Two articles were published recently about a new book that makes the point that billionaires pay at a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans. The book is The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times, in a column called “ The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You”: For the first t
Tim Jackson is a parent with children in the Little Rock School District and an active member of Grassroots Arkansas, which has been fighting for the restoration of democratic control of the LRSD public schools. He is also a film-maker. He attended the state school board meeting that theoretically restored local control. He wrote this account: ARKANSAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING – 10.09.19
Yesterday the Arkansas State Board of Education voted to return control of the Little Rock School District to the people of Little Rock. This followed massive demonstrations and demands by the citizenry. At the same meeting, the board voted unanimously to deny recognition to the Little Rock Educators Association, which represents 60% of the teachers in the district. Rev/Dr. Anika Whitfield, an ac
Cathy Frye continues her revelations about her three years working as communications director for a Walton-funded organization deceptively named the Arkansas Public Schools Resource Center (APSRC). As is by now universally known, the Walton family supports charters and vouchers, not public schools. As is less well known, privatizers create organizations with misleading names to fool the suckers.
Hedge fund managers decided in 2005 that the best way to advance the charter school idea was to create a faux organization called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), then to funnel campaign cash to Democratic candidates who promised to support charter schools. This worked for a time. Senator Barack Obama spoke at the inaugural meeting of DFER at a penthouse in Manhattan filled with Wall Street
A reader of Mercedes Schneider’s blog asked her to investigate a new curriculum that the state was imposing on all teachers. Schneider took the challenge, which resulted in this post . I play a role in this venture so I want to explain how I got involved. In 2007 or 2008, I was invited to co-chair a new organization whose purpose was to advocate for the liberal arts. The other co-chair was Antoni
The Arkansas State Board of Education planned to restore local control to schools in the whitest part of Little Rock, but the community rose up in opposition and demanded the restoration of the entire district, one Little Rock. Massive crowds gathered to raise their voices in protest and the state board folded. THE ARKANSAS STATE Board of Education abandoned its previously adopted plan to relinqu
My Favorite morning news summary is Fast Forward, written by Teresa Hanafin of the Boston Globe. I skip the local sports report, but love her tips from the Old Farmers’ Almanac, and her commentaries on national politics. I often quote her column. You can sign up here.
At last! The leaders of 350 teacher education programs have issued a bold statement i n collaboration with the National Education Policy Center denouncing attacks on teacher education and market-based “remedies.” The group calls itself Education Deans for Justice and Equity. Their efforts contrast with those of a group called “ Deans for Impact,” funded in 2015 by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Cathy Frye is an experienced journalist who switched careers. Three years ago, she was hired to work for the Arkansas Public School Resource Center as communications director. Before she was hired, she was asked if she had any qualms about charter schools, and she said no. When she quit her job in June 2019, she decided to tell what she had learned, and she started to report about her experiences
This post is a moving tribute to a teacher who died of cancer at the age of 32. Ashley Kuzma exhausted every possibility, holding on to life as long as she could. She wrote her obituary. She reminds us about what matters most. I urge you to read it.
