Solidarity with Student Actions
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*FREE PALESTINE*
Sacramento DSA stands in unwavering solidarity with the students at
Columbia, Cal Poly, USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, University ...
HUMANS of LIFE ROW—pls join me!
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OPENING RECEPTION More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row
Saturday, April 27, 7-9PM CoProsperity, 3219 S. Morgan St., Chicago
Register here: htt...
PA: Let's Digitize The Big Standardized Test
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Pennsylvania has lagged behind many other states when it comes to moving
the Big Standardized Tests on line. I suspect this is related to a small
disaster ...
Haaretz: Hamas Releases a Hostage Video from Gaza
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American media covers the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, but
ignores the protests in Israel, usually led by the families of the hostages
who...
Do We Need an ‘Education President’?
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If you believe that honest government is part of the solution and not, as
Ronald Reagan famously said, ‘the problem,’ and if you believe that public
educat...
If It Isn't Purposeless, It Isn't Play
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"Octograbbers" was a game that the children played for months on end. It
involved possessing two shovels, one for each hand, then using them like
pincer...
Advice for Teachers, Policymakers, and Donors
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Well over a decade ago, Larry Ferlazzo, a Sacramento (CA) high school
English/social studies teacher and avid blogger, interviewed me asking what
advice I ...
Hyped AI New Personalized Learning
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By Thomas Ultican 4/25/2024 In education today, Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and personalized learning are the same thing. AI has been around for
70 years ...
The Value of Truck Time
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“Only the strong, the rich, and the dying think truth is a necessity; the
rest of us know it for a luxury.” ― Christopher Buehlman, The Blacktongue
Thief ...
There’s Too Much Stuff on Classroom Walls!
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Classroom walls for young children learning to read are often covered with
words, letters, word sounds, symbols, vocabulary, and even speech therapy
pron...
Palestinians as “The Others” by Ralph Nader
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Image by Sohaib Al Kharsa
Throughout history, military empires have reduced their victims, their
subjugated, and their abducted to a state of “The Othe...
April’s Parent Engagement Resources
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How a Humboldt Park school is helping parents learn English and gain
confidence is from Chalkbeat. Reminded of two great .@IESResearch resources
after read...
Join us on May 6: No more student data sales!
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In In February, the NY State Attorney General Tish James signed a consent
decree with the College Board, prohibiting them from selling personal
student dat...
Bill Lee Loses School Voucher Battle, Again
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Two days after a stunning repudiation of the Governor by production workers
who voted 3-1 for unionization at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Bill Lee has
s...
Post mortem on a disappointing state budget
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The state budget was finalized on Saturday, more than two weeks late, and
to the surprise of many, Mayor Adams was successful in getting Mayoral
contro...
The Super 20
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What follows are thumbnail sketches of the 20 applicants who want to be the
next Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools. Before beginning, I
want to...
Bibliography for History Posts on This Blog
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I remember when school reformers insisted the biggest problem
in education was that teachers didn't come from the best colleges.
Bibliography
VER...
THE EVOLUTION OF OUR SPECIES
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As I considered writing this blog, I did not want to write a piece that
painted a dystopian future for humanity. I felt that the blog should, first
and for...
Why Do My Groceries Cost So Much?
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Giant corporations and billionaires want to keep their taxes low and the
prices we pay high. That’s why they want Trump back in office. In 2004, I
was a si...
Critical Race Theory Is About You, and All of Us
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Recently, Christina Cross, a Black woman sociologist at Harvard, found her
work at the crosshairs of the same person who brought us the bastardization
of...
Grow Your Own Teachers? A BustED: Pencils Podcast
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Julian Vasquez Heilig and Laura Dinehart join Dr. Tim to discuss how
Western Michigan University is ‘Growing Their Own’ teachers, without test
tubes or sci...
UFT Welfare Fund nest egg – bigger than most nests
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A nest egg. A rainy day fund. A reserve. Back up. We all have some, or
would like some. In case things go sideways, a way to pay some bills in the
meantime...
Let’s recall just how bad a president Trump was!
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For the record, concerning Covid:, this is from Quora: ———- President Trump
tweeted that 17,000 people died from Swine Flu under Obama. How does this
compa...
