DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG CATCH UP NOW - Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

DID YOU MISS DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG  CATCH UP NOW

 Diane Ravitch's blog 

 A site to discuss better education for all

Coronavirus Crisis: Nearly One-Quarter of Schools Have No School Nurse

by dianeravitch / 39min

Jersey Jazzman documents a crucial shortage in school nurses, who serve multiple roles in protecting the health of children in school. He writes: As the coronavirus threat increases in the United States, policymakers are assessing our nation’s capacity to handle a pandemic. One of our first lines of defense — and one I’ve yet to see discussed — is our school nursing workforce. Ask anyone who has

Why Won’t Trump Declare a National Emergency?

by dianeravitch / 40min

Because he doesn’t want to admit he was wrong when he compared the coronavirus to the flu. James Hohmann of the Washington Post wrote: Democrats want Trump to declare the coronavirus outbreak a national emergency. He’s hesitating. President Trump declared a national emergency last February to divert billions that had been appropriated for the military to fund construction of his wall along the so

Jeanne Kaplan: What’s the Matter with the New Denver Board of Education?

by dianeravitch / 1h

Jeanne Kaplan served two terms on the elected board of education in Denver. She has been an outspoken critic of the Disruption policies of the Michael Bennet-Tom Boasberg era, and she worked with other parents and activists in Denver against the monied interests that promoted Disruption, high-stakes testing, and charters in that city. Miraculously, a new board was elected last fall which had a ma

Teacher Responds to Review of SLAYING GOLIATH in “The New York Times”

22by dianeravitch / 2h

I confess that I was very disappointed by the review of my new book in the New York Times. The reviewer thought that I should have presented “both sides,” not argued on behalf of public schools, which enroll 85-90% of American children. If we starve the public schools that enroll most children, we harm them and the future of our society. I debated whether to respond on this blog but then decided

K-12 Teacher: Why I Oppose the Common Core Math Standards

by dianeravitch / 3h

This anonymous K-12 teacher wrote an extended explanation of why he or she opposes the Common Core mathematics standards. The essay was a guest post in David Kristofferson’s blog. The teacher writes that the math standards claim to stress “deep understanding” in addition to procedure, which sounds like a good thing at first, until you take a closer look at how this goal is actually approached. To

YESTERDAY

Watch the Brilliant Katie Porter Force the Director of CDC to Guarantee Free Testing for Coronavirus

by dianeravitch / 12h

This tape takes about four minutes. Watch the amazing, brilliant Congresswoman Katie Porter question the director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Robert Redfield, to use his legal authority to assure that every American is entitled to receive free testing for coronavirus. Watch Dr. Redfield duck and weave and obfuscate, trying to avoid to making that commitment. Watch as he finally says,

Los Angeles: UTLA Calls on Superintendent and Board to Close the Schools and Create Support System for Students

36by dianeravitch / 14h

The United Teachers of Los Angeles issued this statement tonight: UTLA calls for LAUSD to close schools Tonight UTLA called on LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to take decisive action to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “We are calling for the rapid, accelerated, and humane closure of LAUSD schools,” UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said. “Other countries have shown that a proactive — not r

Ohio: Governor DeWine Announces Three-Week Spring Break and Says Don’t Worry about the State Tests

300+by dianeravitch / 19h

Governor Mike DeWine acted decisively to close all schools in Ohio, starting at the end of the day Monday. Some schools will close sooner. COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that all Ohio schools will have a three-week spring break – starting next week – as precaution against the spread of coronavirus. Ohio K-12 schools will be closed from 3:30 p.m. Monday through at least

Democrats Propose a Response to the Coronavirus. Republicans Say No, We Need Tax Cuts.

31by dianeravitch / 19h

Last night, House Democrats introduced the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes: Free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured; Paid emergency leave with both 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave; Enhanced Unemployment Insurance, a first step that will extend protections to furloughed workers; Stren

St. Paul, Minnesota: Teachers Strike to Demand More Investment in Services for Their Student

by dianeravitch / 21h

(FORGIVE MY SENIOR MOMENT–BEING SO UPSET WITH THE DAY’S NEWS, I MISTAKENLY PLACED ST. PAUL IN THE WRONG STATE, WHEN I KNOW IT IS ONE OF THE TWIN CITIES OF MINNESOTA. I HAVE LEARNED TO OWN MY MISTAKES.) The teachers of St. Paul, Minnesota, are on strike. Their number one demand is the expansion of mental health services and counseling for their students. The #Red4Ed movement continues, as teachers

