Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Diane 6-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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






Save Michigan Public Schools Rally on June 19

This just in.
Here is the flyer in downloadable form:
Education supporters plan huge grassroots rally at Mich Capitol June 19th
Grassroots power in action!
Please join us on the Capitol lawn beginning at 11:30 am on Wednesday, June 19th. We’re still working on lining up our speakers for the event, but we’ve already confirmed the following superstar advocates for public education:
Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (Senate Minority Leader)
Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park)
Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids)
John Austin (President, State Board of Education)
Thomas Pedroni (Associate Professor, Wayne State Univ)
Superintendent Rod Rock (Clarkston Community Schools)
Jeff Kass (Ann Arbor Public Schools Teacher & Poet)
Sherry Gay-Dagnogo (Education Chair, National Congress of Black Women)
Steven Norton (Michigan Parents for Schools)
John Stewart (former member MI House of Representatives)
Mary Valentine (former member MI House of Representatives)
Stephanie Keiles (Plymouth-Canton Community Schools Teacher & Michigan Friends of Public Education)
Betsy Coffia (Save Michigan’s Public Schools)
K-12 Students Representing School Districts Around Michigan
And Master of Ceremonies … Tony Trupiano (Progressive Talk Radio Show Host/Night Shift with Tony Trupiano)
WHO ARE WE?
Save Michigan’s Public Schools is a non-partisan grassroots network of concerned citizens. Our goal is to connect parents, students, educators and communities across Michigan and raise awareness of threats to public education.
We believe a free, quality public education is the cornerstone of a democratic society. We believe every child in Michigan deserves access to equal and excellent educational opportunities through public education. We believe public education must be locally-controlled, fully-funded, delivered by highly qualified professional teachers, and devoid of corporate involvement.
To this end, we support policymakers and public officials who reject the corporate, profit-motivated takeover of public schools, massive school closures, and meaningless high-stakes testing. We support wise policies and laws that forward sound, research-based, evidence-based solutions to support and improve our existing public school system.

Anthony Weiner and Christine Quinn Compete for Charter School Support

There have been several forums for mayoral candidates in New York City. At the latest one, convened by charter supporters, Anthony Weiner and Christine Quinn pledged to continue giving free public space to charters. This was a practice initiated by the Bloomberg administration. John Liu said he would end the practice, a stand that showed his willingness to displease the audience. Liu’s position conforms to state law. Other candidates ducked the forums, thus not alienating either the teachers’ union or the charter lobby. Less than 10% of the city’s children attend charters.

Faces of the Layoff: Who Got Pink Slips in Philadelphia

Numbers don’t begin to tell the story. Nearly 4,000 employees of the Philadelphia public school district learned that their jobs had been terminated.
The Teacher Action Group of Philadelphia is gathering photos to put a human face on an inhumane decision. Each one has a story. They are real people, not numbers.

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

mike simpson at Big Education Ape - 1 hour ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Local School Boards Are Under Siege, and So Is Democracy by dianerav David Lentini is a lawyer and school board member in Maine. I am always happy to read his informed comments. In this one, he responds to an earlier post that explained that the radical group ALEC is trying to bypass and extinguish local school boards in their pursuit of privatization. Lentini writes: I’ve been sounding this alarm for a long time now; it’s good to see other, more expert, commentat... more »