March 5, 2024: The time for delay has passed
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It is time to open the ballot sitting on my kitchen counter. Only, the more
I learn of politics, the…
The post March 5, 2024: The time for delay has pass...
A Change of Plans
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Last September, in a piece titled Where We Expect To Retire, I informed
folks that we were planning to move to Kendal Crosslands Communities, the
Crossla...
Wisdom from the Sage of Mount Vernon
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Words of wisdom appropriate to our time. …from George Washington, America’s
first President, on President’s Day. (Edited and updated from a previous
post) ...
We are making a CPESS documentary!
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In 2020, I was approached by Deborah Meier and Jane Andrais and I decided
we should document the story of Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS).
This ...
2023 In Review And What’s To Come In 2024
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2023 is almost complete and it was a busy, challenging, rewarding, and fun
year. The news of the world was sometimes too much to watch. Countries were
dest...
Volunteer in 2024
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Be the change, volunteer and make the difference! Let’s face it, the world
is in turmoil, and divisive politics in our country is threatening our
democracy...
The Sky is Falling, or is it?
-
Well, this is the first anniversary of the introduction of Generative AI in
the form of ChatGPT to the world of education. Before it was a week old,
over o...
Lying Liars of the NYC DOE
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The APPR travails continue.
When last I blogged I shared how my principal, XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX did
an end run around me. I was refused to be obser...
Vote NO on the UFT Contract. Here is Why:
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The best reason to vote no on this contract is this: UFT Unity* lied* to us
in 2018. They misrepresented that contract. It was predicated on deals we
wer...
Metaphors in ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech
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In this article, we will explore the powerful use of metaphors in Martin
Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” ...
Read more
Testimony to the CPS Truancy Task Force
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I prepared testimony for one of two public hearings held by the Chicago
Public Schools Truancy Task Force, a body mandated by state legislation.
The meetin...
Skin Deep
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She spends so much time on her outward appearance. There is never a hair
out of place. Her makeup is perfect and her clothes are stylish and match
to ...
There Is A Teacher Shortage.Not.
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THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. And just to be sure you understand, it’s not
that teachers don’t want to teach. It’s not that there aren’t enough
teachers cer...
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*Defeating the Purpose of Education*
*Most people would agree that the primary purpose of education is to
prepare children for a good and productive life. ...
THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. NOT!
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There is a teacher shortage.And just to be sure you understand, it's not
that teachers don't want to teach.It's not that there aren't enough
teachers certi...
Abortion: Only For Those Who Need It!
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NOTE: This post contains my opinions on Catholicism based on my experiences
as a child in the 1960's and 70's. Take what you like and leave the rest. I
m...
Hello world!
-
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then
start writing!
The post Hello world! first appeared on Just another WordPress site.
Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane
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Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama
have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer *Fun
with...
On the Edge of Silence
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“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.
Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the
fundamen...
Have You Heard Has a New Website
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TweetHave You Heard has a new website. Visit us at
www.haveyouheardpodcast.com to find our latest episodes and our entire
archive. And be sure to check out...
Follow me at Substack
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I've moved. Follow me at Substack
I'm now posting regularly at Substack. You can subscribe for free to my new
Edu/Pol blog at michaelklonsky.substack.com
...
Aspiring Teachers Get New Help Paying For College
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[image: colorful classroom pattern]
*; Credit: shuoshu/Getty Images*
Cory Turner | NPR
New rules kick in today that will help aspiring teachers pay for c...
Tips Akses Situs Judi Qq Tanpa Perlu Takut Nawala
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Kegiatan berjudi slot melalui situs judi qq online, sekarang sudah
dilakukan oleh banyak penjudi Indonesia. Tentu, Kamu yang sedang membaca
artikel ini a...
GA run-offs need your help!
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Extremely important. Volunteer if you can. Thank you if you are already
doing so. Out of state opportunities here: Ralph …
Continue reading →
The Threat of Integration
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I have lived in the same house in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles
for over 30 years, where up until now I have had little or no interaction
with th...
We fight for a democracy worthy of us all!
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The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García
in her final keynote address to the 2020 NEA Representative Assembly and
it’s up...
