NANCY BAILEY: Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But

Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But

Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But

Betsy DeVos rarely makes a statement without referring to her idea of Education Freedom. She is, of course, referring to school vouchers.

But as education secretary she has been more about denying students true education freedom. DeVos stands for the opposite of educational freedom! As she travels around the country promoting her agenda, here’s a review of the ways she has denied children real educational freedom.

Public Schools and the Military

Betsy DeVos praises the military. She visited an air force base recently highlighting Education Freedom.

She tweeted: I often hear from parents serving in the military that access to good schools for their kids is a top concern when deciding to reenlist or take their next assignment.

Did she mention that President Trump will be removing $450 million in funds some of which is meant for building public schools on military bases? Instead he will spend the funds on a border wall.

CBS reported, Funds for the construction of schools at military bases and facilities will be transferred to finance the construction of border barriers, including a $62,634,000 grant for a middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and a CONTINUE READING: Betsy DeVos’s Education Freedom: It’s Anything But

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | gadflyonthewallblog

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | gadflyonthewallblog

Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along

America has been fooled by the charter school industry for too long.

The popular myth that charter schools were invented by unions to empower teachers and communities so that students would have better options is as phony as a three dollar bill.

The concept always was about privatizing schools to make money.

It has always been about stealing control of public education, enacting corporate welfare, engaging in union busting, and an abiding belief that the free hand of the market can do no wrong.

Charter schools are, after all, institutions run privately but paid for with tax dollars. So operators can make all decisions behind closed doors without public input or accountability. They can cut student services and pocket the difference. And they can enroll whoever the heck they want without providing the same level of education or programs you routinely get at your neighborhood public school.

In essence, charter schools are a scheme to eliminate the public from public education paid for at public expense.

But whenever anyone brings up these facts, they are confronted by the bedtime story of Albert Shanker and his alleged advocacy of the industry.
So grab your teddy bear and put on your jammies, because here’s how it goes:
Once upon a time, hero president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Al Shanker had an idea. He wanted to make laboratory schools where educators would be freed of regulations so they could experiment and find new pedagogies that CONTINUE READING: Charter Schools Were Never a Good Idea. They Were a Corporate Plot All Along | gadflyonthewallblog

Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype | Diane Ravitch's blog

Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype | Diane Ravitch's blog

Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype

William J. Gumbert has prepared statistical analyses of charter performance in Texas, based on state data.

Charters boast of their “success,” but the reality is far different from their claims. They don’t enroll similar demographics, their attrition rate is staggering, and their “wait lists” are unverified.

Their claims are a marketing tool.

They are not better than public schools.

They undermine and disrupt communities without producing better results.

Yet Texas is plunging headlong into this strategy that creates a dual system but benefits few students.

Texas Charter Schools – Perception May Not Be Reality

Part 5: The State’s Efforts to “Privatize” Public Education in Local Communities is “Simply Indefensible”

By: William J. Gumbert

If you are a parent residing in an urban or suburban area of Texas, it is likely that you have received promotional materials recruiting your child to enroll at a privately operated, charter school (“charters”). Charters are taxpayer funded, private organizations that the State approves to independently operate schools in community-based school districts. Despite it being your students, schools, tax dollars and communities, the State has unilaterally decided that a “dual education system”, consisting of locally governed, community-based school districts and State approved, privately governed charters, is best for local communities. The State has also CONTINUE READING: Texas Charter Schools: Don’t Believe the Boasting and Hype | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes

Don’t rob military kids to build ‘the wall’

Funds earmarked for public schools and daycare centers serving military families could be used instead to erect barriers on our southern border. At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is diverting $3.6 billion from projects approved by Congress to construction of his border wall, which Mexico was supposed to pay for. Those projects include long-overdue renovations and repairs at a middle school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; an elementary school at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and a child development center at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, among others. Only Congress—after hearing from you!—can halt the effort to rob military kids of the support they deserve. Tell your representatives to speak out and oppose this travesty. TAKE ACTION

