My Complete, Unedited Review of Doug Harris’ Book, Charter School CityIn January 2020, Commonweal Magazine asked me to review Doug Harris’ book about New Orleans charter schools, Charter School City. I completed my review in February 2020, but with the pandemic, my review was not published until November 2020. As so often happens in publication, the review I submitted was pared down considerably, which editors […]
Biden Admin Wants “to Focus on Assessments” in 2020-21On February 22, 2021, acting ed secretary Ian Rosenblum (formerly of testing-friendly ed reform org, Education Trust) sent this letter to state school superintendents informing them that standardized testing must happen in the 2020-21 school year “to understand the impact COVID-19 has had on learning and identify what resources and supports students need” and “to […]
LOUISIANA TEACHERS, SCHOOL STAFF NOW ELIGIBLE FOR COVID VACCINATIONOn February 18, 2021, Louisiana governor, John Bel Edwards, announced that as of Monday, February 22, 2021, teachers and all other K12 school staff, daycare workers, and others have the green light to receive COVID-19 vaccines: Starting Mon., Feb. 22, teachers & support staff working at K-12 schools & daycares, non-emergency medical transportation staff, pregnant […]
If Schools are That Important, Vaccinate All School Personnel in Short OrderI read in the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) latest guidance for schools that it believes schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen in the pandemic. I read about how important schools are, how school attendance is critical for students’ well being, and how schools are important because schools feed […]
Biden School Reopening Plan Now Has a SurveyIn December 2020, President Biden pledged to reopen most schools in his first 100 days in office– dependent upon sufficient resources to protect students and staff during the Coronavirus pandemic. Months later, in February 2021, the Biden administration is catching flack for a seriously modified version of that pledge– 51 percent of K-8 schools open […]
About That JAMA Article on COVID Transmission and Reopening SchoolsOn January 26, 2021, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published this “viewpoint” regarding COVID-19 and in-poerson school attendance, entitled, “Data and Policy to Guide Opening Schools Safely to Limit the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.” It seems that in the press, the conclusion of this study has been reduced to the convenient byte, […]
Marjorie Taylor Greene Removed from House Ed CommitteeOn February 04, 2021, the House of Representatives voted 230-199 to remove Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments (Education and Labor, and Budget). Eleven Republicans joined 219 Democrats in supporting Greene’s committee removal: Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) John Katko (R-NY) Fred Upton (R-MI) Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) Chris […]
Meet the New Republican Members of the House Ed and Labor CommitteeThe big news of late is that Q Anon-espousing, school-shooting-conspiracy-spewing, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been assigned to (of all things) the House Education and Labor Committee for the 117th Congress. I was curious about the other new members of Ed and Labor, so I thought I’d do
