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Advice from Frederick Douglass: How to “Fix” Lincoln’s Statue in D.C.
by dianeravitch / 1h
This Wall Street Journal article by Ted Mann tells a story of a fascinating discovery , the kind that makes historians swoon. Two historians were debating the fate of the Lincoln Emancipation memorial in Washington, D.C. it depicts Lincoln standing beside a kneeling, nude slave who is breaking his chains. Then one discovered a letter written by Frederick Douglass that provided a solution agreeabl
Donald Trump Defends Confederate Heroes as America’s Great Heritage
by dianeravitch / 2h
Donald Trump somehow imagines that the nation–at least the white portion of the nation–shares his nostalgia for the Confederacy. He is prepared to fight to the bitter end to save statues of Robert E. Lee and others who rebelled against the United States of America and fought a war that cost more than 600,000 lives. He calls this our “great heritage.” This is the same man who ridiculed Senator Joh
Trump Politicizes Mt. Rushmore. But His Face Will Never Be There.
by dianeravitch / 3h
Please read Ken Bernstein’s article and open the Lincoln Project’s latest video about the fraud who is our “president.” Of one thing we can be sure. There will be no monuments or statues to Donald Trump. Not even at NASCAR.
American Fascism: It Did Happen Here
28by dianeravitch / 4h
To those who think that Donald Trump represents a new phenomenon in American politics, Sarah Churchwell’s essay in The New York Review of Books is a necessary antidote . Open the link to see the alarming photographs that accomparticle. Yes, it happened here. Yes, you should describe to the New York Review of Books . She writes: As militarized police in riot gear and armored vehicles barreled into
Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
45by dianeravitch / 5h
Frederick Douglass’s speech on the meaning of the Fourth of July to enslaved people is an eloquent and historic document. Here is the source . Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 in Maryland. He escaped slavery in 1838, in a perilous journey to freedom. He became a leader of the abolitionist movement due to his eloquence. He is one of the most eminent figures in American history. A s
Having grown up in the middle of World War II, I have always been patriotic. We were the good guys. We stand for liberty, freedom, and the rights of all. I was aware from a young age that we didn’t live up to our ideals. I experienced saw racial bigotry, though I was not one of its victims. I was keenly aware of the gap between ideals and
YESTERDAY
Jan Resseger: The Dangers of the Espinoza Decision
56by dianeravitch / 20h
Jan Resseger writes here with her usual lucidity about the Espinoza decision, which cut another hole in Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state,” a long-sought goal of the radical right. To anyone who refused to vote for Hillary in 2016, this decision is yours. Please open to read it all, along with the links. She begins: On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court released a long
Jamaal Bowman: A New Kind of Democrat
by dianeravitch / 21h
David Dayen writes in the online American Prospect’s “Unsanitized” about Jamaal Bowman’s emergence as a new kind of Democrat. Bowman just defeated 16-term Congressman Elliot Engel, who was endorsed by not only the Democratic Party leadership but the Congressional Black Caucus. Dayen writes: Jamaal Bowman’s campaign to defeat longtime absentee incumbent Eliot Engel in a New York House seat was ins
White House Defense of Trump: He Didn’t Know! No One Told Him
by dianeravitch / 22h
Ignorance is usually not a good defense when you get caught. In Trump’s case, it is the default response when things go wrong. You could write a book about what Trump doesn’t know. He doesn’t know that Greenland is not for sale. He doesn’t know that Finland is not part of Russia. He doesn’t know that Frederick Douglass is a historical figure, not someone living today. He doesn’t know that climate
Kevin Welner on the Radical Espinoza Decision
by dianeravitch / 23h
Kevin Welner, a lawyer and specialist in education policy, wrote about the Espinoza decision at Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet in the Washington Post: On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that was once unthinkable. It required the state of Montana to set aside its own constitution’s ban on direct or indirect funding of religious private schools: “A State need not subsidize private
