Full House On Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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

Full House On Diane Ravitch's blog 

Russ Walsh: Vouchers Are for the Rich, the Racists, and the Religious Right

by dianeravitch / 19min

Russ Walsh, literacy expert, describes the Three are of vouchers: They are for the Rich, the Racists, and the Religious Right. http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2017/03/school-vouchers-welfare-for-rich-racist.html Russ writes: “Our new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is rich, white, and a proselytizing supporter of the Christian religious right. DeVos is also an outspoken champion of school

Red Queen in LA: Why Can’t Public Schools and Charter Schools Get Along?

2by dianeravitch / 1h

Sara Roos, aka the Red Queen in LA, explains here why public schools and charter schools are bound to clash. To begin with, they are competing for a finite amount of public dollars and a finite number of students. It is a zero-sum competition. To make matters worse, the needs of both entities is not reciprocal, nor is the distribution of these commodities without impact on the other entity. That

The Florida Corporate Tax Credit Program: A Statewide Scam

15by dianeravitch / 2h

A nonprofit parent-led group called Fund Education Now created a fact sheet about Florida’s Corporate Tax Credit plan , which was designed to evade the state constitution’s explicit ban on using public money to fund religious or private education. In 2006, as governor, Jeb Bush pushed through a universal voucher plan, which was subsequently ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. In

Paul Thomas: Unpacking the Lies Behind the “Failing Schools” Narrative

24by dianeravitch / 3h

Paul Thomas of Furman University taught high school in rural South Carolina for 18 years before becoming a college professor. He happens to be one of the nation’s leading authorities on the effects of poverty on children and schooling. Recently, he has been writing about the flaws of education journalism. In this post , he unpacks the claim that public schools are “failing,” that (some) charter s

Mother Jones: Why Did Trump and DeVos Choose Florida as Their National Model for School Reform?

6by dianeravitch / 3h

Kristina Rizga, the veteran education journalist at Mother Jones, explains why Trump and DeVos love Florida. Although the state has a constitutional ban on the use of public money for private and religious schools, although the state’s voters rejected Jeb Bush’s effort to change the state constitution in 2012, Florida has figured out numerous DeVious ways to circumvent the state constitution and

YESTERDAY

Trump is the “Distractor-in-Chief”

29by dianeravitch / 13h

Jane McAlevey writes in Alternet that there is method to Trump’s seeming madness. Whenever things get rough, he changes the subject. This past week, as the media was roasting Jeff Sessions for lying to Congress under oath, Trump changed the subject by tweeting that Obama was wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower. The Sessions matter was dropped, and all the weekend talk shows were obsessed with T

Mike Klonsky: While Trump Tweets, the GOP is Dismantling Our Social Safety Net

48by dianeravitch / 13h

Mike Klonsky wants us to stop talking about the Russians and pay attention to what the Republicans are doing while we are not looking. While we’re consumed 24/7 with the Trump/Russia psychodrama, Republicans are quietly, under the cover of darkness and diversion, introducing these new bills in the House: HR 610 Vouchers for Public Education — (The bill also repeals basic nutrition standards for t

Norm Scott: The Battle to Save JHS 145 from Eva Tonight

6by dianeravitch / 18h

Retired teacher Norm Scott writes: While closing schools is not as widespread as it was under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, it is still occurring and it is very troubling. The Department of Education still fails to provide proper resources for schools and then calls them failures… James Eterno, ICE blog I’m taking the subway up to Yankee Stadium tonight, not for a Yankee game, but to take the l

Carl Petersen: Employees of Scandal-Ridden Celerity Charter Chain Donated to Monica Garcia, Their Cheerleader on LAUSD Board

24by dianeravitch / 21h

Carl Petersen is running against Monica Garcia for the LAUSD seat in District 2. Garcia has long been one of the most vociferous and aggressive proponents of charter schools expansion in the district. So it is not surprising that she has received campaign contributions from the owner and employees of the Celerity Educational Group, the charter chain currently under investigation by the district a

Los Angeles Rocked by Another Charter School Scandal: State Awards Two New Schools to Ethically Challenged Charter Chain

24by dianeravitch / 22h

The Los Angeles Times ran a first-page story about the latest charter school scandal , only a day before the school board election that will decide whether charter advocates will take control of the Los Angeles school board. There will likely be a low voter turnout for this special election, and the question is turnout: Will enough parents vote to save their public schools, or will the profligate

Mercedes Schneider on the State Blaine Amendments That Block Vouchers

35by dianeravitch / 23h

Mercedes Schneider offers a history lesson on the Blaine amendments found in most state constitutions, which require that public money go only to public schools. Some states–like Indiana–have found creative ways to interpret the Blaine amendment, by saying that the public money goes to parents, not to religious schools, but most states continue to interpret the amendments as they were written in

Peter Greene: Corporate Reformers Launch Three New Websites

15by dianeravitch / 1d

Are you missing Arne Duncan and John King? There are some nostalgia websites created just for you. Just in case you don’t have enough to do, Peter Greene tells us about three new education-related websites launched by corporate reformers. Remember the good old days of Race to the Top, VAM, teacher-bashing, Central Falls, and lectures about bad teachers? They are preserved on these websites. One i

Should We Protect the Environment?

16by dianeravitch / 1d

This post is about pollution and the environment. Please don’t say it is unrelated to education or children. Many children have asthma or other illnesses that are caused or aggravated by pollution. This damages their health, their well-being, even their performance in school. It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of protecting the environment was considered absurd or too expensive. Smoke came pouri

Lousiana Voucher School Program Graded D by the State

60by dianeravitch / 1d

Students who wanted to sign up for the Louisiana Voucher Program had to make their decision by February 24. But that was before the state released the grades for the participating schools. Overall, the voucher schools performed very poorly, as reported by Danielle Dreilinger writing in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Please open the story for the links and for the data charts. Louisiana parents i

Psychiatrists: How Should Trump Be Assessed?

25by dianeravitch / 1d

Every day brings new surprises and new tweets from the president. Most recently, he tweeted that President Obama was tapping his phone lines during the campaign without offering any evidence. Then he tweeted that Arnold 

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