School Choice Fails Students and Parents – radical eyes for equity

School Choice Fails Students and Parents – radical eyes for equity

School Choice Fails Students and Parents

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

It has been a decade since I raised this question, Parental Choice?, after spending about a year examining all the research available as well as the public and political debate about school choice.

Now, Education Week seems to have finally recognized some of the conclusions I presented in that book: Why Don’t Parents Always Choose the Best Schools? I think it is important that this article does not ask “if” parents choose the best schools, but concedes that parental choice is a flawed part of the school choice as an avenue to educational reform argument.

In short, my research and analysis show that parental choice and school choice fail because they suffer from the same problem concerning all choice driven by America’s idealized perception of individual freedom and market economies. If school choice were a powerful and effective lever for positive educational reform (and it isn’t), market forces remain indirect ways to create the sort of equity of opportunity that a democracy could accomplish directly.

Choice, at best, is slow and erratic, depending on the quality and expertise of CONTINUE READING: School Choice Fails Students and Parents – radical eyes for equity

White Folks Must Stop Appropriating and Start Appreciating Dr. King - Philly's 7th Ward

White Folks Must Stop Appropriating and Start Appreciating Dr. King - Philly's 7th Ward

WHITE FOLKS MUST STOP APPROPRIATING AND START APPRECIATING DR. KING

On Monday, white America celebrated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 91st birthday, even though he was born on Jan. 15 in 1929.

And just like white America got the date wrong, it also got MLK himself wrong. Or, better stated, it continues to treat him wrong by appropriating instead of appreciating this revolutionary. Yes, I said revolutionary — and I meant it, too. I’ll explain why shortly.

By the way, if y’all white folks play that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech one more damn time, I’m gonna scream! That speech wasn’t even his first at the Lincoln Memorial. MLK had already given one six years earlier in 1957 in front of a massive crowd of up to 30,000.

He is much more than that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. He is much bigger than that 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. He is a revolutionary “recidivist ex-con” who had been jailed 29 times for his “anti-social” behavior. And if he said today in 2020 what he said back in 1963, which was that “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,” y’all white folks would call the cops on him. And they’d beat him, shoot him, and/or kill him.

Before I explain his indisputable revolutionary street cred, allow me to CONTINUE READING: White Folks Must Stop Appropriating and Start Appreciating Dr. King - Philly's 7th Ward

Wanted: Chapters About No Excuses Charters | Cloaking Inequity

Wanted: Chapters About No Excuses Charters | Cloaking Inequity

WANTED: CHAPTERS ABOUT NO EXCUSES CHARTERS

Much has been written about “No Excuses” charter schools and their deleterious impacts on student of color (See for example Colonizing the Black Natives). Amber Kim is leading a groundbreaking new book project entitled,  Inexcusable: Contemporary Counter-Narratives that Expose the “New Face” of No Excuses Schools. You may remember Dr. Kim from the Diane Ravitch episode of Truth for America podcast.

Here’s the link to the call for chapter proposals and the questions the book seeks to address.

1. Were you associated with a high-compliance school that promised a rigorous education and college acceptance but demanded compliance, obedience, and silence?
2. Did you find yourself at odds with the methods, policies, curriculum, and/or testing?
3. Do you feel like your experience and concerns were unwelcome, shamed, discredited, or silenced?
4. Do you feel a need to describe your lived experiences in writing or in art?

Amber Kim has an extensive background studying and critiquing “No Excuses” charters. She writes,

We want you to propose a chapter! We are collecting counter-narratives that expose the rougher side of high-compliance schooling, the side that is often hidden from the public and we need authors who are present/former students, educators, or family members of high compliance, “No Excuses” schools to tell their stories. in writing or another art form. No writing experience necessary! No minimum length. You only need first hand experience in No-Excuses-like schools.

By publishing a collection of counter-narratives validation and healing can take place for those impacted by NES. Additionally, people who are considering creating, attending, promoting, and/or working in No Excuses schools will have access to a fuller truth about them and their costs to students, staff, and families. This volume unmasks the new face of NES, exposing its existence, methods, and impacts. Knowing the  contemporary face of NES allows for accountability, repair, and systemic solutions.

Please pass this call along and Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

For all of Cloaking Inequity’s posts on charters click here.

