Saturday Snow Day (1/18)
A Saturday Snow Day is when the weather is so awful that adults are absolved of any obligation to go anywhere and get anything done. We were having one right now in NW PA, with Interstates shut down and folks huddled up home. It's not a bad thing. If you need something to read while you huddle, I've got you covered.
Why Aesha Ash Is Wandering Around Inner City Rochester In A Tutu
Let's start the week with a really cool story about a Black ballerina creating her own project to make a difference.
The Rhetorical Secretary
Okay, so much for good feelings. Here's Mark Hlavacik in The Kappan breaking down Betsy DeVos for her part in the history of the Ed Secretary as leader of a national conversation about education. This is actually from last November, but I missed it till now. It's thoughtful and worth a look. Here's a snippet, considering some of DeVos's attacks on her opponents:
Such rhetoric is not an attempt to persuade those who disagree with her. It is not even an invitation for further conversation or meaningful debate. Instead, the insults that pepper her addresses serve to exclude any part of her audience that disagrees with her and — given how many Americans disagree with her, by her own account — functionally makes the enactment of rhetorical leadership on a national scale impossible.
Two States. Eight Textbooks.
Dana Goldstein at the New York Times does some detailed comparison of history texts from Texas and California. The differences may not be surprising, but they're still concerning.
Texas School District Falls For Email Phishng Scam, Loses $2.3 Million
Reminder-- your security is only as good as the people you let get behind the keyboard. A cautionary tale.
Minneapolis Public School Stands To Lose 1/3 of Families with Redesign
Sarah Lahm continues to provide a sharp and insightful look at what some brands of ed reform look like on the ground in Minneapolis. Not pretty.
Are You Ready to Make 2020 the Year of Early Childhood Education
The folks at Defending the Early Years have lots of important stuff planed for this year. Here's the rundown so you can mark your calendar now.
The Misleading Rhetoric of School Choice
Jersey Jazzman digs down and looks at how the word "choice" is deployed in ways that are misleading. This is a really good piece.
The Tennessee ASD: Booted or Re-Booted?
Gary Rubinstein has been following the ill-fated Tennessee Achievement School District since Day One (the one that was use magical state takeovers and charter management to move the bottom 5% of schools to the tippy top), and now that they appear to be throwing in the towel, he takes a look back. He also, unfortunately, makes a convincing case for why folks can't heave a sigh of relief just yet.
Equitable Education Funding Isn't Happening Yet
Andre Perry at Hechinger talks about what we don't like to talk about-- that wealthy and nmiddle-class folks just don't want to pay to educate the poor.
About That Montana Choice Program
Espinoza v Montana is coming up, poised to take down the wall between church and state when it comes to school funding. But Rebecca Klein at Huffington Post took a look at the schools in that tiny choice program and found lots of explicit discrimination against LGBTQ students.
How Higher Salaries for Teachers Became a GOP Governor Thing
Erin Einhorn at NBC news takes a look at the new sort of trend. Not sure I agree with all of this piece, but it's still an interesting overview.
Charter Schools Have No Valid Claim To Public Property
From Shawgi Tell, at Dissident Voice, an argument against handing public property like school buildings over to private companies.
Why Aesha Ash Is Wandering Around Inner City Rochester In A Tutu
Let's start the week with a really cool story about a Black ballerina creating her own project to make a difference.
The Rhetorical Secretary
Okay, so much for good feelings. Here's Mark Hlavacik in The Kappan breaking down Betsy DeVos for her part in the history of the Ed Secretary as leader of a national conversation about education. This is actually from last November, but I missed it till now. It's thoughtful and worth a look. Here's a snippet, considering some of DeVos's attacks on her opponents:
Such rhetoric is not an attempt to persuade those who disagree with her. It is not even an invitation for further conversation or meaningful debate. Instead, the insults that pepper her addresses serve to exclude any part of her audience that disagrees with her and — given how many Americans disagree with her, by her own account — functionally makes the enactment of rhetorical leadership on a national scale impossible.
Two States. Eight Textbooks.
Dana Goldstein at the New York Times does some detailed comparison of history texts from Texas and California. The differences may not be surprising, but they're still concerning.
Texas School District Falls For Email Phishng Scam, Loses $2.3 Million
Reminder-- your security is only as good as the people you let get behind the keyboard. A cautionary tale.
Minneapolis Public School Stands To Lose 1/3 of Families with Redesign
Sarah Lahm continues to provide a sharp and insightful look at what some brands of ed reform look like on the ground in Minneapolis. Not pretty.
Are You Ready to Make 2020 the Year of Early Childhood Education
The folks at Defending the Early Years have lots of important stuff planed for this year. Here's the rundown so you can mark your calendar now.
The Misleading Rhetoric of School Choice
Jersey Jazzman digs down and looks at how the word "choice" is deployed in ways that are misleading. This is a really good piece.
The Tennessee ASD: Booted or Re-Booted?
Gary Rubinstein has been following the ill-fated Tennessee Achievement School District since Day One (the one that was use magical state takeovers and charter management to move the bottom 5% of schools to the tippy top), and now that they appear to be throwing in the towel, he takes a look back. He also, unfortunately, makes a convincing case for why folks can't heave a sigh of relief just yet.
Equitable Education Funding Isn't Happening Yet
Andre Perry at Hechinger talks about what we don't like to talk about-- that wealthy and nmiddle-class folks just don't want to pay to educate the poor.
About That Montana Choice Program
Espinoza v Montana is coming up, poised to take down the wall between church and state when it comes to school funding. But Rebecca Klein at Huffington Post took a look at the schools in that tiny choice program and found lots of explicit discrimination against LGBTQ students.
How Higher Salaries for Teachers Became a GOP Governor Thing
Erin Einhorn at NBC news takes a look at the new sort of trend. Not sure I agree with all of this piece, but it's still an interesting overview.
Charter Schools Have No Valid Claim To Public Property
From Shawgi Tell, at Dissident Voice, an argument against handing public property like school buildings over to private companies.
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Betsy DeVos’ attempts to protect predatory for-profit colleges that have defrauded students—and to sabotage students’ ability to get debt relief from the federal government—hit a major roadblock in the U.S. House on Thursday.
The new year brings a new push in Congress to modernize America’s infrastructure, including our public schools. The average public school building is 44 years old. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the condition of America’s 100,000 public school buildings an 
