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

Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools

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Marc Tucker: The Relationship Between Child Poverty and Education Outcomes

by dianeravitch / now

Social scientists have repeatedly documented the close correlation between child poverty and academic achievement. You don’t have to be a social scientist to look at any graph that displays both test scores and family income: the kids from the richest families are at the top, and the kids from the poorest family are at the bottom. It is not surprising, because those with the least income have the

How Did Pro-Public School Candidates “Flip” the Denver School Board?

by dianeravitch / 1h

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider reveal the secret ingredient to the success of the Resistance to privatization/portfolio district strategy in Denver in this podcast. For years, Denver had been a feather in the cap of DFER and other advocates of privatization. Betsy DeVos lauded Denver for its commitment to school choice, although she was disappointed that it had not yet adopted vouchers. th

YESTERDAY

Alan Singer: What Did We Learn from PISA?

by dianeravitch / 21h

Alan Singer calls out Common Core for the poor showing of US students on PISA. Remember all the promises about how Common Core would raise all test scores and close gaps? Nada. Of course, the deeper issue is that decades of test-and-punish reforms failed, not just Common Core. it those who pushed these failed policies will not abandon them. They will say—they are saying—that we must double down o

Mercedes Schneider: Emma Bloomberg’s New Ed-Reform Gig, Called “Murmuration”

by dianeravitch / 22h

In case you didn’t know, a murmuration is the sound of lots of birds flapping their little wings. Mercedes Schneider defines it here: The name, “murmuration,” refers to “hundreds, sometimes thousands, of starlings fly in swooping, intricately coordinated patterns through the sky.” Why does it matter? Because Emma Bloomberg, daughter of multibillionaire Michael Bloomberg, has created a new “ed ref

Pennsylvania: Why Did This Charter School CEO Pay Himself $11 Million Without Board Approval?

72by dianeravitch / 23h

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on a federal audit that had surprising findings. A national audit of charter school management companies by the U.S. Department of Education has spotlighted an unnamed Chester City school where, auditors say, the CEO wrote checks to himself totaling $11 million without board approval. The report by the Office of Inspector General did not accuse the CEO of wrongd

John Thompson: The New Wave of “MisNAEPery” Heading Towards Oklahoma and Other States

77by dianeravitch / 1d

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, writes here about the use and misuse of NAEP scores to advance disruption in the schools. A new wave of “misnaepery” is heading towards Oklahoma and other states. After most or all of the corporate reform agenda became law in about 90 percent of states, reading scores dropped so much that even a reform true believer dubbed NAEP as “Nationa

Eli Broad Pays Yale University $100 Million to Take Charge of His Controversial Broad Leadership Academy

96by dianeravitch / 1d

Many school districts have had unfortunate experiences with “Broadies,” the graduates of Eli Broad’s management program for future school leaders. The Broad Leadership Academy has sent forth hundreds of would-be superintendents to impose Broad’s top-down management style, his faith in data, and his belief that the best way to reform a public school is to close it and replace it with a privately m

DEC 05

CORRECTION: An Apology to Pete Buttigieg and the Racially Integrated Public Schools of South Bend, Indiana

500+by dianeravitch / 1d

Several readers of this blog who live in South Bend, Indiana, wrote to say that Fred Klonsky is wrong about Pete Buttigieg and the status of racial integration in the public schools of South Bend. One native of South Bend wrote as follows. Fred Klonsky’s article is simplistic and wildly inaccurate and Mr. Buttigieg’s statement about “school districts” is absolutely correct. First, South Bend Comm

Politico: Betsy DeVos Thanks ALEC for Its Ideas to Defund Public Schools

500+by dianeravitch / 1d

Politico reports that Betsy DeVos thanked her ideological bedfellow, ALEC, for its help in framing proposals to defund public schools (aka vouchers, opportunity scholarships, tax credits, education savings accounts, a rose by any other name, etc.). ALEC is the far-right extremist libertarian organization that hates public schools, gun control, unions, environmental regulations, and anything else

Politico: Betsy DeVos and ED Collected Student Debt in Error on Thousands More Defrauded Students