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Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

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Wanted: Chapters About No Excuses Charters | Cloaking Inequity

History Wars: How Politics Shape Textbooks – Have You Heard

History Wars: How Politics Shape Textbooks – Have You Heard

History Wars: How Politics Shape Textbooks

What are students learning about American history in these hyper-polarized times? That’s what New York Times reporter Dana Goldstein wanted to know. And so she set off on an epic reading adventure: 43 middle and high school American history textbooks, 4,800 in all. Have You Heard talks to Dana about how our divided nation shows up on the pages of these books on subjects such as immigration, the economy and suburbanization. Also, Jack revisits the great debate in the 1990’s over history standards. Full transcript of the episode is available here.

And in this episode’s segment of In the Weeds, available to our Patreon subscribers, Jack and Jennifer discuss the emergence of the National Parents Union, a new group with an old cause and some powerful friends. Listen in by becoming a patron!

History Wars: How Politics Shape Textbooks – Have You Heard

Gene Glass and David Berliner Publish a Joint Essay-Review of SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

Gene Glass and David Berliner Publish a Joint Essay-Review of SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

Gene Glass and David Berliner Publish a Joint Essay-Review of SLAYING GOLIATH

The two most distinguished education researchers in the nation are Gene V. Glass and David C. Berliner, both of whom have held the highest positions in their profession and are universally admired for their careful research and long history of defending the highest standards in the research community.

Together they wrote an essay-review of my book SLAYING GOLIATH.

The review can also be accessed here.

They found the book to be fair-minded and unbiased. And they liked it a lot!

They did some genealogical research about me and my family.

They refer to this blog as “the most influential communications medium in the history of public education.”

They describe the book “as the efforts of a historian to find the facts and follow where they lead.”

They write “We sincerely thank Ravitch for her careful CONTINUE READING: Gene Glass and David Berliner Publish a Joint Essay-Review of SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

NYC Educator: Fairness in Dress Codes

NYC Educator: Fairness in Dress Codes

Fairness in Dress Codes

It appears that dress codes must be uniform, and you can't simply ban halter tops with cutoffs split up to the belt loops. For me, at least, that's a relief. I never, ever say a thing to young women wearing revealing clothes. For one thing, I honestly don't much care what they wear. For another, if I were otherwise inclined, I'd be really preoccupied with crossing some line or other that would bring me over CR A-421, verbal abuse.

Verbal abuse is kind of in the ear of the beholder. If I say something about a young woman's clothing, she may feel uncomfortable or ridiculed, and then I'm sitting in the principal's office explaining why I said whatever I did. Better I keep my stupid mouth shut. As for school policy, if it were clear to me that I had no business speaking to this young woman about her choice of clothing, perhaps the world would be a marginally better place.

I have said things to students with blatant obscenities on their shirts. Since I teach ESL, it's always possible they don't even know what those things mean. I once had a boy put his jacket on and promise not to wear that shirt to my class again. He didn't seem all that worried about it, and I didn't get a letter in my file, so I guess it worked out.

Nonethless, schools will have to readjust their dress codes. You can't just ban the halter top, but you can say torsos must be covered. You can't ban the mini-skirt, but maybe you can say legs must be covered from the knee down. Or up. Or from mid- CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Fairness in Dress Codes

How Diverse Is Your Syllabus? – radical eyes for equity

How Diverse Is Your Syllabus? – radical eyes for equity

How Diverse Is Your Syllabus?

During an impromptu pre-department meeting chat with literacy colleagues, we began to think about examining our syllabi for diversity of required and recommended texts. We noted that often people examine reading lists for K-12 students in terms of diversity, such as children’s literature, adolescent literature, and the secondary canon.

Below are the texts listed on my course syllabi for all courses I currently teach on a regular basis. I have put white male authors in red text for a quick glance at diversity.

Assigned and Recommended Texts in Taught Courses

[In many courses, students choose among these texts, and in some courses, students have choice outside this list. These are texts offered on course syllabi as limited choice but required in courses.]

White male author

Why We Teach Now, Sonia Nieto

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, Robin DiAngelo

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too, Chris Emdin CONTINUE READING: How Diverse Is Your Syllabus? – radical eyes for equity

Mothers, Make A Phone Call Today | Real Learning CT

Mothers, Make A Phone Call Today | Real Learning CT

Mothers, Make A Phone Call Today

Today, let’s each of us call the office of one Republican senator and ask the question: “Why would an innocent man and you as a jurist interested in the truth not want all the evidence out and all the witnesses to testify? Wouldn’t you if you were innocent?”

