Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education

Peter Greene is well-known as a blogger, a teacher, a columnist for Forbes, and a humorist. He taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. He wrote this article at my request.

He wrote:

I believe in public education.

I believe in the promise that every child should have a free quality education. And not by going out to shop for it, to hunt it down like looking for deals on a toaster or a used car, nor to travel far from home to find it, nor to have to beg and apply and hope that the school will accept them, but to have it delivered to them in their own community without exception.

Not that we’ve always hit the bullseye in this country. Our system of tying school financing to housing leaves much to be desired. The same forces of racism and economic inequity that twist and turn our society as a whole also leave their mark on our education system. Those forces CONTINUE READING: Peter Greene: I Believe in Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jack Schneider: What is “Public” about Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jack Schneider: What is “Public” about Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jack Schneider: What is “Public” about Public Education?

Jack Schneider is a historian of education at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. He and Jennifer Berkshire recently published a superb book, A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, which I recommend to you.

The “Public” in Public Schools

There are two stories that we tell over and over these days about our schools. The first is that schools are a mechanism for getting ahead in our society. In a competition of each against every, schools are the ostensibly meritocratic sorting mechanism that determines who gets what. The second story is that schools are the engine of the economy. Education builds human capital, which in turn promotes economic growth.

These aren’t entirely wrong. Despite the fact that the privileged work feverishly to tilt the playing field for their children, schools can and often do serve a leveling function. And it is impossible to imagine the American economy thriving in the same way without an educated populace. Yet this is a torturously narrow way of understanding the value of public education.

We don’t have public schools in this country so that CONTINUE READING: Jack Schneider: What is “Public” about Public Education? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Defenders of US Public Schools Call on Biden to Ditch Trump's Disastrous Education Policies—and Obama's Too | Common Dreams News

Defenders of US Public Schools Call on Biden to Ditch Trump's Disastrous Education Policies—and Obama's Too | Common Dreams News

Defenders of US Public Schools Call on Biden to Ditch Trump's Disastrous Education Policies—and Obama's Too

"50.8 million children who attend real public schools need a secretary of education who will be their advocate, not an advocate for privatization."

Demanding an end to the failed policies that have dominated the United States for more than two decades, a coalition of public education advocates has put forth what they consider to be the top five guiding principles the incoming Biden administration should adopt if the president-elect wants to fulfill his "promised commitment to our nation's public schools."

"We need a public education champion who rejects efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via private school vouchers or charter schools."
—Network for Public Education

"50.8 million children who attend real public schools need a secretary of education who will be their advocate, not an advocate for privatization," tweeted Carol Burris, a retired teacher and the executive director of the Network for Public Education (NPE), which led the effort to demand pro-public leadership in Biden's Department of Education. 

In order to build a stronger and more just public education system, NPE penned a letter—which readers may sign—urging the Biden administration to pursue the following objectives:

• Rebuild our nation's public schools, which have been battered by the pandemic, two decades of failed federal policy, and years of financial neglect;
• Reject efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via vouchers or charter schools;
• End the era of high-stakes standardized testing—in both the immediate future and beyond;
• Promote diversity, desegregation (both among and within schools), and commit to eliminating institutional racism in school policy and practices; and
• Promote educational practices that are child-centered, inquiry-based, intellectually challenging, culturally responsive, and respectful of all students' innate capacities and potential to thrive.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, state CONTINUE READING: Defenders of US Public Schools Call on Biden to Ditch Trump's Disastrous Education Policies—and Obama's Too | Common Dreams News

Johann Neem: Restoring the Promise of Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Johann Neem: Restoring the Promise of Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Johann Neem: Restoring the Promise of Public Education

Johann Neem is a historian of education. He understands the central importance of public education in our democracy.

He wrote this thoughtful, important commentary about the task ahead for the Biden presidency:

Restoring the Democratic Promise of Public Schools: An Integration Agenda for the Biden Administration– Guest Blog Post by Johann N. Neem

The last four years have taught us just how fractured America is. After a decisive but divisive election, President-elect Joseph Biden now begins the most difficult work ever: trying to weave back together a social fabric that has, after years of neglect, come unraveled. Biden has promised “to restore the soul of America.” At the heart of his vision must be a reinvigorated and renewed commitment to the democratic purposes of public education.

 To restore the soul of America, we need to restore the soul of our schools. This means being committed to CONTINUE READING: Johann Neem: Restoring the Promise of Public Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM

Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis for public education. Lack of support from the Federal Government, in the form of testing, health and safety guidance, and sufficient resources has further exacerbated this crisis. States have had to fend for themselves and this has ultimately resulted in inconsistent support for school districts who are left with limited resources piecing together plans for crisis distance learning and school reopening.

Flexibility or free-for-all?

While we count the days to President-elect Biden assuming office (I’m literally counting the days), we still have a lot of work ahead to protect our public education system. Meanwhile, every district in our state is faced with the daunting challenge of reopening with a lack of funding and other important infrastructure.

Just as individual states have had to compete for PPE, ventilators, and testing resources, each and every district in our state has had to compete with other districts to figure out reopening plans while it struggles to meet the basic needs of families during crisis distance learning. Each individual school district has/will have to figure out school reopening which includes: logistics of social distancing, hybrid learning models, building assessments, staffing plans, and COVID testing for thousands of workers.

This summer, the California Department of Education drafted school reopening guidelines which marketed the plan’s “flexibility” in allowing school districts to figure out what works best for them. In reality, this free-for-all approach ended up privileging private schools, charters, and small suburban school districts that have higher per-pupil spending, smaller class sizes, modern facilities, and rich benefactors. This has resulted in larger urban districts like San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Jose getting left behind. The guide is titled “Stronger Together”, yet after several months of CONTINUE READING:  Trump/DeVos may have lost the election, but the battle for public education has just begun. - SF PUBLIC SCHOOL MOM