CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

CURMUDGUCATION

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share.

Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions  

Not about education, but this Intercept piece is another fine example of how the rich play the astro-turf game to push their policies to protect their interests.

Former Redlined Neighborhoods Have Changed 

Andre Perry and David Harshbarger at Brookings provide a more current picture of what has happened in some historically redlined areas.

Student Tracking, Secret Scores 

Apparently, at some colleges, Big Brother is looking at your admissions file. Is cyberstalking social media now part of the college application process. Washington Post.

More Loan Mess

Oh look-- the USED didn't just fumble the student loan forgiveness program, but actively thwarted it. The details from NPR.

North Carolina's Abandoned Charter Business

They set up a charter school business chain, and then they decided to move on to other things. What happens to charters when the visionary leaders vote with their feet?

Mapping America’s Teacher Evaluation Plans Under ESSA

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley and colleagues have done some useful research about the current shape of teacher evaluation-- and some of the news is good.

Maybe DeVos was a good thing

Thomas Ultican looks at some documentary evidence  of how bad a Clinton ed department might have been.

How Billionaire Charter School Funders Corrupted the School Leadership Pipeline  

Jeff Bryant continues his look at how rich guys like Eli Broad have taken over the business of producing school administrators.

About Schema

EdWeek offers a great explanation of some powerful learning ideas.

The K-12 Takeover 

Andrea Gabor has the must-read of the week over at Harpers, writing about how modern fauxlanthropists have commandeered public education with New Orleans as Exhibit A.

Why Are We Expecting Teens To Have It All Figured Out 

From Grown and Flown, a parent perspective on the kinds of decisions we expect teens to make, and how life is not always a clear straight line.

$1.3 Million Wasn't Enough 

How much did the Waltons spend to buy Louisiana education elections? Merceds Schneider knows.

Hidden Messages Your School Sends To Students

Nancy Flanagan with some thoughts about the subtext of a school.


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TODAY

ICYMI: Why I Write Day Edition (10/20)

by Peter Greene / 2h

I have an easier time understanding why some people write than I do understanding why so many people don't. Doesn't everybody need to? But then-- there are many things I don't fully understand, like why some people hate candy corn. While I'm pondering, here are some pieces of writing from the week for you to read and share. Murdoch-Funded Anti-Gerrymandering Group Raises Questions Not about educat

Shame

46by Peter Greene / 2h

The most shocking and disturbing thing that I saw on line this week had nothing to do with politics. It was a post by a teacher explaining her school's disciplinary system. As with many systems, students have a color-coded behavior level monitored and adjusted throughout the day. Unlike any school I'd ever heard of before, students at this school receive a colored card for their behavior level tha

OCT 18

What Ever Happened To Rebecca Friedrichs?

66by Peter Greene / 1d

You remember Rebecca Friedrichs. She was the face of the union-busting lawsuit of 2014 . Supreme Court Justice Alito signaled that he was ready and willing to hear a case that would revisit the issue of union free-riders, and the Center for Individual Rights (an activist-by-way-of-lawsuits group funded by, among others, various Koch groups and the DeVos family ) delivered with Friedrichs plus nine

OCT 16

Scorched Earth Education Policy (Charters, Watch Your Flank)

65by Peter Greene / 3d

This is you should ignore the old admonition to not read the comments. I converse with plenty of folks that I disagree with, both in the ed policy world and outside of it, and those conversations are largely civil, which sometimes distracts me from the fact that there are people out there who hate, hate, hate public education ("government schools") and the teachers who work there ("union thugs").

Are State Takeovers A Useful Tool

38by Peter Greene / 3d

Earlier this month, the 74 published an unusual article from Ashley Jochim and Paul Hill, both of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Their argument is that state takeovers of school districts "remain a powerful tool." What's exceptional about the piece is that it is loaded with evidence to the contrary. I mean, ordinarily I would have had to go hunt this stuff down myself, but it's right

OCT 15

Betsy DeVos, Polly Williams, Vouchers, And Selective Facts

65by Peter Greene / 4d

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos kicked off her back to school tour at the Saint Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee a few weeks ago. This piece ran back then at Forbes, and I don't repost everything from there, but we've developed such goldfish memories under this administration, I'm going to trot this one out again here. Because we need to remember what the threat to public education is. The

OCT 14

Fake Slaughter And The Liberal Arts

33by Peter Greene / 5d

The interwebs are abuzz with a video shown in some side room by some assortment of Trumpists at the American Priority gathering held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. There are questions about who brought it, who showed it, and how it had already been kicking around the internet, but there's no question that the whole thing is pretty brutal. In the clip, a bunch of faces and logos have been cyber-past

OCT 13

ICYMI: Quiet Sunday Edition (10/13)

by Peter Greene / 6d

It's a quiet day in these parts, but there is still some reading to do from the previous week. Here are some pieces you might want to catch up on. Don't forget to share-- The Walton Takeover of Public Education Continues The Arkansas blog looks at what our favorite retail oligarchs are up to in their home state. Five Signs Your Reform Has Become Another Education Fad Rick Hess at EdWeek makes a us

OCT 12

KY: Pushing Old Charter Myths In A New Market

23by Peter Greene / 7d

Kentucky has spent a bunch of time in charter limbo --there is a charter law on the books, but the legislature wouldn't fund it and l ocal districts are (shocker) unwilling to share their aready-meager funding. So Kentucky remains a fresh 

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