27by dianeravitch / 1d

Politico Morning Education reports that the U.S. Department of Education mistakenly collected debt from many thousands of students who had been defrauded by a failed online for-profit college and were previously unreported. The last time the Department acknowledged having hounded students in error, it was fined $100,000. Why not fine the Secretary and the officials in charge personally so that th

Justin Parmenter: NC Software Giant Pays to Send State Legislators to ALEC Meetings

300+by dianeravitch / 1d

NBCT high school teacher and blogger Justin Parmenter discovered a shocking fact: a company in the state called SAS pays to send state legislators to the annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a far-right anti-public school organization that writes model legislation. SAS sells software to districts and states to evaluate teacher effectiveness. The SAS software is v

Thomas Ultican: Wealthy White Elites Are Attacking the Little Rock School District

by dianeravitch / 2d

Thomas Ultican writes here about the Walton-funded effort to control the public schools of Little Rock. Given the Walton love of charter schools, we can safely assume that they hope to eliminate democratic control of the citizenry and impose charter schools. Ultican follows the money, where it comes from, where it goes. He writes: In an apparent reaction to the 2014 school board election, new Rep

Two Conservative Billionaire Foundations Collaborate to Fund Disruptive Innovations

68by dianeravitch / 2d

The Walton Family Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation are joining forces to fund disruptive innovations. Both foundations are hostile to democratically governed public schools. Both have supported charter schools and vouchers. Philanthropic groups associated with billionaire businessman and activist Charles Koch have announced two initiatives to deepen their involvement in K-12 education.

Kentucky: Districts Required to Take Charter School Training, with No Charter Schools in Sight

by dianeravitch / 2d

Back when conservative Republican Governor Matt Bevin was riding high, back when he was set to promote charter schools across the state, back when Betsy DeVos visited Kentucky to tout charter schools, every school district was required to take training on how to authorize charter schools. The applications, Bevin’s hand-picked state board assumed, would be pouring in and local boards needed traini

Kentucky: State Board of Education Meets, Omits Request to Fund Charter Schools

by dianeravitch / 2d

Kentucky’s outgoing Republican Governor Matt Bevin made clear that he wanted funding for charter schools, but he lost the recent election to Democrat Andy Beshear. The new governor made clear that one of his top priorities was supporting public schools. However, the State Board of Education and the State Commissioner were appointed by Bevin, and they seem to be holding on until their terms expire

DEC 04

SomeDam Poet on PISA: “That’s a Moron”

by dianeravitch / 2d

Our blog poet reflects on the meaning of the latest international test scores (PISA). That’s a Moron When the test hits your eye Like an old PISA pie That’s a moron When the scores make you drool just like a pasta fazool You’re a moron When you dance down the street with a test as your beat You’re insane When you walk in a dream but you know you’re not dreaming signore Scuzza me, but you see, bac

Peter Greene on PISA Scores: Who Cares?

48by dianeravitch / 2d

Peter Greene writes regularly for Forbes, where this article appeared. He explains for the umpteenth time (as I have done repeatedly) that the U.S. has never led the world on international tests, whether it was PISA, TIMSS, IEA, or any other. He writes: The top scores this year come from the usual batch of test takers, including the Chinese , who give the test to students from wealthy provinces..

The Lucrative Loophole That Charter Operators Exploit

29by dianeravitch / 2d

This article about charter real estate dealings was written by Professors Preston Green III, Bruce Baker, and Derek W. Black. They argue that lax state laws allow charter operators to reap profits while maintaining an ostensibly “nonprofit” status. While critics charge that charter schools are siphoning money away from public schools, a more fundamental issue frequently flies under the radar: the

Library Journal: GREAT Review of SLAYING GOLIATH!

by dianeravitch / 2d

SLAYING GOLIATH will be published on January 21. Please consider giving a pre-order for Xmas to your friends. On that date, I will appear in conversation with Carol Burris to discuss the book and the issues it raises. That event will be sponsored by the Community Bookstore at Congregation Beth Elohim at 274 Garfield Place (Eighth Avenue) in Park Slope, Brooklyn at 6:30 pm on January 21. The books

Fred Klonsky: Pete Buttigieg Discovers Segregated Schools in His Hometown

100+by dianeravitch / 3d

Fred Klonsky writes with amazement that Mayor Pete Buttigieg just realized that there are segregated schools in his hometown of South Bend. He acknowledges that he was slow to come to this realization. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg told Reverend William Barber that he didn’t notice South Bend’s public schools were segregated. Buttigieg is the mayor of South Bend. “I have to con