Critic of NPE “Asleep at the Wheel” Advocates for Vouchers with Weak Reasoning and a Mathematical Error

31by dianeravitch / 21h

When the Network for Public Education issued two reports scrutinizing the failure of the federal Charter Schools Program, the second report was criticized by one Will Flanders of the far-right think tank Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, whose critique was published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Flypaper. Flanders recently wrote a proposal to expand vouchers in Wisconsin and claimed

California: Appeals Court Rules That Non-Profit Charter Schools Are Not Exempt from Taxation

200+by dianeravitch / 1d

This decision was announced on March 11 : Metropolitan News-Enterprise Wednesday, March 11, 2020 Court of Appeal: Nonprofit Chartered Schools Are Not Exempt From County Property Taxes, Assessments By a MetNews Staff Writer The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday affirmed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Monica Bachner’s determination that a nonprofit charter school is not impliedly exempt

Florida: Republican State Senator is Tired of Micromanaging Public Schools While Focusing Only on School Choice

82by dianeravitch / 1d

Now here is a refreshing story from Florida. Republican State Senator Tom Lee says he is fed up with the legislature’s micromanagement of education policy. Moreover, he actually noticed that the Legislature spends most of its time on 20% of the state’s students while ignoring the other 80% who attend public schools. “As I talk to members, I don’t think there’s anyone quite where I am yet, but I’m

Florida: House Passes Bill to Protect “Parents’ Rights” vs. School System

by dianeravitch / 1d

The Florida House passed a bill to protect “parents’ rights” against decisions by the school system. The House advanced sweeping, if aspirational, legislation codifying a parent’s “bill of rights” on Monday. The vote in favor was 77-41. The House version (CS/HB 1059), sponsored by Rep. Erin Grall, now includes a technical amendment that reaffirmed parental rights to any type of school (public, pr

Florida: House Rejects Bill to Ban LGBT Discrimination in Voucher Schools

24by dianeravitch / 1d

On January 23, the Orlando Sentinel published an investigative report that nearly 160 religious schools receiving public money for vouchers openly discriminated against LGBT students, families, and staff. The Florida House just rejected a bill to make such discrimination in publicly funded schools illegal. To make it plain, the Florida House sent a message to religious schools that it is just fin

MAR 11

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Teacher Tom: Covid-19 Is Breaking My Heart

Teacher Tom: Covid-19 Is Breaking My Heart

Covid-19 Is Breaking My Heart

We all know what to do: wash your hands, cough into your elbow, stay home if you're feeling ill, avoid large crowds, especially stay away from people who are visibly sick, and maybe don't go visit grandma for the time being.

That last one depresses me beyond measure. My mother-in-law is currently a dementia resident of a memory ward in an assisted living facility. They have been on complete lock down for a couple weeks now. This means no visitors, they are confined to their rooms, even dining alone. No group activities are permitted, not even getting together for a hand or two of cards. I haven't had the courage to ask her, but I suspect, if given a choice, she would rather risk death than suffer much more of this kind of isolation.

Before you jump down my throat, please know that I understand why these steps have been taken. I understand that we are keeping everyone safe, that we are trying to prevent the chaos of suddenly overwhelmed hospitals. And please understand that I've not undertaken action to illicitly "free" my mother-in-law, although I've sure thought about it. My heart is simply breaking at what this is doing to people like her, already isolated, and now fully isolated from all but CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Covid-19 Is Breaking My Heart

With Voucher Impasse, Ohio Legislature Abrogates It’s Constitutional Responsibility for Our Public Schools | janresseger

With Voucher Impasse, Ohio Legislature Abrogates It’s Constitutional Responsibility for Our Public Schools | janresseger

With Voucher Impasse, Ohio Legislature Abrogates It’s Constitutional Responsibility for Our Public Schools

Ohio’s House and Senate are stuck. They even seem to have stopped arguing about their two different plans to end a public school crisis caused by the surreptitious expansion last summer (in the conference committee on the state budget) of the EdChoice school voucher program. On February 1st, students were due to have begun registering for a whole new round of vouchers for next year, with eligibility expanded to a whole new group of students, but in late January the Senate created one plan to reshape the program and the House designed another plan. The Legislature gave itself two months—until April 1— to work out the differences. But here we are in mid-March without any progress toward a compromise.  And neither plan would really do what is necessary to support the school districts the state legislature has trapped in this crisis.