Some States and Superintendents Seek Deferral of Standardized Tests Next Year
300+by dianeravitch / 1d
The National Superintendents Roundtable reports that Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina want to suspend testing next year . Other states may follow their lead. The most important priority must be the health and safety of students and staff. On June 18, Georgia became one of the first states to seek an assessment waiver. Gov. Brian P. Kemp and State School Superintendent Richard Woods jointly anno
SAVE THE DATE! July 8, 7:30 pm to Join Me and Andre Perry
by dianeravitch / 1d
On July 8, you are invited to join a ZOOM discussion with me and Andre Perry. Andre Perry has written a new book KNOW YOUR PRICE: VALUING BLACK LIVES AND PROPERTY IN AMERICA’S BLACK CITIES. He was the leader in the New Orleans charter sector, then became disillusioned and left. I am fascinated with people who have the courage to change. Listen in to this conversation. We will talk for an hour, th
JUL 02
A Clarification about Los Angeles Police in Schools V. New York City
by dianeravitch / 1d
Anna Bakalis of United Teachers of Los Angeles writes a clarification: Got this from the LASPD site: Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD)is the largest independent school police department in the United States, with over 410 sworn police officers, 101 non-sworn school safety officers (SSO), and 34 civilian support staff dedicated to serving the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Leonie Haimson: New York City Has the Largest Police Presence in Schools
by dianeravitch / 1d
Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, takes issue with the claim that Los Angeles has the largest police force in schools in the country. LAUSD does not have the “largest school police force in the country” as claimed above (in UTLA press release). NYC DOE has more than 5,000 School Safety Officers who work for the NYPD, at a cost of nearly $500M — more than seven times the co
UTLA Approves Reallocation of Funding for Police in Los Angeles Public Schools
by dianeravitch / 1d
https://www.utla.net/news/utla-statement-lausd-vote-defund-school-police-budget-35 For immediate release July 1, 2020 Media Contact: Anna Bakalis 213-305-9654 UTLA Statement on LAUSD vote to defund school police budget by 35% The LAUSD School Board yesterday approved an immediate 35% cut to the LAUSD school police, after weeks of protests organized by Students Deserve and Black Lives Matter-LA th
Nancy Bailey: 22 Reasons Why Schools Should Not Open This Fall
100+by dianeravitch / 1d
Nancy Bailey has 22 reasons why schools should not open this fall. Here are the first four: 1. Illness and Russian Roulette According to the CDC, the risk might seem low for children, but they still get sick, some seriously. Children and teenagers have died. Questions still surround the disease. It’s not worth the risk. Maybe the situation will improve by January, or next summer. Currently we’re
Peter Greene: Supreme Court Just Poked Another Hole in Wall of Separation Between Church and State
34by dianeravitch / 1d
Peter Greene worries that the Espinoza decision is another step in the movement to establish the principle that the public should fund religious schools. He believes this is ominous. I don’t disagree. That’s why Trump and DeVos celebrated the Court’s decision that all state scholarships for private schools must include religious schools. I was pleased that the Court did not take the final step th
Steve Hinnefeld: The Supreme Court’s Mistaken View of American History in the Espinoza Decision
41by dianeravitch / 1d
Steve Hinnefeld blogs about education. He is based in Indiana, which has funded charters and vouchers, the latter despite a state constitution that bans funding religious schools. He writes here about the Supreme Court’s Espinoza decision that held that religious schools must be included in state programs that fund private schools (almost all state voucher programs already fund religious schools,
Derek Black: Untangling the Supreme Court’s Espinoza Decision
38by dianeravitch / 2d
Derek Black is a law professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in education, civil rights, and equity. His new book, which I have read and intend to review here, is Schoolhouse Burning. It is phenomenal. It is a new history of American education that documents the historic role of public education in our democracy from the Founding Fathers to the recent past. Black writes: Thr
JUL 01
Woman, Know Your Place. I Don’t.
