Arthur Camins and Paul Kalb: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times for Science and TechnologyThe authors of this article are both scientists. Arthur Camins was director of the Center for Innovation and Science Education at Stevens Institute of Technology. Paul Kalb worked for more than 40 years as an environmental engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In their article, they note that science is more important than ever, yet a sizable portion of the public rejects its findings and m
Peter Greene: The CRT Crusaders Are Targeting Individual Teachers and SchoolsPeter Greene writes here about the growing ferocity and viciousness of the rightwing crusade against “critical race theory.” Leave aside the fact that 99% of teachers have never heard of CRT, the crusaders are targeting teachers who are suspected of teaching about racism and social justice. The crusaders operate on the assumption that teaching the actual history of racism, segregation, and Jim Cr
Maurice Cunningham: School Privatizers Pump Money into Boston Mayoral RaceBillionaire charter school advocates have found a new target for their political contributions: cities where the mayor controls the schools. The oligarchs poured millions of dollars into the New York City mayoral race. They bet on the early leaders, Andrew Yang and Eric Adams. Their goal: more charter schools. As Yang slipped in the polls, they concentrated their gifts to Adams. Adams placed firs
UNC Board Grants Tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones After Protests by Black Faculty and StudentsThe Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina recently offered the prestigious Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism to Nikole Hannah-Jones. Hannah-Jones is an alumna of the Hussman School who has received many honors for her writing. She recently won a Pulitzer Prize for “The 1619 Project,” which she organized and for which she wrote the lead essay, r
Diane Ravitch: Time for Honesty About “Critical Race Theory”I wrote the following article for the opinion section of the New York Daily News . According to Education Week , “ As of June 29 , 26 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. Nine states have enacted these bans, either through legislation or othe
Dana Milbank: Republicans—Not Democrats— Have Voted to Defund the PoliceDana Milbank is a regular columnist for the Washington Post and one of my favorites. Read his latest column: “ Even the Squad Is More Pro-Police than These Republicans” Republican leaders have developed a new strategy for ousting Democrats from their majority in Congress: Blue Lies Matter. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) falsely tweeted Friday: “The ‘Defund the Police’ campaign — en
New Hampshire: Majority of Governor’s Diversity Council Resigns in ProtestNew Hampshire’s Republican legislature passed a bill banning teaching about racism, and Governor Chris Sununu signed it. The bill also included funding for vouchers and cuts for public schools. Ten of the 17 members of the governor’s Diversity Council resigned in protest, citing censorship. “It should not be taken lightly that nearly every member of the Council that is not part of your administra
Gary Rubinstein: Is Stuyvesant High School–One of the Most Selective in the Nation–a “Good School”?Gary Rubinstein teaches mathematics at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Stuy is a selective admissions school. It accepts only the students with the highest score on a standardized test of math and reading that is offered on one day only. But is Stuy a good school? The big question for this post is “Is Stuyvesant a good school?” At a first glance this may seem like a crazy question. It’s
A Black Student Who Regretted Her Four Years in a Selective High SchoolNY Chalkbeat recounts the story of a black student who won admission to York High School in Queens, one of the most selective in New York City. Admission is based on students’ test scores on one test of mathematics and reading, offered on one day. Only those with the highest scores are admitted. The first thing Elizabeth Yarde noticed on her first day at Queens High School for the Sciences at Yor
Leonie Haimson: Why Does Mayor Bill DeBlasio Refuse to Reduce Class Size?Leonie Haimson remembers that Bill DeBlasio promised to reduce class size s when he first ran for mayor of New York City in 2013. She is executive director of Class Size Matters. He even signed his promise. But when he got extra money, he spent it on universal pre-K. Now more new money is arriving for the schools, and he is resisting using it to reduce class size, despite the obvious benefits to
Ohio: Feds Investigating Campaign Contributions to ECOTThe FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have subpoenaed the campaign contributions made to the notorious Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, which operated for 20 years with minimal accountability and many political friends. The virtual charter raked in about $1 billion before it closed. From the Columbus Dispatch: The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed nearly 20 years of campaign con
Florida: Teacher Rebukes Senator Rick Scott for HypocrisyFlorida teacher James Ring received a prestigious award, followed by a letter of congratulations from Senator Rick Scott. Senator Scott not only praised Ring but praised himself for supporting the schools while he was Governor. In his brilliant reply , Ring reminded Scott of his budget cuts to the schools and his support for charters and vouchers. In other words, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”
Tom Ultican: EdTech is Big Business: Part 1Tom Ultican, retired teacher of advanced mathematics and physics, studied the Ed-Tech industry, which now passes itself as “personalized learning.” He reminds us that Ed-Tech is first and foremost about business and profits, not learning. He writes: Not all edtech is negative but it is important to remember that private companies are in it for the money. Giant corporations and private equity firm
New Hampshire Endorses Vouchers, Defunds Public SchoolsLast year, New Hampshire had a Republican Governor and a Democratic legislature. The legislature blocked Governor Chris Sununu’s efforts to create vouchers and defund public schools. But Republicans gained control of the legislature in the 2020 election and are full steam ahead on privatization with 20 new federally funded charters and a full array of vouchers. Not only did the legislature endors
China Requires Patriotic Education, Like GOP Governors and LegislatorsOn June 4, 1989, thousands of Chinese people peacefully protested in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, demanding democratic reforms. The uprising was brutally suppressed. Since then, the Chinese government has effectively obliterated the events of 30 years ago. It has censored mention of the failed democracy and quickly punished those who dare to remember what happened. A few young people, born after
A Book You Should ReadLast April, I published an excerpt from an essay t hat Andrea Gabor had written for a forthcoming book. The book is a collection of essays titled Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms and Governments Control the News . The book editor is Anya Schiffrin. The publisher is Columbia University Press. Gabor’s chapter is titled “Media Capture and the Corporate Education-Reform Philanthropies.” Yo
Texas: Charter Industry Encounters Obstacles to GrowthThe charter industry has set a target on Texas as a new frontier for expansion. With a rightwing Governor and state commissioner who support privatization of public money meant for public schools, the outlook was bright. The state leadership doesn’t care that public schools outperform charter schools and close down with alarming frequency. The big-money fellas don’t care about violating local con
4th Grade Teacher: Remote Learning Was a DisasterLelac Almagor teaches fourth grade in a charter school in Washington, D.C. The following article appeared in the New York Times. She writes: Our prepandemic public school system was imperfect, surely, clumsy and test-crazed and plagued with inequities. But it was also a little miraculous: a place where children from different backgrounds could stow their backpacks in adjacent cubbies, sit in a ci
Gary Rubinstein: Should Selective Public Schools Like His Exist?Gary Rubinstein teaches mathematics at Stuyvesant High School. It is one of the best high schools in the nation. It has a competitive admissions process. Students who hope to attend take a standardized test of read and math on one day, no repeats. New students are accepted based on their score on that one test. The school, like other elite public high schools in New York City has often been criti
Billy Townsend: A Florida School District That Is Fighting Privatizers and WinningBilly Townsend tells the story in this post of Hillsborough County in Florida, where parents and community activists are actively resisting the State Legislature’s demand for privatization of public schools. It is a fascinating post that shows that regular people can beat big money and political power when they get angry enough about scams and shady real estate deals and schools that exclude limi
