VW Workers in TN to Governor Bill Lee: Suck It
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In 2014 when Volkswagen plant workers in Chattanooga held their first vote
on joining the UAW, Senator Bob Corker (R) and Gov. Bill Haslam stuck their
sh...
Steve Ruis: Why I’m Starting to Hate All Religions
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Steve Ruis writes a blog called “Uncommon Sense.” In one of his recent
posts, he explains why he is starting to hate religion, all religions. I
think he is...
Moms For Liberty 3.0
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First, there was Moms For Liberty Beta, called the Florida Coalition of
School Board Members. Then came the actual Moms For Liberty launch, a group
of ladi...
Who’s Running This Grift?
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I laughed in your face and said, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti
Smith” This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel We’re modern idiots Who’s going to hold
you li...
Defend the People’s Schools
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By Thomas Ultican 4/19/2024 I am sure you’ll be shocked to your core but
there are some really bad people out there trying to end publicly-financed
free ed...
Free the Columbia 100. Keep cops off campus.
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The movement protesting U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza War shows no sign of
going away. In fact, it grows larger every day.Fred Klonsky in Retirement
is a ...
The strategy behind never-ending war
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US could have backed peace talks in Ukraine. Yesterday it was the only NO
vote in UN on recognizing Palestinian statehood.
How to Raise Ethical, Caring Children
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Most of us want to raise children who are ethical and caring. Indeed, when
surveyed 96 percent of us say that this is a "very important, if not
essentia...
Memorial Stadium Open House - Done on the Downlow?
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I am going to sit in on the brief Board "special meeting" today on the
process of curriculum adoption in Washington State. I did ask about any
attached ...
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 Unintended Multiverse of Black Widow’s Origin
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[Header Panel from Tales of Suspense (v1) 57; Don Heck, artist] After
writing a blog series on Black Widow, I searched for an opportunity to turn
that work...
Where I Agree with Katherine Westerhold
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In February 2023, former Louisiana state superintendent John White’s wife,
Katherine Westerhold, was in the news because their home security system
capture...
Guess Who’s NOT Coming to School!
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American students are skipping school in record numbers, a crisis that is
so acute that it became the lead story in The New York Times recently, as
well as...
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...
March (2024) Useful Parent Engagement Resources
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“Gentle parenting” seems to be based on sound child psychology principles,
but these techniques may not be as effective for more serious challenging
behavi...
Let’s recall just how bad a president Trump was!
-
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!
-
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
-
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!
-
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
-
“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
-
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
-
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!
-
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
-
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...
A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools
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I climbed the hill leading up to one of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle
this morning to enjoy a coffee while taking in a phenomenal view of the
city o...
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
-
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. . . .
-
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...
Jim Scheurich is a professor at Indiana University and a public education activist. He writes here about how School Choice is intended to destroy community. Folks, the philosophy that charter and innovation schools are built on is that your children’s school should be individualized parental choice. This means parents individually search across the Indy area as to where to send their children, wh
PISA—the international test, the Program in International Student Assessment—has set off an insane competition among nations to lift their ranking. Only one country can be #1, and the rankings have political consequences. Rich countries always get higher scores than poor ones. Nations with less poverty get higher scores than those with more poverty. The US typically ranks in the middle, not becau
Relying on the Mueller Report, the New York Times counts at least 140 contacts among the Trump campaign, Wikileaks, and Russian nationals. That’s proof of nothing, right? As reader Bob Shepherd commented, if a Democratic candidate had been so deeply involved with Russian contacts, how would Republicans have reacted?
