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Merry Christmas from the Network for Public Education!
by dianeravitch / 42min
Dear Friends, NPE wishes you happy holidays and Merry Christmas! Open the link to learn about our plans for 2022. Join us in our work of supporting, defending, and improving our nation’s public schools. Join the 350,000 devotees of public schools who are part of NPE. Help us to fight budget cuts and privatization of our most valuable public assets. Help us defeat the billionaires and grifters who
YESTERDAY
Will the New Superintendent of Los Angeles Expand Charter Schools?
by dianeravitch / 23h
Jack Ross of California-based Capital & Main posed the question: Will Alberto Carvalho, who was recently hired away from Miami-Dade public schools to become the new superintendent of the Los Angeles public schools, expand the number of charter schools in L.A.? At Carvalho’s first press conference, the first question to him was about where he stood on charter schools. This issue has prompted billi
Florida: Another DeSantis Attack on Teachers, Schools and Common Decency
26by dianeravitch / 1d
Peter Greene describes his latest gambit. He is pressing for the adoption of his “Stop WOKE” act. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is doing his level best to wreck education in his state by politicizing every education policy. It’s a textbook illustration of fear-mongering and race-baiting. How low can he go without scraping his head on the ground? Greene writes: Florida owns the Number One spot on
DEC 23
New Bedford Parents: We Don’t Want a Charter School!
by dianeravitch / 1d
This post was published by the Network for Public Education. The authors remind us that the only thing innovative about charter schools is their marketing practices. Cynthia Roy and Richard Rosa are co-chairs of the New Bedford Coalition to Save Our School. In this op-ed for SouthCoast Today, they explain why a newly proposed charter school is not something that Massachusetts needs. One of the mo
Minnesota: Charter School Hires Outspoken Critic
by dianeravitch / 2d
Rob Levine, charter skeptic, photographer, and charter critic, recently discovered that the Hmong College Prep Academy had hired one of its loudest critics. He writes: BY NOW MOST people who follow education in Minnesota are aware of the Hmong College Prep Academy’s illegal $5 million investment in a hedge fund that ended up losing $4.3 million, costing the power couple who run the segregated St.
DEC 22
Leonard Pitts, Jr.: Why Worry about School Shootings When the Real Danger is Books?
by dianeravitch / 2d
Leonard Pitts, Jr. wrote the following article in the Miami Herald : Once again, carnage goes to school. Once again, American students are used for target practice. But conservative leaders are on the case. Recognizing the ongoing threat to our children, they know it’s time for decisive action. It’s time to do something about books. And if you expected that sentence to end differently, you haven’
Billy Townsend: Florida Extremists Demand Removal of an Anatomical Drawing that Labels “Anus” and “Bladder”
by dianeravitch / 2d
Sometimes I think our nation has time-traveled back to the 1950s, when demented people made demented demands of the public schools and accused them of “indoctrinating” children with “socialist” or “Communist” or other labels. The crazies are back, as Billy Townsend reports from his town of Lakeland, Florida. These crazies want to protect their children from seeing certain dangerous words, specifi
Familiar Faces on Biden Education Team
by dianeravitch / 3d
I somehow missed a story that appeared in Education Week last February, identifying the background of Biden appointees to the U.S. Department of Education. What is interesting about the story, aside from knowing who the appointees are, is what is not said about DFER, the hedge-fund managers’ lobby for charter schools and high-stakes teachers’ evaluation, and Chiefs for Change, founded by Jeb Bush
DEC 21
West Virginia: County Judge Temporarily Blocks Opening of New Charter Schools
by dianeravitch / 3d
After the inspiring teachers’ strike in 2019, which closed every public school in the state, the billionaire Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia promised to veto any charter school legislation. He lied. The legislation passed, and the Governor signed it. The state established a state charter board, which proceeded to award seven charters, mostly to a for-profit charter corporation that manages
Denis Smith: Selfish Joe Manchin Betrayed a Proud West Virginia Tradition
by dianeravitch / 3d
Denis Smith writes here about the past, present, and hoped-for future of West Virginia. He urges West Virginians to throw out the leaders who undermine their health, safety, and well-being. He reminds us and them of the state’s past progressive leaders. A lifelong educator, Smith retired as an official in the Ohio State Department of Education, where he oversaw charter schools. He writes: In her
Florida: The First Virtual Reality Charter School Will Open in 2022
100+by dianeravitch / 3d
A new virtual reality charter school will open in Florida in the fall of 2022. It is called Optima Domi, and it presents itself as the most innovative step forward in homeschooling/virtual learning. Unlike old-fashioned virtual charter schools, Optima Domi will immerse students in “virtual reality.” Each student and their teacher will dons headgear that immerses them in the sounds and sights of a
Chile: Former Student Leader Wins Presidency•
Boric Chile President
by dianeravitch / 4d
The people of Chile are expunging the last traces of the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet. They elected Gabriel Boric, a 35-year-old member of the Chilean Congress and a former student activist, as President of Chile. The election was expected to be close but Boric won by a 56-44% margin. Boric was engaged in national protests over the past decade against inequality. A decade ago, he led protests
Trump Admits He is Fully Vaccinated, Got the Booster Too
by dianeravitch / 4d
In an interview with disgraced ex-FOX News pundit Bill O’Reilly, Trump admitted that he was fully vaccinated and had received the booster as well. O’Reilly too is vaccinated. Former President Donald Trump said he received a Covid-19 booster shot, revealing the news to former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Sunday during one of their “History Tour” live events. O’Reilly also confirmed he received a
DEC 20
President Manchin? Or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas?
