Friday, May 10, 2013

Michigan parent to Arne Duncan: ‘Our schools are at the breaking point’

Michigan parent to Arne Duncan: ‘Our schools are at the breaking point’:


Michigan parent to Arne Duncan: ‘Our schools are at the breaking point’

michiganEducation Secretary Arne Duncan just visited Michigan where he visited schools in Detroit and the Perry Child Development Center in Ypsilanti. Here’s an open letter to Duncan, put out before the visit and written by Steve J. Norton, executive director for Michigan Parents for Schools, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for quality local public education. The intent of the letter was to point out  the conflict between Duncan-espoused education reform Duncan and the educational values underpinning Perry’s High/Scope model, as well as what Norton considers the dangerous direction of education policy in Michigan.
Open Letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan
Dear Secretary Duncan,

On behalf of Michigan parents and others concerned about public education here, I would like to welcome you to our state. Michigan is home to some of the best ideas and programs in education as well as some of the most serious challenges our schools, and communities, face. We welcome your effort to learn more about the hopes we cherish and the obstacles we confront in our local efforts to educate our children.

Unfortunately, I fear that your tour may leave you with an incorrect impression of what 


‘Yuck: A 4th Grader’s Short Documentary About School Lunch’

A New York City elementary school student who couldn’t stand the way his school lunch tasted made a secret documentary that is now winning audiences and awards at film festivals. The boy, who is called Zachary Maxwell in the film, … Continue reading →