A Citizens’ Rebellion 2020
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The United States began to form after the rebellion against the King of
England when the settlers in the colonies along the eastern coast reacted
to the in...
The Passing Of Chaz 1951-2020 Age 69
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I am the son of Chaz and like to inform you that he passed away this
afternoon from the COVID virus. My father passed in peace beside his loved
ones. We ar...
Thoughts on schooling in the era of COVID-19
-
Well, a whole lot has changed since I returned to blogging a month and half
ago. In case you didn't notice, and I'm sure everyone reading this did,
there's...
NAEP scores and "the science of reading"
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*Sent to US News. They just informed me that they no longer publish
letters to the editor. *
*Re: “National reading emergency” November 12*
*[https://www...
2019 NAEP Scores: Achievement Gap or …?
-
Here you go: A ‘Disturbing’ Assessment: Sagging Reading Scores,
Particularly for Eighth-Graders, Headline 2019’s Disappointing NAEP Results
NAEP 2019: Re...
Cara Menang Bermain Judi Bola Online
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Bermain judi bola online tentu saja memiliki kesenangannya tersendiri baik
itu mendapatkan keuntungan maupun ketika menantikan hasil skor pada sebuah
perta...
A Storm is Coming! (…again)
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A new Commissioner will have as much impact on our state ed system as a new
meteorologist will have on …
Continue reading →
Déjà vu: 2019 ELA Assessment: Dear Board of Regents
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Dear Board of Regents,
I have copied below an email I sent to you almost a year ago, after the
2018 ELA assessment's computer-based testing failures and mo...
The World According to Michelle Rhee
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The men behind the curtain fashioning the brave new world of corporate run
education in America! Michelle Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, The
New T...
Blockchain: Life on the Ledger
-
Originally posted on Wrench in the Gears:
I created this video as a follow up to the one I prepared last year on
Social Impact Bonds. It is time to examine...
New Local Businesses in Sacramento
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Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can
be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn
the loc...
3rd Grade Reading: Who is Failing?
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Education Trust Midwest has just released its study on third grade reading
and, predictably, the results aren’t great. This study uniquely compares
Michiga...
Opting out of the Dinosaur (end of year test)
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Today I sent in a second letter to refuse PARCC/CMAS for my son, Luke. The
first email I sent at the beginning of the year was not sufficient as they
requi...
Resurrection
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I realized it's Lent, but this blog, bless Jesus Christ, can't wait.
Ok, so with that said, I plan to discuss Class Action suits in existence,
as well as w...
IDEA Is Still The Law Of The Land
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Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the US Department of
Education (USDOE) rescinded 72 Dear Colleague and other letters of
explanation to ...
Education Is a Civic Question
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In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah
Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and
hard w...
Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary
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Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education
commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over
at The Gra...
An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers
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An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark
Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am
addressing you all ...
The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller)
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished
watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The
film p...
Farewell, Sleep
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Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific
survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41
AM. Tom...
Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/2/2017
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Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/1/2017 Education Bloggers Daily
Highlights Courtesy of Big Education Ape A special thank you to education
blogger Mik...
Capturing the Spark
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It’s been a long time since InterACT was an active education blog, though I
remain quite proud of what we did here. Those of us who wrote blog posts
here h...
Random Musings and Observations. . . .
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I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular
readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for
that. Sinc...
WTU Peterson Slate: Not a 1 Woman Dictatorship
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Candi Peterson & GeLynn Thompson
Candidates for WTU Prez & GVP 2016By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President
*Statements or expressions of opinions herein...
MY NEW BLOG
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My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of
humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has
simila...
Thank you
-
Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired
for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...
I am Retiring
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I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
conte...
Flaws at the Heart of Current Education Reforms
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Originally posted on Creative by Nature:
“Teaching is an art form rooted in the wise and careful use of educational
research and assessment tools. When gove...
Kimberly Quick of The Century Foundation describes the many exclusionary policies of North Carolina’s voucher schools.
Here is a sampling:
Conservative education reformers have aggressively marketed the expansion of K–12 private school voucher programs as a method to increase access to educational options. Their arguments begin to break down, however, when asking the questions, Access for whom? And to what?