by dianeravitch / 2d
I saw this a long while ago and thought it was wonderful social satire. It reminded me just a little of myself after my college graduation in 1960, when women’s voices were devalued. That was before the feminist movement. I married right after I graduated college and aspired to be the perfect wife. I wasn’t very good at it but it took a long time to figure that out. I identified with the woman in
My Knee, and Why I Can Walk Again
26by dianeravitch / 2d
Six years ago, I fell and broke my knee. That event changed my life in unexpected ways. For the first time in my life, I felt physically unsteady and vulnerable. My sense of invincibility disappeared. After a lifetime of bounding up and down stairs, I learned to hold onto a railing and watch my step. In April 2014, I was running to the postoffice on a Saturday, hoping to get there before it close
Maria Popova on Keith Haring, Art, Love and Courage
by dianeravitch / 2d
I chose to include this link on my birthday because it gave me an hour of aesthetic joy, following its links. Maria Popova is a Bulgarian-born polymath who lives in Brooklyn and reads voraciously with deep understanding and love of knowledge. On June 26, she wrote about the artist Keith Haring and his love of life and art, and how his art inspired her and others, and how his life demonstrated “th
It’s My Birthday So I Write What I Choose
100+by dianeravitch / 3d
That’s a joke headline. True that it’s my birthday but I write what I choose every day. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong, but I write what I choose. This is a freedom I gained when I realized that I’m free from ambition. At my exalted age (82), there is nothing to tempt me. I don’t yearn for a job or an appointment to anything. I don’t seek money. I have enough. So I will share some hard-
JUN 30
Dana Milbank: America Slides Back to the Medieval Era
47by dianeravitch / 3d
My favorite Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank summarizes where our “leaders” are in responding to the global pandemic. No wonder the EU won’t allow Americans to enter its borders. Sen. Rand Paul doesn’t much care what Anthony Fauci has to say. The Kentucky Republican gets his public health advice from Friedrich Hayek. Hayek, the Austrian-born economist and libertarian hero, died in 1992. But
Pastors for Texas Children Speaks Out Against the Espinoza Decision
61by dianeravitch / 3d
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states with private school scholarships must provide similar funding to religious schools. This was bizarre because the Montana Supreme Court had already banished the state’s private school scholarship program, which offered $150 to families that chose private schools and sought a state scholarship. So the state of Montana will not owe $150 to the Espinoza family.
Laura Chapman: The Espinoza Decision Was a Farce, Because It Was Moot!
89by dianeravitch / 3d
Our reader Laura Chapman read the Supreme Court decision in the Espinoza case, both the majority decision and the dissents . The majority decision said that if a state offers a scholarship program for private schools, it must include religious schools. The dissenters, Chapman noted, pointed out that the Montana Supreme Court had already invalidated the private scholarship program. So the case was
Randi’s Take on the Supreme Court Decision in Espinoza Case
70by dianeravitch / 3d
Randi Weingarten is not only president of the AFT, she is a lawyer. Below is her reaction to the Supreme Court ruling. She calls it a “seismic shock.” She sees the decision as one more step in the relentless rightwing effort to defund and privatize public schools. She thinks the decision set the stage for an even more radical decision, one that requires states to fund religious school tuition as
Biden Calls for Massive Federal Response to Pandemic
by dianeravitch / 3d
Joe Biden seems to be waging a vigorous front-porch campaign. The Washington Post reports : WILMINGTON, Del. – Joe Biden doesn’t just want to ensure that every person in this country gets free testing for the novel coronavirus. He wants their treatment covered, too, no matter whether or how they are insured. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also calls for adding $200 per month to t
California Charter Schools Collect Millions Intended for Small Businesses
26by dianeravitch / 3d
The Network for Public Education has been tracking the charter schools that collected from the federal Paycheck Protectiin Program intended to help small businesses struggling to survive. The charter schools have not had any budget cuts, have lost no money, have not been struggling to pay employees, but their lobbyists get them included as eligible for the PPP funding, although public schools are
Denver: Charter Schools Collected $16 Million in Federal Aid for Small Businesses
100+by dianeravitch / 3d
Chalkbeat reports that charter schools in Denver collected $16 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, intended to help small businesses. Across the country, charters are collecting federal money intended to save small businesses faced with economic collapse. Public schools are not eligible to get money from this program. Charter schools also receive state and local funding earmarke
BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rules Against Montana Ban on Funding Religious Schools
200+by dianeravitch / 3d
The Supreme Court just released a 5-4 decision in the case of Espinoza V. Montana that struck down a provision in the state constitution banning public funds to religious schools. The decision seems to be narrowly tailored to say that if a state provides aid to private schools, it can’t bar aid to religious schools. I will post expert opinions on this as soon as they are available. The many right
Why Does the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Repeatedly Lie about Vouchers in Florida?