When Ohio state senators describe the problem, they seem to forget about the 1,660,354 students enrolled in the state’s public schools. The senators’ comments betray their sympathy with parents who would like an EdChoice voucher to pay for tuition at a private or religious school.  “Why should these parents have to wait until the first of April to begin applying?” ask the state senators. “Why should they be left without being able to make plans?”  Ohio’s state senators justify their support of vouchers with a “money should follow the child” theory consistent with Betsy DeVos’s contention that we need to worry about each child and each family and cease focusing on the system.

Bruce Baker, the Rutgers University school finance expert, explains the central flaw in this sort of thinking: “The ‘money belongs to the child’ claim… falsely assumes that the only CONTINUE READING: With Voucher Impasse, Ohio Legislature Abrogates It’s Constitutional Responsibility for Our Public Schools | janresseger

NYC Public School Parents: Schools and coronavirus: listen to the experts

NYC Public School Parents: Schools and coronavirus: listen to the experts

Schools and coronavirus: listen to the experts

Today, Governor Cuomo held a press conference where he announced that all gatherings with more than 500 people in the state would be banned from now on, and any gathering under 500 would have to cut their legal occupancy level in half, in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Yet schools and public transit will be exempt from these directives.

When asked why schools are exempted, Cuomo’s Secretary Melissa De Rosa responded that there’s no reason to close schools that have classes of forty students at most.  Yet with class sizes as large as they are, and classrooms as small as in most city schools, the person-to-person density is so extreme that the recommendation of “social distancing” of staying six feet apart will be impossible. See the photos above.

Today, the Archdiocese of NY announced it would be closing all its elementary schools (which include Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island, but not Brooklyn and Queens.)  The Governor of Ohio ordered all schools in the state--public, private, charter--closed for at least three weeks, starting next week, even though only five people in the entire state have tested positive for coronavirus, compared to 328 confirmed cases in New York state, and 98 infected in NYC.  The governors of Maryland, Kentucky and New Mexico have followed suit, with only 13 and 8 and 5 confirmed cases respectively.

When Gov. DeWine of Ohio was asked about the possibility kids would miss the state testing, he said,  “If we can’t have testing this year, we will not have testing this year. The world will not come to an end.”  The US Department of Education also issued guidance tonight that waivers from mandated state testing would be considered for those districts where schools were closed due to the epidemic. 

Yet both Cuomo and De Blasio seem adamant that they won’t close the public school system – and even at schools where students or staff have tested positive, they would close those individual schools for only a day, and then consider whether to extend that period.  See this article, about two schools sharing a building in the South Bronx which were closed for one day after the report of an infected student, which de Blasio called a “pinpoint” approach.  The DOE has even apparently refused to close a school in Park Slope, even temporarily,  where a parent tested positive after having gathered with other parents and school staff a week ago at an open school night before knowing he was infected.

At his press conference today, the Mayor said “We will fight tooth and nail to protect our schools – its where children are safe” and it allows parents to go to work.  Yet does keeping schools open really “protect” them, or keep children and their families safe?   

A reporter asked what parents who have medically fragile conditions keep their children at a distance.  The Commission of the NYC Health Department Oxiris Barbot said no, CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Schools and coronavirus: listen to the experts

CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Actually Sparks Bipartisan Action In Senate

CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Actually Sparks Bipartisan Action In Senate

DeVos Actually Sparks Bipartisan Action In Senate

You may recall that Betsy DeVos really, really, really hates the idea of forgiving the loans that students took out to attend what turned out to be fraudulent predatory not-so-good for-profit universities, to the point that when she had to sign off on loan forgiveness paperwork left over from the previous administration, she felt compelled to add "with extreme displeasure" to her signature.

Either the department had some real problems executing the requirements of the rules requiring loan forgiveness, or they implemented an impressive federal-level program of institutional foot-dragging and deliberate "gosh, we'll get right on that" bullshit. I'm pretty sure I have a good idea which one Judge Sallie "I'm not sending anyone to jail yet, but it's good to know I have the power" Kim was thinking as she fined DeVos and the department.