The types of voucher-centered school choice schemes promoted by both President-elect Trump and Betsy DeVos, his nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education (ED), like most programs in education policy, are administered by states and localities. Trump’s open denigration of the Department of Education’s civil rights and standards oversight functions further indicate that a DeVos ED will place few stipulations on how states receiving federal funds for vouchers must design and implement those programs.
Some of those voucher programs might look something like the highly discriminatory North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Act. Established by the state legislature in 2013, the program offers low-income and working-class families state-funded tuition scholarships to private schools of up to $4,200. In some ways, the Opportunity Scholarship might seem innocuous. Private schools receiving state funds are required to test scholarship recipients (though notably not with state tests for direct comparison, and there is virtually no obligation for public disclosure), and most students must have spent time in public schools prior to private school enrollment to be eligible—conditions that are missing in other programs in states like Indiana and Wisconsin. But even the quickest examination of the types of schools taking taxpayer money reveals that state dollars are, in actuality, too often funding discrimination.
An overwhelming number of the more than 400 private schools registered in the program are religiously affiliated. Although a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vouchers used for religious school attendance do not violate the establishment clause, the primary issue with North Carolina’s program is not that the schools themselves are religious, but that too many condition admission and retention on dogmatic adherence to specific religious doctrine, usually excluding those who are LGBTQ or come from non-churchgoing families.
Religious and LGBTQ Discrimination
Alamance Christian School (ACS) received $121,132 in public voucher funds during the 2015–2016 academic year, all while maintaining an official, publically available admissions policy that explicitly bars all faiths outside of Christianity, along with children from families that are “Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, Christian Science” and more. To confirm that they are from the “right” type of Christian family, children seeking admission must produce a pastoral reference. Then, before enrolling, all middle and high school students are expected to sign a commitment form pledging to refrain from “homosexual/bisexual behaviors, or any other biblical violation of the unique roles of males and females.”
And ACS is not some random oversight, a school hiding out within the list of eligibles despite a uniquely restrictive profile. Instead, it reflects the biases of several other schools that are partially funded by the dollars of taxpayers, some of whom aren’t allowed to send their children to those very institutions. For instance, one of the schools receiving the most public money, Fayetteville Christian School (receiving more than $285,000 in 2015–2016) has near identical restrictions, requiring regular church attendance of applicants and parents, issuing the following statement on their website:
“The student and at least one parent with whom the student resides must be in full agreement with the FCS Statement of Faith and have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. In addition, the parent and student must regularly fellowship in a local faith based, Bible believing church. Accordingly, FCS will not admit families that belong to or express faith in non-Christian religions such as, but not limited to: Mormons (LDS North Carolina’s Exclusionary Voucher Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog:
Valerie Strauss writes today that Trump heaped scorn on Jeb Bush during the primaries, but Jeb is the big winner in Trump education policy. Betsy DeVos is a close friend of Jeb and was a member of Jeb’s board. Jeb promotes charters, vouchers, digital learning, and Common Core. The person likely to be appointed as DeVos’ guide to policy issues is Hanna Skandera, who worked closely with and for Jeb
China has vowed to end the use of electroshock therapy at the special camps it runs for those who are addicted to the Internet. “HONG KONG — At the Addiction Treatment Center in eastern China, more than 6,000 internet addicts — most of them teenagers — not only had their web access taken away, they were also treated with electroshock therapy. “The center, in Shandong Province, made headlines in S
In listing her political contributions on her financial disclosure for, Betsy DeVos forgot to mention a gift of $125,000 to an anti-union campaign. T his is, of course, understandable. When a person is a multi-billionaire and gives millions to right wing causes, you can’t expect to remember every tiny contribution, can you? Besides, what’s with her team of high-priced lawyers and accountants? Whe
A former employee of a charter school in Lakeland, Florida, has been accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the schoo l. Don’t expect this to dim the enthusiasm of Jeb Bush or Betsy DeVos for unregulated charters. “45-year-old Ginger Collins was a former Assistant Director of Academics for the school until her resignation on September 16, 2016. She is accused of stealing more than $100,000 f