In New York, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community wields power because it votes as a bloc. Governors and mayors do their bidding. Their religious schools receive millions of dollars of state and federal aid for various services, yet they are completely unregulated. The absence of any oversight has enabled the most sectarian of schools to avoid teaching English, science, and other subjects that are
The Brookings Institution posted a review of the Mueller report’s findings about Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The Mueller report “is the most comprehensive account thus far of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Alina Polyakova outlines what the report tells us about the tactics and intent of the information operations in particular and what we don’t know du
I begin by saying I don’t like selling anything except ideas. That’s why this blog accepts no advertisements. Nonetheless, I recommend this post by Steven Singer, which describes his reaction to the collection of many of my essays in a book called “The Wisdom and Wit of Diane Ravitch.” Any royalties earned by the book will be donated to the Network for Public Education. Steven begins: “Imagine yo
Reed Hastings, the billionaire founder of Netflix, will speak at a tech conference in San Antonio on May 5, where he will be celebrated as a pioneer and innovator. To those who believe in public schools, Hastings is a nemesis and villain, who has advocated the complete elimination of local school boards and their replacement by corporate management of public schools. He has donated at least $100
Peter Greene writes here about the open theft of public funds, transferred from public schools to to charter schools, in Florida . He raises a question that I have often wondered about: When did Republicans become the enemies of local control? The answer in Florida is obvious: when the money is there to pay the legislators to change their views, they change their views. It is not about improving
Mercedes Schneider writes here about a peculiar development that is percolating among “reformer” groups: Bring back racial segregation! While civil rights groups are concerned about the alarming increase in racial segregation in recent years, about the retreat of federal courts from enforcing desegregation decrees, and about the role of “school choice” in promoting segregation, a few leading figu
George Conway is a lawyer. He also is the husband of Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s senior advisor. He wrote an article with the title cited here in this morning’s Washington Post. He writes: ”So it turns out that, indeed, President Trump was not exonerated at all, and certainly not “totally” or “completely,” as he claimed. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III didn’t reach a conclusion about whether
Peter Greene puts his finger on the reason that Secretary DeVos is unmoved by charter failures. In her ideal free-market model, failure is a feature, not a bug. in the free market, businesses open and close all the time. Where is Eastern Airlines, Braniff, TWA? Gone. Stability, in her view, is not desirable. Disruption and churn show that the market is working well. Thats why she is not at all di
Randi Weingarten delivered this speech this morning at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The Freedom to Teach Consider what teachers have recently said about why they teach: “I teach because I want to change the world, one child at a time, and to show them to have passion and wonder in their learning.” “I teach so the next generation will question— everything . The classroom should be a
In this post , Alan Singer reviews a study conducted by SMU (Southern Methodist University) about the effectiveness of TFA teachers. He cites an earlier review of the same study by Gary Rubinstein and concludes with Gary that this study is not good news for TFA, even though TFA thinks it is. Singer reviews the study and concludes: “The other finding (?) is that “TFA alumni are generally more effe
This is the second part of John Thompson’s review of Andrea Gabor’s book, After the Education Wars. Gabor analyzes why “Reform” failed and where we go from here. John Thompson writes: A first review of Andrea Gabor’s excellent After the Education Wars concentrated on the progressive reforms that should have informed the improvement of New York City schools. Billionaires like Bill Gates and Mike B
Alexandra Neason of the Columbia Journalism Review asks an important question: Why did the Washington Post write an editorial opposing charter school transparency? The Post has adopted as its slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” A great slogan in these troubling times, but why should charter schools be exempt from scrutiny? She writes: “LAST MONTH, CHARLES ALLEN , a member of the Washington, DC
A coalition of civil rights and parent groups spoke out against Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s proposal to create a voucher program , Chalkbeat reports. The Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition, which champions policies that address disparities in education, said Lee’s plan to create education savings accounts would instead end up helping middle-class families. The accounts are a new kind of vou
In this post on Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog at the Washington Post, Carol Burris and I respond to Betsy DeVos’s putdown of the Network for Public Education’s meticulous documentation of the failure of the federal Charter Schools Program. Our report, “Asleep at the Wheel,” showed that the U.S. Department of Education had handed out hundreds of millions of dollars–close to a billion dollars
I encourage you to sign up for The American Prospect’s near-daily missive. This one is right on target, written by Harold Meyerson. The commentaries by Harold Meyerson and Robert Kuttner are well-informed, incisive, and wise. Let the Democratic candidates slug it out on the field of ideas and policies, not by this kind of ad hominem attack.. APRIL 17, 2019 Meyerson on TAP How Think Progress Would
St. Louis once again has an elected board after 12 years of state control. It’s hard to know what factors led to the district’s improvement but one factor stands out: the same superintendent Dr.Kelvin Adams has been in charge since 2008. The implicit message appears to be about the value of continuity and stability, which are anathema to Disrupters. The following commentary was posted by St. Loui
The battle has begun about whether to lift the cap on charter schools in New York City. New York City has 235 charter schools serving 123,000 students (about 10% of those enrolled in public schools) and there are no empty slots for additional charters unless the legislature raises the cap. Governor Cuomo, flush with hedge fund cash from his last campaign, wants to raise the charter cap. Now billi
No matter how many scandals and frauds are exposed in the charter industry, the federal money keeps rolling in. Open this link to see which of your favorite charter chains (the Walmarts of education) won millions from their friend Betsy DeVos. Eva got $9.8 million from her friend Betsy. KIPP will secure a total of $86 million over five years for its San Francisco operations. IDEA in Texas scores
Lynn Davenport is a parent activist in Texas. She wrote the following post to alert her fellow Texans about the invasion of Kitamba Consultants, who bring with them the so-called “portfolio model” of privatization. She writes: The LA teacher strike thwarted a concealed plot to use Kitamba consultants to reinvent LAUSD with a portfolio model of privatization. Kitamba has a contract with TEA right
John Thompson, who recently retired as a teacher in Oklahoma, here reviews Andrea Gabor’s fine book, After the Education Wars. His review appears in two parts. He is interested in Gabor’s critique of why “reform” failed and where we go next. He writes: We are near the end of the 21 st century’s second decade, and some fervent corporate school reformers finally seem to be understanding that their
A judge in Berks County, Pennsylvania, ruled that a charter school’s property was not tax-exempt, prompted by some unusual financial arrangements. Judge Madelyn S. Fudeman upheld a ruling by the Berks County Board of Assessment Appeals denying I-LEAD Inc. an exemption from property taxes. The building at 401 Penn St., which houses the I-LEAD Charter School, is assessed at $9.7 million, according
Peter Greene writes here about an exceptionally silly “study” that Betsy DeVos is using to drum up fading public support for charter schools. The study, by choice advocates Patrick Wolf and Corey DeAngelis, attempts to measure “success” by return on investment, converting taxpayer dollars into NAEP scores. Sounds crazy, no? Greene writes: This particular paper comes out of something called the Sc
I will be speaking at Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg on April 25 at 7 pm. I am speaking at Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Penn State Harrisburg. The address is 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Harrisburg, PA 17057 . Here is the link for the event on the campus website: https://harrisburg2.vmhost.psu.edu/calendar/event/diane-ravitch if you are nearby, I hope you will come and learn about the is
As I reported earlier, I had a long conversation about education policy with top staff in the Bernie Sanders campaign. Among other things, I explained that charters are a first step on the privatization path that leads to vouchers and that charters cause deep cuts to public schools. I emphasized that charter schools are privately managed and areNOT public schools. I could not have been clearer in
A teacher at a BASIS charter school shamed a black student by teaching a lesson about the civil rights movement by inviting the class to isolate him. BASIS is known for its high test scores and its exclusionary practices. “A Phoenix mother says her 9-year-old son was forced to walk through his class as his teacher and fellow students yelled at, humiliated and berated him during a lesson on school
Bob Braun is one of the keenest investigative reporters in the nation, who worked for New Jersey’s leading newspaper—the Star-Ledger—for half a century. Now, retired, he keeps watch over the corporate privatization of New Jersey’s public schools, especially those in Newark. That city, it’s schools, and it’s children have been in a Reformer Petri dish for decades. The schools were taken over by th
I wish that the New York Times were not behind a paywall. I wish you could read this article in full. It is an interview with Melinda Gates. You would get a sense of a very rich and very privileged woman who doesn’t realize how out of touch she is with the lives of ordinary people. The interviewer wants to know how she feels about her privilege, given the rise of tide of anger against elites and
Ann O’Leary is Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom. Previously she was education advisor to Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She is a lawyer and a very accomplished person , with a long history in Democratic politics. She was leading the Clinton transition team right before the election of 2016. For several years, she was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress,
Michael Bonds, former president of the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Board, was charged in federal court for taking kickbacks from a charter chain. “Bonds is accused of conspiracy and violations of the Travel Act for allegedly accepting kickbacks from executives of the Philadelphia-based Universal Companies in return for votes beneficial to the company between 2014 and 2016. Two unnamed executives of
That is an easy question. Betsy DeVos believes that parents can choose really dreadful ”schools,” where their children won’t learn anything about the modern world and it’s okay. But Betsy’s not a pundit on FOX News. She is Secretary of Education. People listen to her incoherent babbling and try to make sense of it. As the AP reports , Betsy has decided to ignore evidence that her own Department—d
This is a link to an article on Leonie Haimson’s blog that describes the public school parents’ rally on the steps of City Hall. You will see a photo of a parent holding up a handmade sign: “MY CHILD IS NOT YOUR CUSTOMER.” There is a post and a video. The post begins: This afternoon, in front of the NYC Department of Education headquarters, NYC public school parents told Mayor de Blasio to stop b
Eight school districts in Ohio are suing Facebook for recruiting students for the failing online charter school ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow). Real public schools that enroll and educate real students lost money to the for-profit virtual charter school, whose owner pocketed millions and ultimately went bankrupt rather than pay back any of the millions it collected from the state. Over t
Glenn Branch writes here about four states that introduced bills to prohibit teachers from “indoctrinating” their students: Arizona, Maine, South Dakota, and Virginia. This is a solution in search of a problem, he says. Despite efforts to pretend otherwise, the real targets here are evolution and climate change. Any state that passes a law requiring teachers to present “both sides” would be compe
Anthony Cody was taken aback when he saw that pundit Alexander Russo was critical of the media for ganging up against Betsy DeVos when she explained at a budget hearing why she was defunding the Special Olympics. Russo seemed to think that the media critique of DeVos may have been the work of “advocates and trolls,” special interests blowing up a story that was a Nothingburger. Russo treated the
Mercedes Schneider brings us up to date on the disruption caused by charters in Baton Rouge, most of which are failing schools. Apex Collegiate Charter School in Baton Rouge notified parents it is closing. Yet its website announces that it is accepting applications for next year. It has been open three years, and it has an F rating from the state. Two other charter schools in the city are closing
The family of a 2-year-old with limited mobility needed a wheelchair but could not afford the cost of a wheelchair, $20,000. The Farmington, Minnesota, public high school “Rogue Robotics Team” did it. Great and talented kids. No one mentioned theirvtest scores.