The Resistance won a big victory in Los Angeles. Thanks to newly elected LAUSD board member Jackie Goldberg, a key committee of the school board rejected a plan to assign a single grade to every school. The idea of grading schools with a single letter was first hatched by Jeb Bush, in his relentless push to impose test-based accountability on every public school in Florida and to set up those wit
This is a story so nutty that it would be hilarious if there were no children involved. Instead, it is an outrage. When the fringe rightwingers of the Tea Party won control of the North Carolina legislature in 2010, they promptly passed laws authorizing charters and vouchers and transferring the funding from the state’s successful N.C. Teaching Fellows Program (which prepared career teachers) to
Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach the president. Any president who is impeached is tried by the Senate. The relevant sentence says: The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. The White House sent a letter to the House declaring that its impeachment inqu
NEWS ADVISORY: For Immediate Release| ctulocal1.org CONTACT: Chris Geovanis, 312-329-6250 , 312-446-4939 (m) , ChrisGeovanis@ctulocal1.org 7:00 a.m., Thurs. Oct. 10: Sharkey, charter teachers to announce strike date Passages charter school, 1643 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago CTU president to join charter teachers as Passages announces strike date CEO for lone CPS-funded charter earns equal to CPS CE
The deranged man in charge of the federal government despises the people who work for the federal government. If they dare to dissent from his unhinges behavior, he says they are spies or they are part of the “deep state” that is determined to thwart his self-aggrandizing policies. Yet there are some who have spoken out, most recently 90 who served as national security professionals, including so
Teresa Hanafin writes the daily Fast Forward for the Boston Globe. As he did with the Vietnam War, Trump has decided to sit out the House impeachment inquiry, using what constitutional experts say are bone spurs spurious arguments to claim that Democratic House leaders are conducting an illegitimate inquiry. He not only is refusing to cooperate with the investigation, he also has declared war on
This is an important, can’t-miss podcast about the malign plans of one of the richest men in the world. Business reporter Christopher Leonard has written a best-selling new book called Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America. It’s an eye-opening account of how the Kochs built the private company that has made them richer than Bill Gates. Leonard spent seven
Wendy Lecker is a civil rights lawyer who specializes in issues related to education and children. A new Education Week national survey of school districts reveals disturbing gaps between state and federal policy and the reality in American public schools. The vast majority of districts report major funding problems. Most list rising special education costs and rising levels of needy students as
Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, is outraged that Mayor DeBlasio is handing schools over to Laurene Powell Jobs and the charter-promoting Robin Hood Foundation. Powell Jobs has handed out $100 million to jumpstart “innovative” schools. Four of the 10 schools to which she gave $10 million each have already failed. Her closest associate is Arne Duncan, whose Race to the Top
Andrew Stewart recounts the alarming plans that Governor Gina Raimondo has in store for Providence public schools. She is a former venture capitalist who seems to have an instinctive suspicion of the public sector. What she has in mind, he says, is the planned demolition of the public schools. He writes: Someday, after the operatic cycle of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s political career has r
Will billionaire Betsy DeVos go to jail for defying the direct order of a judge? In 2015, for-profit Corinthian Colleges went bankrupt after state attorney generals complained of fraud. Thousands of its former students were left in the lurch with a mountain of debt for a worthless “education.” After the company filed for bankruptcy protection, the federal department of education ruled that as man
As I have mentioned more than a few times here, my favorite daily reading is Teresa Hanafin’s “Fast Forward” in the Boston Globe. She always begins with some kernel of wisdom from the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Today, she says that the Almanac has a children’s edition every other year and she includes sample pages that show kids how to whistle. Very important information. She updates Boston sports new
The Walton Family is collectively worth more than $150 billion, and their hobby is undermining and disrupting public schools across the nation. Since Louisiana has an election for the state board of education in a few days, you will not be surprised to learn that Jim and Alice Walton dropped $200,000 on candidates pledged to support charter schools, vouchers, and Teach for America. Mercedes Schne
Michael Moore visited Finland with a camera crew to learn about its education system . How could a nation post high test scores on international tests when its schools emphasize creativity, play, physical activity, and the arts and ignores standardized testing? Watch his video and see what you think.
Reader Jack Covey, a teacher in Los Angeles, sent the following comment to me: First, watch this clip from Michael Moore about schools in Finland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-DcjwzF9yc Now, read Education Next on the same topic, in the context of a book review by Cherker Finn. https://www.educationnext.org/more-play-will-save-our-schools-book-claims-review-let-the-children-play-sahlberg-doy
Unlike many other states, New York has a State Comptroller who audits both public schools and charter schools. The latest audit of a fast-growing charter in Hempstead, New York, found that executives were charging large expenses to the school’s credit card without documentation. The Hempstead district is about 70% free & reduced-price lunch, overwhelmingly Hispanic and African American, only 2% w
