The Houston Chronicle reports that Trump will promote Ted Cruz’s school voucher plan, which aligns nicely with the DeVos “Education Freedom” vouchers. Texas does not have vouchers, thanks to the concerted efforts of Pastors for Texas Children and a large number of local civic groups. Despite the fervent advocacy of top Republicans, a coalition of rural Republicans and urban Democrats have stopped
The Economic Policy Institute has created an interactive state-by-state analysis of the cost of high-quality early childhood education. At present, most ECE workers/teachers are grossly underpaid, some well below the poverty line. It is fair to assume that policymakers today are unlikely to pay the cost of high-quality ECE. In many states, and at the federal level, policymakers do not believe in
Professor Jim Scheurich read a recent article in the rightwing, anti-public school journal “Education Next” about Indianapolis, which he thought was fundamentally flawed. He sent the following analysis of what’s really happening in Indianapolis: A RECENT ARTICLE IN EDUCATION NEXT COMPLETELY MISREPRESENTS THE RECENT HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS K12 EDUCATION Dr. Jim Scheurich Urban Education Studies Do
The Ohio Legislature has created a royal mess in its rush to give vouchers to almost every student in the state. They can’t decide whether the vouchers will be paid by taking money away from the state’s underfunded public schools and how to decide which children get public money to attend private schools. Jan Resseger untangles the mess in her lucid way. Read the whole post, not just this excerpt
Valerie Strauss writes here about the abject apology by Tom Torkelsen of the IDEA corporate charter chain for his company’s lavish spending. The head of a Texas-based charter school chain publicly apologized for “really dumb and unhelpful” plans that included leasing a private jet for millions of dollars and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on San Antonio Spurs tickets. It’s not the firs
The University of California’s faculty leaders have recommended retaining the controversial SAT and ACT as admissions requirements, despite concerns that the standardized tests are rigged against students of low income. Wealthy parents pay huge sums for tutoring their children. Standardized tests by their nature are rigged against disadvantaged students, which has encouraged more than 1,000 colle
Parents, students, and local officials plead with Chancellor Lewis Ferebee: DO NOT CLOSE WASHINGTON MET! No student was ever helped by closing schools! Stop the mayhem. Stop the pointless disruption! Support the school, don’t kill it. Do not pave the way for gentrification and more charter schools.
While you are enjoying the previous post, which you should really print out and read carefully, here are two gems from Garrison Keillor’s delightful daily “A Writer’s Almanac.” I have been warned never to refer to him or his work, but I believe in redemption. And I post what I want. You may have to be as old as me to remember the first item. We mourn today for the legendary sports star Kobe Bryan
The Walton Family Foundation is the fruit of the Walmart chain. It was created by the Waltons, one of the richest families in the world. The three senior members of the Walton family–Alice Walton, Jim Walton, and Rob Walton–have a collective net worth in excess of $150 billion. There is a younger generation of Waltons whose wealth is not included in that total. The Walton family increases its wea
Jackie Goldberg, the dynamic progressive on the Los Angeles school board, send this request for help: FROM THE DESK OF JACKIE GOLDBERG Dear Friends and Family, First, I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for all you’ve done to support me over so many years. And I have another personal request for each of you because you are all important in the struggles for full funding for public edu
The charter industry is overrun with scandals because charter laws do not require accountability and transparency. Theft, conflicts of interest, nepotism, and fraud are a feature, not a bug. A charter operator in Dallas was sentenced to seven years in jail for taking a kickback , but then convinced the board to give her a bonus of $20,000. Donna Houston-Woods was convicted of defrauding her own D
A free press makes a difference. Here is proof. On January 23, Leslie Postal and Annie Martin of the Orlando Sentinel wrote that nearly 160 religious schools receiving vouchers from the state of Florida openly discriminate against