100+by dianeravitch / 3d
The Wall Street Journal editorial board has three core beliefs about education. 1. Public schools are horrible. 2. Teachers’ unions are evil. 3. Non-unionized charters and vouchers are the remedy to all that ails American education. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The three highest performing states in the nation—Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey—have strong teachers’ unions. None of the non-union
D.C.: Beloved Principal Fired Because She Resisted “No Excuses” Discipline
by dianeravitch / 4d
The Relay “Graduate School of Education” was created by charter schools to train charter school teachers on test-score-raising and no-excuses discipline, while using Doug Lemov’s Bible “Teach Like a Champion.” It’s teachers mostly taught in charters. Relay is called a graduate school, but it has no research faculty, no campus, no library, and at last review, no scholars or anyone with a doctorate
JUN 29
Maybe Why Trump Was Not Briefed on Russian Plan
by dianeravitch / 4d
NPR has the story . Intelligence officials included information about the Russian determination to put a bounty on Coalition forces in his daily briefing report. However, they made a mistake. They put the ominous story in the president’s daily intelligence briefing, which is written. The president doesn’t read. They should have given the information to Fox & Friends. Then he would have noticed.
Congress Wants Answers about Russian Bounty-for-Bodies Allegations
by dianeravitch / 4d
The New York Times reports that members of Congress want intelligence officials to explain the claims that Russia paid a bounty to Afghan militants to kill soldiers who are American or other Coalition forces. Trump denies that he was briefed. Is it credible that such an important development would not be transmitted to the president? Democrats and Republicans in Congress demanded on Monday that A
Chief Justice Roberts Provides Swing Vote to Strike Down Law to Ban Abortions
by dianeravitch / 4d
Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the Supreme Court’s four liberal justices to strike down a Louisiana law that would have severely restricted access to abortion. The Washington Post reports : The Supreme Court on Monday provided a victory for abortion rights activists, striking down a restrictive Louisiana law that would have left the state with only one abortion clinic. Chief Justice John G
Barbara Veltri: TFA Is Still Feeding at the Trough
38by dianeravitch / 4d
Barbara Veltri is a teacher educator at Northern Arizona University. She has mentored TFA corps members, and she wrote a book about TFA. In this essay, she notes that Doug Ducey, Republican Governor of Arizona and a favorite of Charles Joch, is an avid supporter of Trump, school choice, and TFA. She writes: Tara Kini, wrote, “We’re hearing a lot of conflicting scenarios and projections related to
Oklahoma: Dark Money Enters Primary Campaigns
100+by dianeravitch / 4d
Dark money—anonymous donors—are pouring money into primary campaigns. The main donor is the Oklahoma Federation of Children , the state affiliate of Betsy DeVos’ American Federation of Children. Never in history has there been a Secretary of Education with her own political PAC.
Study: Police Killings Reduce Grades, Grad Rates of Black and Hispanic Students
by dianeravitch / 4d
This study should be no surprise. When students of color are exposed to police killings, their grades and graduation rates decline. It seems likely that being exposed to such traumatic events would depress the academic motivation of all students, whatever their race or ethnicity. Witnessing or hearing about a murder in one’s surroundings must be a traumatic experience.
The Barr Memo and the Imperial Presidency
by dianeravitch / 4d
William Barr wrote an unsolicited memo before he was appointed to his current position as Attorney General. It was intended to discredit the Mueller investigation. It sets forth an expansive view of the powers of the president and supports Trump’s view that the president is above the law. As Trump put it, “the president can do whatever he wants.” Barr agrees. To learn more about the Barr memo, re
Vicki Cobb: How the Coronavirus Works
by dianeravitch / 4d
Vicki Cobb is an award-winning science writer. She has written more than 90 science books, mostly for children, which means she is good at explaining complex ideas. She explains here how the coronavirus works and what it is.
