Friday, November 30, 2012

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-30-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch



Rick Hess’s Startling Analysis of Common Core

Many of us had been under the impression that the goal of the Common Core standards was to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the nation’s schools.
As someone who spent years advocating for national standards–but has been agnostic about the new Common Core standards–it was always my hope that improving education would be, should be the goal. At least that was my hope when I worked in the US Department of Education in 1991-93 and expended a few million dollars so that teachers’ groups could write voluntary national standards in the arts, history, civics, science, foreign language, physical education, and economics (the math teachers had already written their own standards).
Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute has a

A Student Activist Joins the Honor Roll

Stephanie Rivera is a junior at Rutgers University preparing to become a teacher.
Stephanie was one of the leading forces in creating Students United for Public Education, a new organization in which students are joining to stand up against the privatizers, profiteers and naysayers now besieging our public schools.
She has her own blog, where she regularly debates other students who support corporate reform policies.

Conservatives in Michigan Turn to Courts to Sustain Emergency Manager

As the assault on public education continues in Michigan, those of us who live outside the state need a guide to follow the maneuvers of the anti-public education forces.
A reader in Michigan connected me to this site, Electablog, where I discovered the latest ploy
Voters in Michigan repealed Public Act 4, which authorized the governor to appoint an emergency manager for 


EduShyster Asks: Are Affluent White People Best of All?

As only EduShyster could, she asks a rude question.
Do affluent white people make the best teachers?



A New Public Education Advocacy Group in New Hampshire

A new group has been created to advocate on behalf of public education in New Hampshire.
It is called Advancing New Hampshire Education.
It was previously called “Defending New Hampshire Public Education” in response to sustained effort in the state legislature to harm and dismantle public education.
But with the election of a new governor and a new legislature, the group changed its name.
As you will see from its website, it will continue to track destructive legislation and build public support for the public schools.
Do you know of similar grassroots groups in other states and districts?

MORNING UPDATE: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-29-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 10 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] J. Crew Raising $$$ for Rich Kids by dianerav J. Crew is raising money to help Teach for America, which has $300 million in assets and many high-level employees with six-figure salaries. Why don’t they use the proceeds to hire nurses and librarians for public schools in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Like, you know, poor kids? What Does the NJ Charter Report Overlook? by dianerav Count on Jersey Jazzman to catch the flaw in the CREDO study of charters in his home state. It purports to stu... more »