BBC News: The Wounded. Children of Putin’s WarThis story appears on Apple News, taken from the BBC News site. Google it on the BBC site and watch the video if you can. I couldn’t. Anyone who blames the Ukrainians for this cruel war is insane. The attack on Ukraine was completely unprovoked. The Russian forces are now engaged in reducing the city of Mariupol to rubble. 90% of its buildings have been destroyed. Hundreds of women and children a
USA Today: Charter Schools Collected $1 Billion in COVID Funds They Did Not NeedCraig Harris of USA Today wrote a blistering expose of the money grab by charter schools for federal COVID funds. Harris was previously a reporter for the Arizona Republic who often covered charter school scandals in that state where deregulation has enabled grifters to get rich by opening charter schools. This story is a national scandal. Unfortunately, it is behind a paywall, so I urge you to r
Kharkiv Diary: On the Ground in UkraineYakov S. is a 23-year-old art history student in Kharkiv. In this article, which appeared in American Purpose, he describes his life during the invasion. It is 5:30 in the morning on February 24, and war has broken out in my city and country. I wake up to a phone call from my friend. His voice is convulsive; he is shouting. The war has started, he says. We’re leaving. You have to leave, too. Run.
Why Are School Districts Closing Schools When Students Don’t Benefit?The National Education Policy Center has published a thoughtful critique of the strategy of closing schools. This approach was encouraged by George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and by Barack Obama’s Race to the Top. Typically, the local board (or mayor) claims that the district will save money or the students will surely move to a better school. But what if this is not the case. NEPC identifies
Jill Lepore: The War Against Public SchoolsJill Lepore is a historian at Harvard University and a writer for The New Yorker. In this recent article, she reviews a history of attacks on one of our nation’s most important democratic institutions: our public schools. To read the complete article, subscribe to The New Yorker. It is a wonderful magazine. She begins: In 1925, Lela V. Scopes, twenty-eight, was turned down for a job teaching math
NBC News: The Rumor about “BioLabs” in Ukraine Spread by QAnon, Tucker Carlson, RussiaNBC News debunks the conspiracy theorists who have claimed that Russia invaded Ukraine to eliminate biolabs funded by the United States. The main promoters of this claim are QAnon, Tucker Carlson, and the Russian propaganda machine. It begins: Russia’s early struggles to push disinformation and propaganda about Ukraine have picked up momentum in recent days, thanks to a variety of debunked conspi
ProPublica: Russian Trolls Churn Out Phony Pro-Putin “Fact Checks”Pro Publica warns about the fake news and doctored videos that are circulating on the Internet. While some are pro-Ukrainian, most are designed to support Putin’s narrative. The famous Russian troll farm that was active on behalf of Trump in 2016, ProPublica says, is now busily creating phony “fact checks” and disinformation. It begins: On March 3, Daniil Bezsonov, an official with the pro-Russia
Rodney Pierce: Hiring More Black Male Teachers is a Great InvestmentRodney Pierce is a seventh-grade teacher in North Carolina. He writes here on the Public Voices, Public Schools site sponsored by the Network for Public Education. He writes: “These are all our children. We will profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.” Though made over 30 years ago by African American writer and social critic James Baldwin, this statement still emphasizes the choice that sit