Tom Friedman explains why that simple question is what we must ask now. 

For millions of mothers to ask that question now of senators will save our republic from shame and disgrace and could even save the republic itself. It can allow as to prove that we still have a government with three equal branches and that the U.S. Constitution is still the foundation of that government.

We bring up our children to tell the truth, to know right from wrong, to admit CONTINUE READING: Mothers, Make A Phone Call Today | Real Learning CT

You may phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Louisiana Educator: Louisiana's K-12 curriculum is not preparing students for college or for life!

Louisiana Educator: Louisiana's K-12 curriculum is not preparing students for college or for life!

Louisiana's K-12 curriculum is not preparing students for college or for life!

Part I of a two part examination of our failing graduation standards

The Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education announced recently that only 18% of our students are succeeding in college.
At the joint meeting of BESE and the Board of Regents in December 2019, the Commissioner of Higher Education, Kim Hunter Reed, reported on studies that reveal that of 100 ninth-graders, only 45 enter college and 18 will earn a two- or four-year degree. This is a tacit admission that the big push for college prep by BESE and the Department of Education for the last 20 years has been a dismal failure. But the Advocate report of the joint meeting quotes the education leaders promising to double down on college prep for all by offering more dual enrollment courses. The only positive result of this version of college for all is that now, vo-tech courses will be added to the menu.

During the school years spanning from 2000 to 2015, our state education officials had abandoned almost all support for career and vocational education in our K-12 schools, and had shifted to pushing virtually all students to take a college prep curriculum without regard to student aptitude or preferences. At the urging of education reformers, BESE had adopted the Core 4 curriculum for high school graduation which was designed to prepare all students for college. The education reformers and business leaders breathed a sigh of relief that soon almost all students would be prepared for college. The assumption was that even students who chose to seek technical careers that did not require college would benefit from CONTINUE READING: Louisiana Educator: Louisiana's K-12 curriculum is not preparing students for college or for life!

Chaz's School Daze: Governor Cuomo's Steath Charter Cap Expansion

Chaz's School Daze: Governor Cuomo's Steath Charter Cap Expansion

Governor Cuomo's Steath Charter Cap Expansion

Governor Andrew Cuomo has buried in his proposed budget an expansion of the charter cap in New York City. This shows that the Governor is still beholden to the Chharter industry and their education reform supporters despite his claims that he supports public education in the State..

Buried in budget documents released late Tuesday was a proposal to make room for more charter schools in New York City. In 2015, the state set a limit on how many charter schools could open in New York City in the years ahead: 50. Authorizers hit that cap last year. But the total number of charters available has actually been slightly higher, since a 2017 deal allowed authorizers to reissue 22 charters originally issued to charter schools that closed before July 2015.

This week, Cuomo proposed expanding that number, offering a new pathway to open charters as state lawmakers show no signs of CONTINUE READING: Chaz's School Daze: Governor Cuomo's Steath Charter Cap Expansion

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Bill To Take Down, Sort Of, Cyber Charters

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Bill To Take Down, Sort Of, Cyber Charters

PA: Another Bill To Take Down, Sort Of, Cyber Charters

Rep. Curt Sonney is a GOP top dog in the Pennsylvania Education Committee, and he's never been known as a close friend of public schools. But he represents Erie, a district that has been absolutely gutted by school choice, so maybe that's why he has spent the last couple of years nipping at the heels of Pennsylvania's thriving cyber charter industry.

Harrisburg just had hearings on his latest proposal, a bill that he first announced last October and which has something for virtually everyone to hate.

Pennsylvania cyber schools are an absolute mess, barely covered by laws that never anticipated such a thing and protected by a massive pile of money thrown both at lobbying and campaign contributions.

The cybers do offer a service that is useful for some students (I personally know of one such case). But they also provide a quick exit for parents who don't want to deal with truancy issues or other disciplinary problems. Their results are generally very poor (none have ever been ranked proficient on the Big Standardized Test), and state oversight is so lousy that many were allowed to continue operating for years without ever having renewed their charters.

But what really has drawn the wrath of even people who don't pay much attention to education CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Another Bill To Take Down, Sort Of, Cyber Charters