All of that was just a warm-up for the main event, in which DeVos rewrote the rules of loan forgiveness. Her sales pitch was "It will save the taxpayers $11 billion," but that was because she rewrote CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: DeVos Actually Sparks Bipartisan Action In Senate

Listen to Trusted Expert Advice: Coronavirus, Schools, Fear and an Uncertain Future | Ed In The Apple

Listen to Trusted Expert Advice: Coronavirus, Schools, Fear and an Uncertain Future | Ed In The Apple

Listen to Trusted Expert Advice: Coronavirus, Schools, Fear and an Uncertain Future

This was going to be a busy week, meetings, events, every day, planning for events over the next few weeks. My phone began to ping, one by one the meetings/events were postponed and/or cancelled.

An event I was sponsoring, six weeks down the road, after consultation, I postponed.

The NCAA March Madness basketball tournament cancelled; the NBA and the NHL suspending all games, MLB delaying the opening of the season  Broadway dark, and, unfortunately some electeds becoming “experts.”

At this writing the stock market is down 10% today!!

The source of all coronavirus advice is the CDC, the federal agency: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html

To quote Mayor de Blasio, “We must separate fact from fiction.”

How to respond to positive tests in schools is complex, and is evolving hour by hour, day by day.

China and Italy did not respond quickly, a major error and allowed the virus to spread.  The extreme measures that we have taken, hopefully, will slow the CONTINUE READING: Listen to Trusted Expert Advice: Coronavirus, Schools, Fear and an Uncertain Future | Ed In The Apple

The Coronavirus: An Illuminating Bug | Bill Ayers

The Coronavirus: An Illuminating Bug | Bill Ayers

The Coronavirus: An Illuminating Bug

Jack Halberstam’s brilliant book, The Queer Art of Failure, offers an essential insight for these terrible times: when things are “normal”—predictable, common-place, habitual—whether in one’s personal relations, work life, or politics, life putt-putts along at an expected pace with little fanfare, and without much thought or reflection. Then, an unanticipated crisis, a rupture, an upheaval—one’s partner has an affair, one gets laid off, Donald Trump becomes president—and it’s suddenly time to question everything, challenge the taken-for-granted, rethink basic assumptions, reimagine and rebuild.
This is such a time.
Of course I know as much about coronavirus as any other dazed participant-observer—probably more than Donald Trump and Mike Pence combined, but that’s next to nothing.
I do know that the airlines are on life support, that SXSW cancelled, that the NBA suspended the basketball season, and that I can’t meet my classes in person. I know the illness is spreading exponentially, that official inaction wasted precious time at the start, and that a patch-work health care system (“the best in the world!” according to official messaging) and a hollowed out public medical administration has left the country flat-footed.
I also know that the political class and the 1% know what to do for themselves in crisis: remember 9/11? Immediate and huge transfer of wealth from ordinary taxpayers to big corporations, massive military spending, and the surveillance state rolled out at lightning speed.
Remember the 2008 financial crisis? The housing bubble collapsed, CONTINUE READING: The Coronavirus: An Illuminating Bug | Bill Ayers

The Unknown Virus: A Personal Story | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Unknown Virus: A Personal Story | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Unknown Virus: A Personal Story

San Angelo is in West Texas. The county seat between Abilene and the Mexican border. Farms, oil wells, and cattle ranches fenced with barbed wire dot the county. Blessed with a warm climate and reputation as a healthy place to live, in one year San Angelo added to its reputation in ways that city leaders dreaded.*

In mid-spring, the newspaper reported that a local child had come down with a viral disease that had occurred in earlier springs like hailstorms and tornadoes. Previously, when this disease occurred, it had not spread. This one, however, did.

Parents began arriving at Shannon Memorial Hospital with “feverish, aching youngsters in their arms,” the local newspaper reported. Within days these children died: 10 month-old Esperanza Ramirez, seven year-old Billie Doyle Kleghorn, four year-old Susan Barr, and others. The city health officer said that an epidemic was occurring. Because the disease had no known cause or prevention or cure, he recommended that San Angelo children avoid crowds, wash their hands regularly, and get a lot of rest.

A month later, with known cases spiking to over 60, the city council voted to close all indoor meeting places, including theaters and churches. Tourists stopped coming to the city. The economy shrank. One local doctor said, “We got to the point … when people would not even shake hands.”

The year is 1949, not 2020. The disease is polio, not Covid-19.

I got polio in 1944, five years before the epidemic hits San Angelo. But I was CONTINUE READING: The Unknown Virus: A Personal Story | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice