Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all via @dianeravitch

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

Diane Ravitch's blog 

 A site to discuss better education for all

Peter Greene on the Tragedy of Lorain, Ohio, and the War to Stamp Out Local Control and Democracy

by dianeravitch / 36min

Who knew that Republicans hate local control of public schools? Who knew that the root cause of low test scores was the input of parents and teachers? Peter Greene tells a story in this post that should be required reading for every course in education and for every state legislator. It is an unbearably sad story, and if it doesn’t make you angry, you aren’t paying attention. http://curmudgucatio

Conservative Journal EdNext Defends Outsourcing American Public Schools to Foreign Entities

by dianeravitch / 1h

The Gülen charter schools are one of the biggest chains in the U.S. They have about 160 or more schools. They usually claim they have no connection to Imam Fethullah Gülen, but they can be identified by the unusual number of Turkish teachers in the school, many using H1B visas; by the preponderance of Turkish men on their board of directors; by their inclusion of Turkish language in their curricu

Tennessee: Governor Wants Vouchers, But Many Worry about the Frauds and Scams in Other States

by dianeravitch / 2h

The newly elected Republican governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, wants vouchers, but he can expect pushback from the local media and local school boards that know of the frauds and scams in other states that have endorsed vouchers. The Daily Memphian warns about the squandering of taxpayer dollars in other states. Tennessee lawmakers say that if broader school choice options are offered, the Legisla

District of Columbia: Broadies Take Control of All Top Leadership Positions

by dianeravitch / 3h

The Edythe and Eli Broad Foundation now owns complete control of the schoolsof the District of Columbia. With the appointment of Lewis Ferebee, former superintendent of Indianapolis, where he collaborated with the Mind Trust to expand privatization, D.C. is now a Broadie district. DCist.com reports: “The top three educational leaders in the District of Columbia all have one thing in common: they’

YESTERDAY

Today is a Very Important Anniversary of Young People of Courage and Idealism

by dianeravitch / 16h

My thanks to reader Greg Brozeit, who pointed out on Twitter that today is the anniversary of the execution of the founders of the White Rose Society, a group of university students who defied Hitler’s monstrous criminal regime Hans and Sophie Scholl and their colleagues were executed by the Nazis on February 22, 1943. These young people knew that the regime was committing horrendous crimes. They

New Jersey: Dark Money Is Paying to Double Down on High-Stakes Testing

33by dianeravitch / 22h

Wake up, parents and teachers in New Jersey! The billionaires and Dark Money are launching a sneak attack on your children and students. When he ran for office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy promised to scrap the Common Core-aligned PARCC and end the state’s high-stakes exit exams. But billionaires and hedge fund managers don’t want to stop high-stakes testing. They love PARCC because it makes

West Virginia: Send Your Donation to the Striking School Personnel

by dianeravitch / 23h

Last year you generously helped support striking teachers and other workers who were fighting for better pay during the historic statewide teacher’s strike in West Virginia. We are so grateful for that support. Together we raised over $330,000 and with an all-volunteer effort we distributed 100% of it back to over 950 school employees! You can read some of their stories in this article . Thank yo

Tom Ultican: Elites in Dallas Impose Massive Disruption on Public Schools, with Charters Schools and TFA

by dianeravitch / 1d

Tom Ultican tells a sad story about the takeover of the Dallas school board by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and other wealthy elites, who don’t send their children to the public schools. After their failed experiment with Mike Miles, a Broadie who surrounded himself with young but very well-compensated aides from TFA, the elites decided to buy control of the school board. It became too expensiv

California Pension Funds Are Major Investors in National Enquirer, Trump’s Ally

by dianeravitch / 1d

The Los Angeles Times reports that CalPERS, the state’s biggest pension fund, holding the pensions of state workers and taxpayers, was a major investor in the National Enquirer. “The National Enquirer has been one of President Trump’s most controversial allies, delivering scathing coverage of his opponents to supermarket checkout lines and funneling $150,000 to one of his alleged mistresses to bu

New Jersey: Testing Chaos Continues and Gets Worse

by dianeravitch / 1d

New Jersey believes in testing its children until they cry. The state clung to PARCC long after almost every other state dropped it. Now an even worse disaster is coming down the pike. Now is the time for Governor Phil Murphy to step in and stop this fiasco. Jersey Jazzman called the testing regime in New Jersey “testing chaos.” Students are forced to take tests in order to graduate, even though

Texas: Are the Test Scores Rigged Against the Kids?

87by dianeravitch / 1d

This is a fascinating article. Mimi Swartz of the Texas Monthly asks an important question: Are Texas kids failing or are the tests rigged against them? Researchers with no axe to grind say the state tests are two grade levels above where the kids are. The state doesn’t agree. State Commissioner of Education Mike Morath is not an educator, though he was a school board member in Dallas. He was app

FEB 21

Oakland: Day One of the Strike for Higher Pay, Student Services, and an End to Privatization

23by dianeravitch / 1d

Just in from the Oakland Education Association: Mike Myslinski Headquarters Communications California Teachers Association 1705 Murchison Drive Burlingame, CA 94010 650-552-5324 408-921-5769 (cell) www.cta.org NEWS RELEASE February 21, 2019 Oakland Education Association 272 East 12 th Street Oakland, CA 94606 510-763-4020 www.oaklandea.org Contacts : –Jamie Horwitz at 202-549-4921, jhdcpr@starpow

Capitol & Main: Yes, West Virginia, There Is a Teachers Union, and It’s Angry!

by dianeravitch / 1d

Bill Raden and Eunice Park wrote today’s roundup of education news for the excellent California-based website “Capitol & Main.” Everyone should subscribe to it, or for sure, read it regularly. This is an astonishing post, as you will read . LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin ran as a “liberal,” but he cites ALEC model legislation! Austin Beutner was forced to release a contract with an organization

L.A. Teachers Will Rally on Behalf of Oakland Teachers

by dianeravitch / 1d

Oakland teachers are striking for higher wages and against school privatization by rapacious charters. A study by Professor Gordon Lafer of the University of Oregon showed that the Oakland district lost $57.4 million last year to charters. MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: Kim Turner, 213-305-9316 , UTLA communications LA teachers, supporters show solidarity with Oakland Strike LOS ANGELES — Tomorrow morni

Los Angeles: School Board Demands that Beutner Share His Plans and Reports from Consultants

by dianeravitch / 1d

Austin Beutner, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, has a long history in business and apparently thought he could run the school system with the same secrecy that he ran his businesses. He thought he was the boss, and the boss was in charge and could do as he pleased. But no, the board told him, he can’t. He is their employee, not their master. Even board members who w

Los Angeles: District Releases Secret Contracts with Vendors, in Response to Pressure from Board Member

by dianeravitch / 2d

Scott Schmerelson is a hero of public education . I add him to the blog’s honor roll. He has singlehandedly forced transparency on a superintendent and school board that is trying to hide basic facts about the district. First, he released the fact that 82% of all charter schools in Los Angeles have vacancies while the LAUSD board (bought by Eli Broad and friends) echoed the false claim about long

The West Virginia Strike Is Not About Pay: It’s About Charters and Vouchers and the Fight for Public Education

100+by dianeravitch / 2d

Valerie Strauss sums up why the teachers’ renewed strike in West Virginia is different. It is not about pay. It’s about a fight for the future of public education. The teachers were fighting not only the local supporters of privatization. They were fighting the Koch brothers and ALEC. Strauss writes: This time, it wasn’t about pay. West Virginia teachers walked off the job across the state Tuesda

Senator Lindsey Graham: Building a Border Wall Is More Important than Building a New School

by dianeravitch / 2d

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that building a wall on the southern border to keep out hordes of immigrants is more important than building a badly needed new school. The irony is his comment is that he was talking about taking away money intended for a new middle school in Kentucky, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hails from. Does Senator McConnell agree? We don’t kno

Steven Singer: Hey, Unions, Watch, Wait, and Listen Before You Endorse a Candidate

59by dianeravitch / 2d

Steven Singer urges the two big teachers’ unions to watch and wait before they make an endorsement in the Presidential race, and be sure to listen to their members. The good news is that the Network for Public Education Action is creating a report card for all of the candidates and will regularly update the report card. We want education to be an important issue in the 2020 race, as it was not in

Eric Blanc: West Virginia Teachers Prove That Strikes Work!

by dianeravitch / 2d

Eric Blanc has gone to every teacher strike while writing a book about them. From what he saw this week in West Virginia, he concludes that strikes work. The teachers defeated a dangerous privatization bill. Teachers made clear that 

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