DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? A site to discuss better education for all

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

DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG TODAY? 

A site to discuss better education for all

California Charter Schools Collect Millions Intended for Small Businesses

by dianeravitch / 1h

The Network for Public Education has been tracking the charter schools that collected from the federal Paycheck Protectiin Program intended to help small businesses struggling to survive. The charter schools have not had any budget cuts, have lost no money, have not been struggling to pay employees, but their lobbyists get them included as eligible for the PPP funding, although public schools are

Denver: Charter Schools Collected $16 Million in Federal Aid for Small Businesses

25by dianeravitch / 2h

Chalkbeat reports that charter schools in Denver collected $16 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, intended to help small businesses. Across the country, charters are collecting federal money intended to save small businesses faced with economic collapse. Public schools are not eligible to get money from this program. Charter schools also receive state and local funding earmarke

BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rules Against Montana Ban on Funding Religious Schools

58by dianeravitch / 3h

The Supreme Court just released a 5-4 decision in the case of Espinoza V. Montana that struck down a provision in the state constitution banning public funds to religious schools. The decision seems to be narrowly tailored to say that if a state provides aid to private schools, it can’t bar aid to religious schools. I will post expert opinions on this as soon as they are available. The many right

Why Does the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Repeatedly Lie about Vouchers in Florida?

72by dianeravitch / 3h

The Wall Street Journal editorial board has three core beliefs about education. 1. Public schools are horrible. 2. Teachers’ unions are evil. 3. Non-unionized charters and vouchers are the remedy to all that ails American education. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The three highest performing states in the nation—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey—have strong teachers’ unions. None of the non-union

D.C.: Beloved Principal Fired Because She Resisted “No Excuses” Discipline

by dianeravitch / 4h

The Relay “Graduate School of Education” was created by charter schools to train charter school teachers on test-score-raising and no-excuses discipline, while using Doug Lemov’s Bible “Teach Like a Champion.” It’s teachers mostly taught in charters. Relay is called a graduate school, but it has no research faculty, no campus, no library, and at last review, no scholars or anyone with a doctorate

Maybe Why Trump Was Not Briefed on Russian Plan

by dianeravitch / 15h

NPR has the story . Intelligence officials included information about the Russian determination to put a bounty on Coalition forces in his daily briefing report. However, they made a mistake. They put the ominous story in the president’s daily intelligence briefing, which is written. The president doesn’t read. They should have given the information to Fox & Friends. Then he would have noticed.

Congress Wants Answers about Russian Bounty-for-Bodies Allegations

by dianeravitch / 22h

The New York Times reports that members of Congress want intelligence officials to explain the claims that Russia paid a bounty to Afghan militants to kill soldiers who are American or other Coalition forces. Trump denies that he was briefed. Is it credible that such an important development would not be transmitted to the president? Democrats and Republicans in Congress demanded on Monday that A

Chief Justice Roberts Provides Swing Vote to Strike Down Law to Ban Abortions

by dianeravitch / 1d

Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the Supreme Court’s four liberal justices to strike down a Louisiana law that would have severely restricted access to abortion. The Washington Post reports : The Supreme Court on Monday provided a victory for abortion rights activists, striking down a restrictive Louisiana law that would have left the state with only one abortion clinic. Chief Justice John G

Barbara Veltri: TFA Is Still Feeding at the Trough

26by dianeravitch / 1d

Barbara Veltri is a teacher educator at Northern Arizona University. She has mentored TFA corps members, and she wrote a book about TFA. In this essay, she notes that Doug Ducey, Republican Governor of Arizona and a favorite of Charles Joch, is an avid supporter of Trump, school choice, and TFA. She writes: Tara Kini, wrote, “We’re hearing a lot of conflicting scenarios and projections related to

Oklahoma: Dark Money Enters Primary Campaigns

96by dianeravitch / 1d

Dark money—anonymous donors—are pouring money into primary campaigns. The main donor is the Oklahoma Federation of Children , the state affiliate of Betsy DeVos’ American Federation of Children. Never in history has there been a Secretary of Education with her own political PAC.

Study: Police Killings Reduce Grades, Grad Rates of Black and Hispanic Students

by dianeravitch / 1d

This study should be no surprise. When students of color are exposed to police killings, their grades and graduation rates decline. It seems likely that being exposed to such traumatic events would depress the academic motivation of all students, whatever their race or ethnicity. Witnessing or hearing about a murder in one’s surroundings must be a traumatic experience.

The Barr Memo and the Imperial Presidency

by dianeravitch / 1d

William Barr wrote an unsolicited memo before he was appointed to his current position as Attorney General. It was intended to discredit the Mueller investigation. It sets forth an expansive view of the powers of the president and supports Trump’s view that the president is above the law. As Trump put it, “the president can do whatever he wants.” Barr agrees. To learn more about the Barr memo, re

Vicki Cobb: How the Coronavirus Works

by dianeravitch / 1d

Vicki Cobb is an award-winning science writer. She has written more than 90 science books, mostly for children, which means she is good at explaining complex ideas. She explains here how the coronavirus works and what it is.

A Remarkable Story About Joe Biden

500+by dianeravitch / 1d

@StanleyKrute shared this story on Twitter, about Rabbi Michael Beals of Delaware and Senator Joe Biden. About 16 years ago, as a rabbi new to Delaware, Rabbi Beals officiated at the memorial service for an elderly 

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