Saturday, January 5, 2013

Diane in the EVENING 1-5-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:






Can Rhee Still Pretend to Be Bipartisan?

Jersey Jazzman read Hari Sevugan’s comment on the blog last night and wondered if anyone still believes that StudentsFirst is bipartisan. JJ doesn’t think that any Democrat could sign on to Rhee’s anti-teacher, anti-union agenda.
Would a bipartisan group pump money into Republican campaigns? Would a bipartisan group pump $500,000 into the anti-union campaign in Michigan?
Not likely.


Happy Friday, Muskegon Heights For-Profit Charter School!

In response to an earlier post about the rocky beginning of the experiment in privatization in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, a reader sent this interesting observation:
Well, I hope they had a happy Friday afternoon, and the Michigan Department of Education, as well. For yesterday, I filed a written complaint against the Muskegon Public School Academy and Mosaica Education pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 and Michigan Mandatory Special 


Mayor Bloomberg Compares NYC Teachers Union to NRA

Mayor Bloomberg is frustrated that the New York City United Federation of Teachers does not agree with his plan to evaluate them by test scores. He has been berating the union, as have the city’s tabloids, for weeks.
But now he hit a new low.
He compared the teachers’ union to the National Rifle Association.
Coming only weeks after the Newtown massacre, this is especially gross.
This is reminiscent of the time many years ago when U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige referred to the NEA as “a terrorist organization.”
Paige had the good sense to apologize. So should Bloomberg.

Uniting Supporters of Public Schools in Tennessee

Here is a great new parent and community group supporting strong public schools in Tennessee.
Please check it out.
Are there active parent groups in Memphis? Chatanooga? Knoxville? Other cities and towns?
Please write to let us know.

For-Profit Charter Takes Over Muskegon Heights

In Michigan, the state government decided it was tired of all the fiscal woes of certain districts, so it handed them to emergency managers, who gave them to for-profit operators.
Michigan Public Radio has been watching events in Muskegon Heights. The word that is most commonly heard 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-5-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 7 minutes ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] The Problem with Choice by dianerav A reader from Oregon explains the destructive consequences of choice. School choice has been a goal of the right for decades and is now embraced by the Obama administration: “For US education to thrive, charters must go. “Some Win, Some Lose with Open Enrollment”. The headline in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard may seem like an occasion for joy to the winning school districts but, really, it is just terribly sad for all of us. Open enrollment across district lines is t... more »