Put rural schools on a firm financial footing

NEA board member Karen Schuett, a teacher in Bakersfield, California, flew to Washington last week to join NEA partners and allies in urging Congress to renew the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) and Community Self-Determination Act. First enacted in 2000, the law supports public education and community services in over 4,400 schools in 770 rural counties located near national forests. But funding has been inconsistent for the last three years—the law expired at the end of 2018. As a result, rural areas across the country are facing budgetary shortfalls that could force big cuts in public education and other essential community services. Tell your representatives to put the SRS program on a firm financial footing. TAKE ACTION

NEA leaders featured at CHCI and CBCF events

All three NEA officers participated in the 2019 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute leadership conference and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation annual legislative conference last week. During a panel discussion of immigration, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said, “In the United States, our children are living in fear of being separated from their parents. That’s not who we were supposed to be. This is not who we must be.” NEA Vice President Becky Pringle said, “[O]ur black boys—and now increasingly our black girls—are being pushed out of our schools. They are finding themselves in that school to prison pipeline. We as educators must disrupt it.” NEA Secretary-Treasurer Princess Moss addressed the connection between climate justice and education justice. “Hear me now!” she said. “Climate change is not only about recycling and no more plastic straws… [It] directly impacts communities of color in a significant way.”

Cheers and Jeers

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Anthony Brown (D-MD), Joe Courtney (D-CT), John Garamendi (D-CA), and Jason Crow (D-CO) wrote a letter expressing strong concerns with Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) policies that eliminate teaching positions and require teachers to work more unpaid hours. The Federal Education Association, an NEA affiliate, represents educators employed by DoDEA at 164 public schools serving more than 73,000 students from military families in the United States and overseas.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), joined by Reps. Gil Cisneros (D-CA), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), introduced the Teacher Diversity and Retention Act (H.R. 4288) to help combat our nationwide teacher shortage by increasing recruitment of diverse teachers and improving teacher training and retention programs.

Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) introduced the Pell Grant Restoration Act (H.R. 4298) to restore eligibility to students who attended institutions of higher education that closed due to fraudulent violations of the law.

Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and Josh Harder (D-CA) introduced the Enhanced Access To SNAP (EATS) Act (H.R. 4297) to address the growing crisis of food insecurity among college students across the country. The bill would amend the Food and Nutrition Act to include “attending an institution of higher education” as a form of qualification.

Education Insider for September 15, 2019 - Education Votes

Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools? | Teacher in a strange land

Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools? | Teacher in a strange land

Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools?

I was chatting with a group of women last month about the presidential race. All of these women identify as Democrats, and all of them are eager to off-load the current resident of the White House.  We meet monthly, to discuss a current topic, and lately, have closed our gathering by checking in with our current favorites among the candidates. Cory Booker’s name came up.

There was admiration for his smooth, polished presence and rhetoric at debates and on news shows. He was doing well in the debates—and maybe could stand up to Trump, make him look foolish. I interrupted the happy talk: His record on education is terrible. He’s an avowed charter school supporter who nearly destroyed the Newark Public Schools. He’s a big fan of school choice, even vouchers.

I looked around the table at a lot of blank faces. One voice spoke up: So? Why is that so bad?

And then I realized. These women—lovely, principled, left-leaning women—haven’t been fighting the education policy wars for years. One has a grandchild in a charter school.  They want good schools for all kids, but they’re agnostic about alternate school governance. Even a local charter founder spending 41 months in federal prison for tax evasion, having improperly handling millions of public dollars in his quest to establish a lucrative charter chain, didn’t really have much of an impact. That school remains open, drawing over 1000 students from local public districts.

Me? I believe charter schools have done untold damage to public education, and I’ve CONTINUE READING: Why Don’t Democratic Presidential Candidates Talk about Charter Schools? | Teacher in a strange land

Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools

Rhode Island Officials—Governor Gina Raimondo and State Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green—are looking at the expansion of the no-excuses Achievement First Charter chain as part of the “solution” to the low-scoring Providence public school district.

Achievement First is a national charter chain known for high test scores, high suspension rates, and high teacher turnover. It was launched in Connecticut, funded in large part by Jonathan Sackler of Purdue Pharma, the opioid king, and significant contributions by hedge fund managers and philanthropists.

