Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

10-16-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:




New York Times Editorial Fails Another Fact Check on Charter Schools
The NYTimes Editorial Board is one of the most reliable voices for the corporate education losers who continue to double down on testing accountability policies and privatization schemes that now have decades of evidence to substantiate their failure.  Today's entry is on charter schools, which has this nugget: The editorial states:
"A study published earlier this year shows that the typic

A CorpEd Quandary: How to Reward Teachers in High Poverty Schools With a System That Punishes Them for Working There
Always looking for an opportunity to support corporate ed reform schools, the Memphis Commerical-Appeal has an editorial today in support of Mississippi’s attempt toestablish merit pay for its teachers.  The editorial board offers no research to support its support, and the editors use the same conflicted rhetoric that CorpEd uses to call for rewarding teachers based on test scores, while rewa

Diane Ravitch Documents the Danger of "E-land"
In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch writes, “Some - a small but important number – believe they are acting rationally by treating the public education sector as an investment opportunity.” Who can argue with that conclusion?Ravitch is tough on Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his chief of staff, Joanne Weiss. Ravitch did not put words in Weiss’s mouth, however, when the director of the Race to


10-15-13 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: Hess, Please Begin the MoratoriumI recently called for a moratorium on white men pontificating on race, class, and gender—prompted by a series of blogs by Michael Petrilli. So when I read Rick Hess's "Teachers Deserve (But Have to Earn) Their Seat at the Table," I immediately asked myself a few things: (1) Is this April 1?, (2) Has Hess finally become the unintentional se