Chalkbeat reports that the number of African American and Hispanic students offered admission to New York City’s elite high schools continued to be very low. Admissions offers are based on the results of one test given on one day. No other factors are taken into account. The statistics for next year’s freshman class show sharp disparities: Only 4.5% of offers went to black students and 6.6% went
Doug Little sent out this review of SLAYING GOLIATH to his readership in Canada, where some provinces support religious schools as public schools. Some also have charter schools. In recent conversation with activists in Alberta, it was clear that supporters of public education are worried about following America’s descent into privatization but that the camel’s nose is already inside the Alberta
This came from a friend in Illinois: Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.
In this must-read article, Tim Schwab reports his investigative journalism into the charities favored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He asks, who benefits? He begins by discussing a three-part Netflix documentary called Inside Bill’s Brain. The film was directed by Davis Guggenheim, who also directed Waiting for “Superman, ” the anti-public school, pro-charter school documentary. Schwab
Politico has done some great reporting about the global pandemic that’s changed our lives. I recommend you read that summary of what we know, what we don’t know. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly-coronavirus-special-edition/2020/03/19/into-the-great-unknown-488634 “We’re not close to the peak. The rate of new cases continues to rise steeply and will explode next week as new te
The Network for Public Education urged Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to waive all state testing for 2020. Chalkbeat reports that many states have requested waivers, and two—Colorado and Texas—have canceled testing without waiting for waivers. Recently the Council of Chief School Officers urged a cancellation of mandated state testing. To see the status of state testing, see this update. From
Stuart Egan, an NBCT high school teacher in North Carolina, reminds us of why teachers protested last year and how the elected officials responded (mostly with silence). Fortunately, the people of North Carolina have a chance to change the state’s direction by electing a genuine and experience advocate for public education as state superintendent: Jen Mangrum won the Democratic nomination and she
This post is a public apology to Erica Green of the New York Times. She wrote on March 13 that the Centers for Disease Control recommended that schools should close for at least eight weeks. A trusted reader of this blog said that the CDC guidance offered several options, depending on local circumstances. I read the CDC guidance and posted a correction implying that Green had offered the worst ca
Now that many thousands of schools have closed, millions of parents have suddenly become responsible for home schooling their child or children. Sam Chaltain offers some sound suggestions. He calls it “A Parent Guide to Home-Schooling During the Apocalypse.”
The National Education Policy Center issued a statement today about teaching reading. The bottom line: There is no “science of reading.” It’s time for the media and political distortions to end, and for the literacy community and policymakers to fully support the literacy needs of all children. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Joint Statement Regarding “Science of Reading” Advocacy KEY TAKEAWAY: It’s tim
The National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH), formerly known as the Education Research Alliance, released its first report after having been funded by Betsy DeVos with $10 million to study the effects
