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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Diane in the Evening 2-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:








Two Determined Moms in Indiana Take On Common Core

These days, parents and educators often feel powerless in the face of the powerful forces that are steamrolling them.
In Indiana, two moms started a campaign against he Common Core standards. They started with small groups, then organized large ones, and eventually made their voices heard in the state legislature.
The battle is far from over, but hey made an important point. This is still a democracy. Two informed citizens can make a difference.


How One Man Makes a Difference

Tim Slekar gave a powerful speech to a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Watch it.
If all of us spoke out, we could stop this train wreck that dares to call itself “reform.”
A teacher who heard him wrote this letter:
Dr. Slekar,
You won’t believe what I just did!
I stood before my school board at a public meeting and asked them to
consider opting out of standardized testing!
I was asked to speak on the writing process in 8th grade, but as the meeting

United Way Allies with Corporate Reform

United Way of Los Angeles strongly supports the demolition of public education.
In 2011, United partnered with the National Council on Teacher Quality (see Mercedes Schneider’s series about NCTQ, whose board includes reform luminaries such as Michelle Rhee and Wendy Kopp) to produce a reportcalling for tougher teacher evaluations based on test scores. Who knew that United Way was expert on the subject of education? Wonder how they reacted to the suicide of Rigoberto Ruelas?
Here is a conference the United Way is sponsoring, right before the Los Angeles school board election, featuring mayors best known for closing public schools, battling the teachers’ union, and giving public money to private 

Louisiana Shocker: Ties Between White, Murdoch, Gates

In response to litigation, the Louisiana Department of Education released a trove of emails that shows a department obsessed with public relations while flailing about to impose new rules nd programs.
Worst of all is the deal that John White made to share confidential student data (including names and addresses, test scores and grades and other information) to an organization jointly created by the Gates Foundation and Rupert Murdoch’s organization Wireless Generation.
The story says:
“Copies of emails released to LouisianaVoice by the Department of Education (DOE) under threat of litigation 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Be a Hero: Speak Up for Garfield High Teachers by dianerav Tomorrow February 22 is the day the superintendent of the Seattle schools will decide whether to punish the teachers at Garfield High who refused to administer the MAP test. They are conscientious objectors. They are defending their students against malpractice. They have bravely defied orders to do what they know is wrong. Today is a day to send emails to the superintendent. Urge him to stand with his teachers. Encourage him to do the right thing.... more »