Tom Ultican: How Johns Hopkins Lost Its Reputation for Scholarship in Education and Became a Beacon of “Reform” AdvocacyTom Ultican tells the sad story of the Johns Hopkins University Education Policy Institute, w hich was once known for unbiased scholarship. As he recounts the politicization of the Institute, he explains the upside of joining forces with privatizers, disrupters, standardized testing zealots, allies of Relay “Graduate School” of Education and the charter industry. The Institute is now the recipien
My Choice for Mayor of New York CityI endorse Maya Wiley for the Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City. There are many candidates in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City. Whoever is chosen will be the next mayor because the city is 3/4 Democrat and the Republican field is weak (Michael Bloomberg spent $100 million of his own money to win the mayoralty as a Republican and one of his top priorities was to persu
Chalkbeat: State Takeovers Are Usually UnsuccessfulMatt Barnum of Chalkbeat reports on a research study that concluded that most state takeovers of low-performing districts were unsuccessful. Local school boards, it was believed, must be the cause of low test scores because they lacked oversight. The study was written by Beth E. Schueler and Joshua Bleiberg and released by the Annenberg Insttitute. State officials have taken for granted that the
How America’s Richest Pay Little or No Income TaxesAn anonymous tipster at the Internal Revenue Service gave Pro Publica the tax returns of America’s richest people. This act was illegal. But it showed how little the billionaires paid, in some years, nothing at all. The Washington Post , which is owned by billionaire Jefff Bezos, published the story without pulling punches. The wealthiest Americans — including Warren Buffett, Elon Musk and Jeff B
GOP Billionaires Invest in NYC Democratic Mayoral PrimarySalon writes that the two leading candidates in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary—Andrew Yang and Eric Adams—are funded by major supporters of the Republican Party: billionaire Dan Loeb and Chicago-based Ken Griffin. Loeb was chairman of the board of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter chain. Readers of this blog know why rightwing billionaires buy politicians. Charters and school
Texas: Valedictorian Challenges Governor Abbott and the Legislature Over Control of Her BodyPaxton Smith, valedictorian of the class of 2021 at Lake Highlands High School in Texas, has received national attention for her three minute address at the graduation ceremonies. She had submitted her original speech to school authorities–about the media–and it was approved. But when the time came to speak, she whipped out a different speech, about the so-called “Heartbeat Bill ,” which is the m
North Carolina Vouchers: An Unaccountable Waste of Public MoneyDuke University’s Children’s Law Clinic published a substantive critique (some might say a scathing critique) of the state’s voucher program. Despite the fact that there is no evidence of benefit to the students who use the voucher, despite the lack of demand for vouchers, despite the program’s many weaknesses, the state’s General Assembly wants to put more money into the voucher program. The rep
Peter Smagorinsky on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s New Deal Plan for EducationPeter Smagorinsky recently retired as Distinguished Research Professor in Language and Literacy Education at The University of Georgia.. His plans in retirement are ambitious, to say the least. I hope they include writing more essays like this one. I almost burst my stitches laughing out loud. As a citizen of Georgia, he is deeply knowledgeable about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s thinki
Carol Burris: Why are Federal Dollars Subsidizing “White Flight”Academies?Carol Burris writes in this article, which appeared on Valerie Strauss’ “Answer Sheet” blog, about the corruption and misuse of federal dollars in North Carolina. Although President Biden committed to eliminating federal support for for-profit charter schools, the wasteful and politically tainted federal Charter Schools Program received $400 million this year, the same as last year, including pay
Washington Post: What is Critical Race Theory and Why Do Republicans Want to Ban It in Schools?This article by Marisa Iati in the Washington Post is a good layperson’s guide to the furor over “critical race theory” and teaching about race and racism in the schools. As I read the article, I was gratified to see the reference to the late legal scholar Derrick Bell . For just a moment, I felt like a Forrest Gump of American history because Derrick and I became friends in the mid-1980s and in
Justin Parmenter: North Carolina Tries to Control What Teachers TeachNCBT Teacher Justin Parmenter writes here about the reaction of the Republican-controlled Legislature to their rampant fear that teachers might try to indoctrinate students into radical views of American history and society, like discussing shameful episodes in the past. The legislators want patriotic history that makes students proud to be Americans. First they passed a law requiring teachers to
My View of the 1619 ProjectWhen I grew up in Houston, Texas, I attended segregated public schools. Everything was segregated, including movie theaters, drinking foundations, churches, restaurants, public transit (the sign “colored” divided passengers, with blacks in the back of the bus; if there were more white passengers than black passengers, the sign was moved back and black passengers gave up their seats and stood), an
Criticisms of The 1619 ProjectCriticism of The 1619 Project appeared soon after its publication. On the right, it was denounced as an unjustified, outrageous attack on traditional American values and ideals, an attack on the Founding Fathers, an attack on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. President Trump denounced it and established the “1776 Commission” to urge the teaching of “traditional” history that i
The 1619 Project: Essay by Nikole Hannah-JonesA series of essays called The 1619 Project was published in August 2019 by The New York Times Magazine, the nation’s most prestigious newspaper. Its primary organizer was Nikole Hannah-Jones, a highly experienced journalist who won a MacArthur award in 2017 and received the Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for The 1619 Project . The 1619 Project asserts that the history of America began with the arrival of
The Politics and Ideology of School Choice ResearchJulian Vasquez Heilig, T. Jameson Brewer, and Frank Adamson recently published an analysis of the neolibera l roots of school choice and its spillover into research on school choice. They begin: To conceptualize the politics of research on school choice, it is important to first discuss the politics of market- based approaches within the broader purview of public policy. Modern notions of “markets
Mercedes Schneider: Why Does This State Board Member and TFA Official Consistently Fail to File Financial Disclosure Forms?Louisiana hIgh school teacher Mercedes Schneider is required by law to file a financial disclosure form every year, and she never misses the deadline. State board member Kira Orange-Jones is also required to file a financial disclosure form but she misses the deadline year after year , even thought is supposed to be fined for late filing. Orange-Jones is also a senior Vice President of Teach for
