to take on the role of Betsy DeVos, while he played husband Dick DeVos and brother Erik Prince. The cast also included some of Strassel’s form

“Think Progress,” The News Site of the Center for American Progress, Is Folding

40by dianeravitch / 7d

The Center for American Progress has been the think tank of centrist Democrats and a refuge for veterans of the Obama administration and the would-have-been Clinton Administration. The media calls it “progressive,” but 

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