Thursday, February 7, 2013

Diane in the Evening 2-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:








Strange Bedfellows Oppose Common Core in Indiana

Glenda Ritz, the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana, thrashed reform idol Tony Bennett last November. She received more votes than anyone else on the ballot except the Attorney General (she ran ahead of the governor).
Tony Bennett, who famously supports free-market solutions to education problems, is an advocate for charters and vouchers, for evaluating teachers by test scores, and for for-profit online corporations and charters. Tony Bennett is one of the nation’s loudest supporters of the Common Core.
Ritz is a Democrat; Bennett is a Republican.
Ritz was supported by a curious coalition: by parents and educators who disliked Bennett’s privatizing policies 

The Invasion of the Charter Schools and the Parents Who Fought Back

The Village Voice has a fascinating article about the battle between the charter schools that moved into the gentrifying neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and the parents who resisted.
The “Superman” story goes out the window. The schools are not broken, and parents are not crying out to be 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-7-13 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] What Happens When TFA Takes Over Vegas and Nevada by dianerav EduShyster tells a fascinating story about Nevada’s love affair with TFA. It is humorous but not funny. Nevada has large numbers of non-English speaking students but does not want to pay what t csts to help them learn. Nevada has the lowest graduation rate in the nation, worse even than Michele Rhee’s D.C. Schools. Las Vegas has some of the most overcrowded classrooms in the nation–as many as 50 in some classes. Two TFA alumnae have been elected t... more »