by dianeravitch / 4d
He begins: Robert Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect, assesses the role of Senator Manchin in sinking President Biden’s signature legislation. Manchin surely sunk his constituents: West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the nation. He says he was worried about the cost, especially the cost of lifting children out of poverty. But economists lowered their estimates of economic growt
Politico: RFK, Jr., Threw a Party Where Guests Were Required to Be Vaccinated
by dianeravitch / 4d
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made himself the face of the anti-vaccination movement, embarrassing his family. His book attacking Dr. Fauci is at the top of the Amazon nonfiction bestseller list, and his foundation has raised millions of dollars. Even before the pandemic, prominent members of his family wrote a public lette r criticizing his anti-vaccine views, which were spreading “dangerous misinfo
How Did Bobby Kennedy Jr. Become a Quack?
by dianeravitch / 4d
Much to the surprise of the millions of people who admired Robert Kennedy, his son who bears his name has become one of the nation’s leading anti-vaxxers, sometimes allying himself with the bottom fishers of the far right. The AP reported: While many nonprofits and businesses have struggled during the pandemic, Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group has thrived. An investigation by The Associated Press fin
Missouri: A Report from the Front Lines
by dianeravitch / 5d
An educator in Missouri who is known to me wrote the following: They drive us crazy. The Governor is in favor of anything that allows people to do whatever they want when they want – even if it breaks a law or is uncivil. That has been the case for decades – except now things they all said only at dinner tables and the back rooms are expressed boldly in public… l He and his allies have created an
DEC 19
Adam Laats: History Offers Hope for Public Schools
by dianeravitch / 5d
Adam Laats is a historian of education at the State University of New York in Binghamton. He recently wrote a hopeful article in The Atlantic about the future, which I posted here, while disagreeing with his optimism. As the Supreme Court seems poised to tear down the wall of separaration, as the charter industry grows despite its multiple failures, as Republicans embrace privatization of schools
West Virginia: The Battle of Blair Mountain
by dianeravitch / 6d
Thanks to G.F. Brandenburg, who p osted this very important report about The Battle of Blair Mountain, a largely forgotten milestone in the history of unionism. Brandenburg opens his post by reminding us that the rich and powerful usually control history and write the narrative. He adds this dramatic story of The Battle of Blair Mountain, which is unknown to most people and barely remembered in t
DEC 18
Nora de la Cour: The Great American Teacher Exodus
by dianeravitch / 6d
Nora de la Cour is a high school social worker and a former teacher. In this article, which appeared in Jacobin , she provides a trenchant overview of the strains and pressures that drive dedicated teachers away from a profession they love. She writes: This school year has been marked by a flood of reports of dire school staffing shortages , including stories about schools shutting down because t
Thank You, Karen Francisco!
by dianeravitch / 6d
Karen Francisco is editorial page editor of The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. Before that, she was a member of the editorial board. After 40 years in journalism, she is retiring. Francisco has been a stalwart supporter of public schools and an eloquent critic of privatization. Indiana was once a state known for its devotion to its public schools, which are the heart of their communities. Karen Fran
Maurice Cunningham: Beware the Koch-Funded “Parents Groups”
by dianeravitch / 7d
Maurice Cunningham is a retired professor of political science in Massachusetts who specializes in following the trail of Dark Money into school issues. He was a major influence in turning the public against a state referendum to expand charters in 2016; he revealed the Dark Money behind the charter advocacy and that revealed the lies behind the rosy rhetoric. In this post , he describes the role
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