Let’s do the math.

Providence public schools enroll nearly 24,000 students. Two-thirds are Hispanic, 9% are white, 79% are low-income. Achievement First reports similar demographics in its two schools in Providence.

With now three schools in the state since opening in the 2013-2014 school year, Achievement First cites that the Rhode Island Department of Education in 2016 gave approval to Achievement First to grow to a high school — and add an additional K-8, giving Achievement First the ability to serve 3112 students — up from the current 1150 students in Providence and Cranston.

AF has 464 students in itselementary school, and 201 in CONTINUE READING: Note to Rhode Island Officials: Expanding “Achievement First” Charters Will Not Help Providence Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

A Very Busy Day Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

A Very Busy Day Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007

Create Art In A Unique Way With “Artbreeder”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 55min

bodobe / Pixabay Artbreeder lets you create art – for free – that you can then use anyway you want. Here’s how Recomendo describes it: Using deep learning (AI) algorithms it generates multiple photo-realistic “children” mutations of one image. You — the gardener — select one mutant you like and then breed further generations from its descendants. You can also crossbreed two different images. Very

YESTERDAY

This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9h

Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be interested in THE BEST ARTICLES, VIDEOS & POSTS ON EDUCATION POLICY IN 2019 – PART ONE ): Teacher Choices Trials – our new approach to researching questions teachers want answers to is from The Education Endowment. They’ve begun asking teachers what the Foundation should research. It’s a stance that I h

SEL Weekly Update

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

I’ve recently begun this weekly post where I’ll be sharing resources I’m adding to The Best Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources or other related “Best” lists. You might also be interested in THE BEST SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES OF 2019 – PART ONE Finally, check out “Best” Lists Of The Week: Social Emotional Learning Resources . Here are this week’s picks: Can Bite-Sized Lessons Make

New Resources On Race & Racism

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

I’m adding these new resources to various “Best” lists. You can find links to all of those many lists that relate to race and racism at “Best” Lists Of The Week: Resources For Teaching & Learning About Race & Racism: The Washington Post has published a series on school segregation. I’m adding these articles and interactives to The Best Resources For Learning About School Desegregation (& Segregat

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h

Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES ON CLASS INSTRUCTION IN 2019 – PART ONE. Here are this week’s picks: Honing Our Questions to Deepen History Learning appeared in Middleweb. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles About Asking Good

Video: “Greta Thunberg – Inspiring Others to Take a Stand Against Climate Change” With Trevor Noah

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

geralt / Pixabay Trevor Noah interviewed Greta Thunberg last night on The Daily Show. I’m adding it to THE BEST RESOURCES ON TEENS DEMANDING AN EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE .

Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16h

BiljaST / Pixabay Five years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention. You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE. Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learner

Ed Tech Digest

by Larry Ferlazzo / 21h

Six years ago, in another somewhat futile attempt to reduce the backlog of resources I want to share, I began this occasional “” post where I share three or four links I think are particularly useful and related to…ed tech, including some Web 2.0 apps. You might also be interested in THE BEST ED TECH RESOURCES OF 2019 – PART ONE , as well as checking out all my edtech resources . You might also w

Video: “Small Decisions That Massively Changed History”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 21h

Pexels / Pixabay This is not a great video. However, the first part does a good job showing how small decisions can affect history. It can be particularly useful when introducing the idea of a “What If?” project, which I regularly do in my Theory of Knowledge and Social Studies class, and which also can be done in just about any other class, too. You can read about them at The Best Resources For

The Great Depression Began Ninety Years Ago – Here Are Related Teaching & Learning Resources

25by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Momentmal / Pixabay As The Washington Post pointed out this week: Ninety years ago this fall, the stock market experienced the Great Crash. Shortly thereafter, America’s economy slumped into the Great Depression. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About The Great Depression .

“Q&A Collections: Relationships in Schools”

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1d

Q&A Collections: Relationships in Schools is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. All Classroom Q&A posts offering advice on Relationships in Schools (from the past eight years!) are described and linked 

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007