Gary Rubinstein writes that Texas has started the process of awarding single letter grades to schools, based mainly on standardized test scores. This is an exceptionally asinine way of evaluating schools, invented by Jeb Bush. He reviewed the Texas scores and discovered that 25% of KIPP schools were rated F. Nearly 50% were either D or F. Whenever “reformers” talk about expanding high-quality cha
Last spring, Salon published an article by Kali Holloway about Campbell Brown and her transition from news anchor to “education reformer” and “charter propagandist.” The article was posted before California’s highest court threw out the Vergara case, whose plaintiffs claimed that teacher tenure was racially discriminatory. It also was posted before a judge in Minnesota tossed out Campbell Brown’s
Leonie Haimson reports at the NYC Parents Blog that more than 2,000 parents and educators signed a petition calling on Mark Zuckerberg not to hire Campbell Brown because of her hostility to public schools and their teachers. Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan has often credited the public schools she attended and her teachers for her success in school and in life. Perhaps Mark Z. could talk to his
Here are Betsy DeVos’s responses to questions from the Office of Government Ethics about potential and real conflicts of interest. http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/01/see_how_betsy_devos_responded.html She is an artful dodger. Instead of admitting that she pours millions of dollars into advancing the cause of school privatization, she simply says that if any questions should come up, she
According to the Trump group’s favorite news media, businessman Allen B. Hubbard is the likely choice for the #2 job in the U.S. Department of Education. He is a strong advocate for school choice and for the Common Core. He is on the board of the Lumina Foundation, which has made large grants to support implementation of Common Core. Like DeVos, he is very wealthy. So pmuch for Trump’s vow to eli
Kate Zernike of the New York Times writes that the DeVos hearing next week on January 17 may be contentious, because she has been unable to clarify her many conflicts of interest. Some are financial: she has investments in online charter schools and other for-profit education ventures. Others are ideological and political: She has given heavily to entities that want to privatize public education.
I won’t summarize this article by Aaron Blake in the Washington Post, except to say that it is about the 2-page summary of Russian hacking, what the CIA said about it, what Kellyanne Conway said about it, what Donald Trump said about it. Interesting point: She wants to see a “house cleaning” at CNN because they reported on the existence of a memo that does in fact exist. It is a case study in def
Jennifer Berkshire (aka EduShyster) recently raised money by crowd-sourcing so she could spend a week in Michigan learning about the DeVos family and its crusade to privatize public education. Her article is brilliant. She describes Betsy DeVos as “The Red Queen.” It begins like this: By the measures that are supposed to matter, Betsy DeVos’ experiment in disrupting public education in Michigan h
At his first press conference since last July, Trump dealt with a variety of questions about his plans. Many of the questions were about the dossier that was leaked to the media, alleging that the Russian government has compromising information about Trump’s personal and financial affairs. The allegations have not been verified. The document was posted in full by a website called Buzzfeed, and re
Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, gave the following speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on January 9: Eight years ago, I spoke at the Press Club as the newly elected AFT President. At that time, President Obama was inheriting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. America was losing 750,000 jobs a month. Next week, President-elect Trump will inherit a diff
Nearly 200 education deans from across the nation released a “Declaration of Principles, “calling on Congress and the Trump Administration to advance democratic values in America’s public schools. Press Release: Contact: Dean Kevin Kumashiro: (415) 422-2108, kkumashiro@usfca.edu Dean Kathy Schultz: (303) 492-6937, katherine.schultz@colorado.edu William J. Mathis: (802) 383-0058, wmathis@sover.net
People for the American Way has released a well-documented statement about the danger that Betsy DeVos and the Trump agenda poses to American public education. Her nomination, says PFAW, is “a new high-water mark in Right-Wing’s Long War on Public Education.” The one positive consequence of DeVos’s nomination is that it has awakened the nation’s leading civil rights and civil liberties organizati
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights issued a strong statement in opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. While the so-called “reformers” like to claim that they are fighting for minority kids and civil rights, the actual civil rights organizations know that DeVos and Trump want to weaken and destroy public schools, which are open to all students. They also ar
Jon Schwartz writes for The Intercept. In this post , he gives a list of (mostly) practical ways that we can organize to survive the next four years and beat back the white nationalism that Trump used to get elected.