A Remarkable Story About Joe Biden
500+by dianeravitch / 5d
@StanleyKrute shared this story on Twitter, about Rabbi Michael Beals of Delaware and Senator Joe Biden. About 16 years ago, as a rabbi new to Delaware, Rabbi Beals officiated at the memorial service for an elderly woman, Mrs. Greenhouse. She didn’t have much in the way of worldly goods. She lived in a very small apartment in a high-rise building. Rabbi Beals led a prayer minyan that was conducte
JUN 28
WaPo: Trump Campaign Staff Removed Social Distancing Warnings in Tulsa
by dianeravitch / 5d
The Washington Post reported today: In the hours before President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, his campaign directed the removal of thousands of “Do Not Sit Here, Please!” stickers from seats in the arena that were intended to establish social distance between rallygoers, according to video and photos obtained by The Washington Post and a person familiar with the event. The removal contradicted instru
The Anniversary of a World-Changing Event
by dianeravitch / 5d
The following item was posted this morning in Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac.” The asassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the event that triggered the First World War. That was destabilized Europe, destroyed empires, and created the social and economic conditions that led to the Second World War. We are still living with the consequences of what happed on June 28, 1914. It was on
Charles Lane: Trump Lacks “Decency”
by dianeravitch / 5d
Charles Lane explains one of Trump’s basic character flaw: he lacks decency. One of the ceremonial roles of the President is to show compassion and decency in times of trouble. Think of Reagan when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded, killing all aboard as the nation watched. Think Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing. Think Obama after the Newtown massacre. They mourned with
Did Trump Ignore Warnings that Russians Paid Taliban to Kill Coalition Soldiers?
by dianeravitch / 5d
The New York Times and the Washington reported that a Russian military intelligence unit offered Afghan militants a bounty to kill Coalition forces in Afghanistan. The reports say that Trump and his National Security Council were briefed about this matter last March but took no action. If this is true, it is treasonous. Every veteran, every citizen should be outraged that a president would willfu
Peter Greene: Charter School in Plush California Neighborhood Picks Up a Federal PPP Loan
100+by dianeravitch / 5d
Peter Greene tells the story of the Pacific Charter School, located in the Los Angeles District . When PCS got news that they were eligible to get millions of dollars from the federal Paycheck Protection Program—whose purpose was to save small businesses at risk of closing forever—they saw an opportunity, and they took it. PCHS is a charter school, and like many other such outfits, they have hear
Paul Horton: Why Study History?
100+by dianeravitch / 6d
I invited Paul Horton, a history teacher at the University of Chicago Lab School, to write on the topic, “Why study history?” He wrote this essay. Betsy Devos’ War on History is Just Another Trip to Fantasyland Without history we are lost. Without history we are disconnected, thrown into limitless space and time that has no ground or purpose. Learning history is central to learning individual ide
JUN 27
Jan Resseger: School Choice is Not the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time or Any Time
100+by dianeravitch / 6d
Jan Resseger writes here to refute Trump and Betsy DeVos’s ridiculous claim that school choice is a “civil rights issue.” As she points out, charter schools and vouchers divert funding from the public schools that most children of color attend. School choice is responsible for budget cuts to public schools. Privatized educational alternatives like charter schools and vouchers for private school t
Maria Popova: The Greatest LGBT Love Letters of All Time
by dianeravitch / 6d
Maria Popova is a voracious reader. She posts her reflections on literature, which she calls “Brain Pickings.” She reads widely and writes about whatever interests her. Her interests are broad. In this post, she gathers the greatest love letters of all time among people of the same sex. She does this to honor what is known as Pride Month. Here you will find love letters by Margaret Mead, Eleanor
John Thompson: A Report from Tulsa after Trump’s Rallly Fiasco
100+by dianeravitch / 6d
John Thompson is a retired teacher and historian in Oklahoma. He writes: I previously posted on the Profiles in Courage of Tulsans who resisted President Donald Trump’s hideous rally that was appropriately characterized as “Come for the Racism, Stay for the Plague.” That was easy; it was primarily the medical profession that stood firm for the public’s health. The main narrative was the way that
Harley Litzelman: Cops Don’t Keep Kids Safe at School
31by dianeravitch / 7d
Harvey Litzelman, a teacher in California, explains why police don’t make schools safe. When he first entered teaching, before he ever got any lessons about teaching, he was shown a video about how to handle a school shooter. The video was called “Run Hide Defend.” It made clear that the teacher was the first line of defense for students. He writes: Having taught in Oakland for several years afte
Pence Puts a Happy Face on Rise in COVID Cases
by dianeravitch / 7d
While other nations such as Spain and Italy have seen an overall decline in new cases of COVID, the US is reporting a new high in the number of those infected. Other nations have followed the advice of public health officials. The US has not. Mike Pence looked for good n
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