Yong Zhao: How PISA Created the Illusion of Education Quality and Marketed It to the World

36by dianeravitch / 3d

Yong Zhao, the brilliant education analyst, writes here about the great PISA illusion. If you have not read any of Zhao’s books, do so now. If you have not heard him speak, google him or invite him to your next big conference. He is insightful, provocative, thoughtful, absolutely delightful! He is a master at making people think and debunking hoaxes. Please read the entire post to learn how we an

DEC 03

More on PISA Results from Politico

36by dianeravitch / 3d

Politico Morning Education reports : U.S. SCORES IN READING, MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE LITERACY REMAINED ESSENTIALLY FLAT FROM 2015 in the latest Program for International Student Assessment results, but U.S. rankings improved because other education systems worsened. — The 2018 PISA results showed U.S. average scores in reading and science literacy were higher than the average of about three dozen

Teresa Hanafin on Apple’s World Remapping

by dianeravitch / 3d

Teresa Hanafin wrote this morning in Fast Foreard for the Boston Hlobe. “Just spotted this disturbing story: Another major US company caved to the demands of an autocrat in the name of profit. Apple changed its map and weather apps for users in Russia, redrawing the borders of Crimea to show it as part of Russia instead of Ukraine, capitulating to Russian President Vladimir Putin. As you know, Ru

Chris Whittle Tries a Splashy Comeback

by dianeravitch / 3d

Chris Whittle is the Uber entrepreneur of for-profit education. Back in the 1990s, he launched the Edison Project, assuming that George H.W. Bush would be re-elected and would get a voucher plan through Congress. That didn’t happen, so Edison sought contracts to run low-performing schools. Lots of push back from districts and parents. The share price plummeted. To learn th3 story of Edison, read

New Hampshire: Legislature Puts $46 Million Federal Charter School Grant on Hold

34by dianeravitch / 3d

New Hampshire has divided government. The governor is a Republican, who chooses the State Commissioner. But in the last election in 2018, Democrats won control of the legislature. The State Commissioner is a home-schooling parent who is hostile to public schools. He comes from the Betsy DeVos mold. Speaking of DeVos, she gave New Hampshire $46 million from the federal Charter Schools Program, whi

An Ongoing Debate about Charter Support Among Black and Latino Families

39by dianeravitch / 4d

On November 26, the New York Times published an article that had this headline: ‘Minority Voters Chafe As Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools.’ The point of the article was that many black and Latino families are very disappointed that all the Democratic candidates have turned their backs on charter schools, excepting Cory Booker, currently polling around 1-2%. The article was especiall

Indiana: Karen Francisco on Shady Charter Real Estate Deals

300+by dianeravitch / 4d

Indiana legislators have rewritten state laws to favor privatization of public assets. If a public school is considered unutilized, a charter operator can claim it for only $1. When the West Lafayette school district sued to challenge the law, a judge sided with the legislators. Give the public school away to a private operator, even though it belongs to the public who paid for it! Karen Francisc

PISA: Another Bad Showing for “Reformers”

100+by dianeravitch / 4d

The PISA results were released, and they put the test-and-punish reforms of the past two decades in a harsh light. Billions have been spent on testing and spurious teacher evaluations. Dana Goldstein writes in the New York Times: The performance of American teenagers in reading and math has been stagnant since 2000, according to the latest results of a rigorous international exam, despite a decad

DEC 02

Time Magazine: How the Elites Lost Their Grip

by dianeravitch / 4d

Can this be true? Anand Giriharadas, author of Winner Take All, writes in TIME that the elites lost their grip in 2019. Let’s hope it is true. Democracy is a great idea, worth fighting for.

