Thursday, March 21, 2013

Diane in the Evening 3-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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





Karen Lewis on Chicago School Closings

The mass closing of public schools in Chicago should be the lead story on every news channel tonight. It is not. The fact is that a dozen years of No Child Left Behind and three-plus years of Race to the Top has persuaded the American public that closing schools is “reform.”
It is not.
It is a dereliction of responsibility. It is an abdication of any oath of office that a public official in this country takes. It is a betrayal of any commitment to equality of educational opportunity. It is a capitulation to corpora


Outrage! School Closings in Chicago

Guess whose schools were closed? The poorest, the neediest, the children of color. Now the charter operators will decide which ones they want. They will take the “strivers.” Who will take the others?
Which children will be left behind in the era of No Child Left Behind?
Which children come in last in Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top?
How will the PR folks spin the mass closure of 50 public schools as a victory in “the civil rights issue of our 


TFA: Follow the Money

To regular readers of this blog, the story is not new.
Teach for America is one of the richest nonprofit organizations in the United States, yet it passes the begging bowl as if it desperately needs cash.
TFA is a brand, a money machine. Its tax reports got out on the Internet, and now everyone who wants to know knows that TFA collected nearly a billion dollars in a five-year period. And that Wendy Kopp, its CEO, pays 

Who Decided to Close 50 Public Schools in Chicago?

The mass closure of 50 public schools is unprecedented.
Who decided?
This from a reader:
I am appalled at the lack of objectivity, fairness and independence that was brought to the table by the Commission on School Utilization, which conducted the study of school utilization and found, of course, that schools were underutilized. The Chicago Teachers Union has reported that this commission is staffed with those 

Kirp vs. Rhee on L.A. Election

In this pairing of opposites, David Kirp takes on the mythology of corporate reformers and says we should fix theschools we have, rather than close them. He boldly challenges the claims of Michelle Rhee and disparages the hapless Race to the Top
On the same page, Michelle Rhee displays her inability to speak truth. She reviews the Los Angeles school board election and makes the bizarre claim that school board president Monica Garcia won even though she was “strongly targeted” by the United Teachers of Los Angeles.
She neglects to mention that Garcia had the help of the $4 million fund raised by Rhee and friends, while the 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-21-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Indiana: Who Is Pushing for and against Common Core by dianerav Indiana voters booted out State superintendent Tony Bennett because of a strange coalition: Democrats who disliked his all-out assault on teachers and public education, allied with Republicans who disliked his fierce advocacy for the Common Core. Now the struggle against the Common Core continues in that state, as advocates like the rightwing Stand for Children run an advertising campaign to suppo... more »