For years, the charter industry in New York has boasted about its superiority compared to public schools and claimed that there were long waiting lists of students clamoring for admission to charter schools. We now know that there never was a waiting list. The charters were given access to the names and addresses of public school students so they could bombard them with marketing materials in sea
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wrote a stinging letter to the Center for American Progress, the presumptive think tank of the Democratic Party establishment. (Sorry, no link available to me, but the story appeared today in the New York Times.) ”Senator Bernie Sanders, in a rare and forceful rebuke by a presidential candidate of an influential party ally, has accused a liberal think tank of underm
Our blog poet, self-identified as SomeDam Poet, wrote the following poem about testing, opting out, and New York State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. Reading the poem requires cultural literacy about arcane education jargon. “The Mywayman” (after “The Highwayman”, by Alfred Noyes) PART ONE THE VAM was a torrent of darkness among reformy goals The school was a ghostly galleon tossed upon rocky shoal
Reformer groups and programs and projects pop up so often that I’m tempted to call them mushrooms, although stinkweeds would work too. I met Matt Gandal, described below, when he worked for Checker Finn at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. As long as the foundations keep pumping money into their hobby, there will be more mushrooms. She wrote this comment a month or so ago: Laura Chapman describes
There is hope for a change in Kentucky politics. FOX News says that Governor Matt Bevin is in trouble in his re-election bid because he picked a fight with teachers. “Matt Bevin is Kentucky’s third Republican governor in the last half-century – and if he’s re-elected this year, he’d be the first in party history to win a second term to that office. “It likely won’t be easy. ”Bevin gained national
Carol Burris is the executive director of the Network for Public Education. She is a lifelong educator, first a teacher of Spanish, then an award-winning principal of a high school in New York. She writes here to explain briefly why charter schools are unnecessary and are not public schools. “When I was a high school principal, I also ran an alternative school called The Greenhouse. It was small–
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is outraged that The Audacious Project is honoring the Waterford online preschool program, which will use this platform to expand their efforts to open additional online preschools. Early childhood experts agree that this is harmful to children. I say it is a mean and stupid idea. Efforts to put little children in online schools should be denounced, no
Yesterday I wrote about the decision to approve a Gulen charter school in rural Washington County by the Alabama Charter School Commission, despite the fact that the state paid the National Association of Charter School Authorizers to review the proposal and they turned it down. There is little or no demand in the county , which has good public schools, for a charter. The CEO of the charter plans
LeBron James’ new public school in Akron, Ohio, but it’s already showing remarkable progress by the only metric the public understands: test scores. Readers of this blog understand the deficiencies of standardized tests. But in this case, they are bringing attention to the most interesting and high-profile effort in the nation to reform education for the city’s neediest children. Bill Gates has t
Bill Raden of the California progressive website Capital & Main is one of the state’s best education writers. In the latest issue , he brings good news about the victory of David over Goliath, plus an important insight into the rigging of the state law by Netflix billionaire Reed Hastings. First, the good news: “ In a David vs. Goliath win , a coalition of East L.A. families, teachers and communi
Bill Phillis of Ohio urges the repeal of the state takeover law, HB 70: It appears that the HB 70 CEO in the Lorain City School District is at odds with the Board of Education, school personnel, the Police Department and the Mayor. The CEO and the Police Department are in a tiff over a School Resource Officer matter . The Board of Education’s Vice President says it is time for the CEO to go. HB 7
Bob Shepherd is teaching in Florida after a career in education publishing. He left this comment on the blog about his teaching experience in Florida. His contributions to the blog are consistently brilliant. On a personal note, Bob reached out to me and offered to edit my new book. We have never met. Knowing how amazing he is, I happily accepted his offer. For weeks, Bob and I exchanged chapters
Katie Porter is a freshman in Congress. She ran for Congress in the 45th District in California, which has not elected a Democrat since the District was created in 1953. Porter was born in Iowa and had an elite education, studying