The Amazing Activism of the Grassroots Network of NPE

by dianeravitch / 4d

The Network for Public Education is fortunate to have the leadership and energy of Marla Kilfoyle, former national director of BATS. She has developed connections with dozens of organizations fighting to protect and improve public schools. Read her latest report here. The report includes a call to action to protect student privacy. The deadline for taking action is December 8. Please open the lin

Jennifer Hall Lee: Why I Volunteer at My Local Public School

84by dianeravitch / 4d

Jennifer Hall Lee lives in Pasadena, California. Her child is now enrolled in the high school, but Lee continues to volunteer and raise money for the middle school, where she is needed. In a note to me, she said that 45% of the students in Pasadena are attending private schools, charter schools, or home schooled. The public schools are suffering because of this splintering of civic energy. She ex

ProPublica: Trump Administration Systematically Rolls Back Rights of LGBT Individuals

by dianeravitch / 5d

During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump spoke of his commitment to protect the rights of LGBT people. He lied. ProPublica released a report documenting the Trump administration’s step-by-step dismantling of federal protections of LGBT persons–in the military, in public housing, in schools, in health care, and in enforcement of civil rights in the courts.

Boston: Falling Enrollment Forces Charter Chain to Retrench

by dianeravitch / 5d

The celebrated Boston charter City on a Hill is closing one of its schools and imposing budget cuts at another due to falling enrollments. Once a shining star in the Boston charter school world, City on a Hill Charter School is facing a massive financial crisis, prompting trustees on Monday to enact a series of dramatic budget cuts: It will lay off 23 teachers, administrators, and other staffers

DEC 01

Trump Administration Defends Christian School That Discriminates Against LGBT Students and Teachers

100+by dianeravitch / 5d

Politico Morning Education reports that the Trump administration has joined a court case on the side of a Christian school in Maryland that was removed from the state’s voucher program because it discriminates against LGBT students and teachers. This is not surprising. The DeVos family has funded anti-gay organizations and state referenda for many years. The Trump administration takes the view th

Superintendents to Public: Get Your Facts Right!

61by dianeravitch / 5d

The National Superintendents Roundtable has a message for the public: be fair when judging our public schools. Schools today are far better than they were 40 or 50 years ago, by all conventional measures. what they might have added was that schools made steady progress until about 2007 or so, when No Child Left Behind took hold, then things were made worse by Race to the Top and Common Core. The

Helen Ladd on the Negative Effects of Charter Schools

99by dianeravitch / 5d

Helen Ladd is one of our nation’s most distinguished economists. She has written extensively about education and poverty, as well as school choice. Dr. Ladd informed me that she has written some new scholarly articles about charter schools. I read them and was impressed. I asked if she would let me post them here. She said that they are on a website that has limited access. However, she said, the

Audrey Watters on Fables of School Reform

by dianeravitch / 6d

This is a fascinating and informative article about the perilous world of edtech by the mistress of edtech debunkers, Audrey Watters. Watters attended a meeting of edtech entrepreneurs and investors in San Diego, where she quickly picked up on their braggadocio, their lingo, and their misinformation. We used to speak of hedge fund managers as the “masters of the universe.” Once you have read Watt

NOV 30

How an ER Nurse Got Stuck with a Bill for $899,000 Until ProPublica Called Her Employer

27by dianeravitch / 6d

Imagine this: an emergency room nurse gives birth to a premature baby. She gets a bill for $898,984 from her employer. She thought she had insurance coverage. Her employer says she didn’t sign up in time for the baby. What is she to do? ProPublica gets involved. This obviously is not an education issue. But it is an issue about what kind of society we are. “Lauren Bard opened the hospital bill th

Jack Hassard: Facts Are Facts

24by dianeravitch / 6d

Jack Hassard taught science and science teachers for many years. He clings to the old-fashioned idea that “facts are facts.” He is offended by the idea of “alternative facts” or the charges of “fake news” used to discredit anyone that Dear Leader disagrees with. A fact is verifiable. An opinion is not. He writes: As science teachers, we think of facts as a repeatable observations or measurements.

Peter Greene’s Rules for Life

by dianeravitch / 7d

I never thought about sitting down and writing out my “rules for life,” but Peter Greene did. They are good as anything I could write, actually better, so I share them here with you.

If Hedge Funds Gobble Up the Free Press, Will Freedom of the Press Survive?

23by dianeravitch / 7d

The New York Times reported on a huge merger of newspapers. In August, Gannett, the parent company of USA Today and more than 100 other dailies, and New Media Investment Group, the owner of the newspaper chain 

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