Jamie Gass writes here about a powerful literary tradition that was honored in Massachusetts and perhaps a few other places, but was tossed aside by the state when it adopted the Common Core. Gass illogically puts the blame on “educrats” and schools of education for the decision that junked the state’s reverence for literature: the political decision by its governors to pursue Race to the Top fun
As Republicans and top military brass recoil in shock after Trump’s decision to abandon the Kurds (which benefits Putin while betraying a faithful ally), Trump tweeted this: As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done befo
Grassroots Arkansas sent out the following alert to friends of public education and democracy: Friends, It has been a long, hard five years of state control, and so much of the future of public education in Arkansas will be decided this week. We need YOU to join us, stand up, and speak out. NOW is the time. We all must choose to stand on the right side of history against a district where democrat
Andrea Gabor blows up the myth that the path to success in business requires a major in business or that there is a “skills gap” in STEM subjects. If you want to succeed in business, she writes, major in the liberal arts. The combatants in the U.S. education wars don’t agree on much, but there’s at least one concern that most reformers and educators across the political spectrum seem to share: fe
Working with his treasure trove of emails among charter operators, which he obtained via a public records request, blogger Michael Kohlhaas explains how the Charter Lobby managed to reduce the powers of the Office of Inspector General, whose investigations into corrupt charters had been a thorn in their side. This is an important post. Read it in full. The charter lobby dedicates a lot of time an
The Charter Industry has insisted that charter schools need no regulation, supervision, or oversight so they can have maximum flexibility. But where government money flows, accountability is imperative. The importance of accountability was demonstrated again recently in Dallas, where the CEO of a charter school was convicted of steering a contract to a friend in exchange for a kickback. Donna Hou
Nancy Flanagan is a retired teacher in Michigan with long experience in the classroom and one of our best education bloggers. In this post, she wonders why the Democratic candidates are mostly mum about charters. At the last Democratic debate, when the question of charters was raised, Andrew Yang was the only one who openly expressed support for charters. The good news is that Andrew Yang will no
Politico Playbook describes Trump’s schedule. He leaves lots of time for watching FOX News and tweeting. Now we understand what he meant when he said he could run the country and the Trump Organization at the same time. It’s a piece of cake, with plenty of time for golfing. SNEAK PEEK … THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK AHEAD: MONDAY: The president will have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He will
Gary Rubinstein has followed the failure of the “portfolio model” more closely than anyone in the country. He watched the Tennessee “Achievement School District” as its leaders made bold promises, then departed for lucrative reformy gigs as the ASD collapsed in failure. In this post, he describes the failure of Nevada’s copycat ASD. , which was modeled on Tennessee’s ASD, which was modeled on New
This article in The Nation by Casey Parks tells the story of Sci Academy in New Orleans and the lessons it learned over time about making bold promises. The school pledged that all its students would go to college and encouraged them to apply to four-year colleges that were outside their comfort zone (not close by and predominantly white). In 2012, almost all of its graduates were accepted to col
Bill Phillis, founder of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, reports on a new study that undercuts the rationale for state takeovers. He writes: Research study: Students learn no less in poor, urban schools than other schools OSU Professor of Sociology, Dr. Douglas Downey, lead author of a recent study , found that students in urban districts with high concentrations of
Jan Resseger reviews fifteen years of corporate education reform led by Arne Duncan and Rahm Emanuel and finds failure, disruption, and racism. It started in 2004 when Arne launched his Renaissance 2010 initiative, pledging to close 100 “failing schools” and replace them, in large part with charter schools. Rahm continued it by closing 49 schools on a single day. Resseger relies on the brilliant
Politico Playbook by Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman reports on the latest sightings of Donald Trump’s mind. He seems to think that the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian President demonstrates his innocence, when in fact it verified the whistleblower’s statement. Note that he once again displayed his vulgarity and lack of dignity. WHAT’S ON THE PRESIDENT’S MIND THIS A.M.: @realDonaldTr
Kentucky launched its new school rating system, based on federal law requiring states to rate schools and identify the “lowest” 5 percent. Instead of letter grades (the Jeb Bush model), Kentucky will award stars. Is this a distinction without a difference? Most of the rating will be based on test scores and growth in test scores and graduation rates and other measures. The experience of other sta
For some reason, the Gulen charter chain thought that it would be a good idea to open a charter in a rural county in Alabama. Residents of Washington County were outraged, and the charter didn’t enroll enough students to open. The state charter commission asked no questions of Soner Tarim, the leader of Woodland Prep, and gave the school a one-year extension. But as veteran education writer Larry
New Orleans is supposed to be the lodestar of the Corporate Reform Movement (or as I call it, the Disruption Movement), but the experiment in privatization is a costly failure, as Tom Ultican demonstrates in this post. The old, underfunded school system was corrupt and inefficient. The new one is expensive, inefficient, and ethically corrupt because of its incessant boasting about what are actual
Governor Bill Lee Hayes public schools, even though most children in Tennessee attend them. He packed the new State Charter School Commission with people who love to hand public money to private corporations to operate
