Solidarity with Student Actions
-
*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!
-
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
-
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
-
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’?
-
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
-
"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
-
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
-
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
-
“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!
-
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
-
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
-
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!
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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?
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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!
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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:
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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...
-
*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!
-
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
-
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
-
[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
-
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
-
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!
-
The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcÃa
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
-
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
-
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"
-
*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)
-
A new Commissioner will have as much impact on our state ed system as a new
meteorologist will have on …
Continue reading →
The World According to Michelle Rhee
-
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
-
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?
-
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)
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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)
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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...
Bob Shepherd is a polymath, a man of remarkable learning, an author, a scholar, and at the capstone of his career, a classroom teacher. Regular readers of this blog know him as a frequent contributor and a source of wisdom and humor. Here is his review of my new book, SLAYING GOLIATH: THE PASSIONATE RESISTAMCE TO PRIVATIZATION AND THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS , which will be release
The Eau Claire County Board was asked to endorse a resolution saluting “School Choice Week,” but homeowners turned out to denounce the loss of money from their public schools that was sent to voucher schools. One after another, homeowners asked why they were supporting two school systems, why the money intended for their public schools was being diverted to religious schools, why their taxes were
The Washington Post fact-checker reports on the “Moby Dick” of all assignments : Fact-checking Trump’s marathon rally in Michigan a few weeks ago. He spoke off the cuff for two hours, and it seems he wants to be the Fidel Castro of American politics. Fidel used to rant for hours at a time. So you think your job is hard; try fact-checking a Trump speech. Hats off to the Washington Post and Salvado
One of the very exciting episodes in my new book SLAYING GOLIATH describes the struggle in Massachusetts surrounding a 2016 referendum to expand the number of charter schools in the state. The referendum was called Question 2. Yes on 2 received funding from billionaires (the Waltons and Bloomberg), DFER (hedge fund managers), and out-of-state groups whose donors were unknown. The last group is ca
Jan Resseger asks the ultimate cost about vouchers , in response to the Ohio legislature’s recent decision to expand vouchers to two-thirds of all school districts in the state, including high-performing districts. Should public money be subtracted from public schools to underwrite vouchers for private and religious schools? The state’s public schools will be hit hard by the voucher law. And sinc
I am happy to give my personal endorsement to Dr. Jennifer (Jen) Mangrum, who is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina. Jen has already been endorsed by the Network for Public Education, which concluded that she is far and away the most qualified candidate in the race. Jen is a career educator who understands the importance of restoring the integrity of public e
What happens when Florida’s biggest for-profit charter chain takes over three low-performing public schools? Follow the money. Ka-Ching! Sue Legg of the Florida League of Women Voters guides you through a path paved with greenbacks. Here is her summary: The whole sordid affair was orchestrated by the current Senate Ed. Committee Chair. Millions of dollars were poured into the K12 consolidated sch
Valerie Strauss wrote a column in her Answer Sheet blog at the Washington Post about the two most horrifying stories in the past decade of high-stakes standardized testing. Both occurred in Florida, a state where standardized testing is treated as an unerring and essential metric, except for students who use state money to attend religious schools, which are exempt from the state’s testing regime
I fear we are becoming insensitive to shock in the Trump era. And the very concept of “government ethics” seems to be an oxymoron in this era. Here are two shocking reports by Teresa Hanafin, who writes the Fast Forward commentary of the Boston Globe: Trump holds another campaign rally tonight, this time in Toledo. Earlier in the day, he’s scheduled to announce some proposed National Environmenta
Andrew (Andy) Saultz is running for the Oregon State Legislature in District 33 (Northwest Portland). I am pleased to endorse his candidacy. The legislature will be fortunate to have Andy Saultz, an experienced and knowledgeable educator, among its members. Education is the most important of every state’s responsibilities. Nothing matters more than making sure that the children and young people o
In this post, Jan Resseger reviews my new book SLAYING GOLIATH: THE PASSIONATE RESISTANCE TO PRIVATIZATION AND THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Jan is an expert on the damage imposed by so-called “reformers.” Several years ago, when I was in Cleveland, she took me on a tour of devastated neighborhoods. Ohio legislators and local leaders responded to growing poverty by creating charters
Daniel Koretz is one of the leading authorities on testing in the United States. A professor at Harvard University, he has written two important books about testing–its uses and misuses. The first was Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us. His latest is The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better. He recently wrote an article about how the federal government’s demand f
A state judge in Texas blocked the state takeover of the Houston Independent School District until she issues a final order in June. A state judge Wednesday evening immediately blocked Texas from taking over the Houston Independent School District until she issues a final ruling on the case, complicating the state’s plan to oust the district’s school board by March. In doing so, Travis County Dis
Uber-reformer John White announced that he is resigning as superintendent of Louisiana. He has sterling disrupter credentials. Teach for America. Broad Academy. Joel Klein’s inner circle. Briefly leader of New Orleans’ charter district. Mercedes Schneider has the story here . She thinks the next state superintendent might actually be an experienced educator. Under White’s leadership, Louisiana dr
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was one of the few members of the U.S. Senate to vote against No Child Left Behind when it was approved by Congress in 2001. Today is the anniversary of the signing of that law. Sanders writes that the federal mandate for annual testing in grades 3-8 has been an expensive failure. In this article in USA Today, Sanders calls for an end to the NCLB mandate, whi
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind law. Thus began an unprecedented federal intrusion into state and local education. The law was sweeping in imposing federally mandated annual tests from grades 3-8. No high-performing nation in the world tests every child every year. The law mandated that every school must achieve 100% proficiency by 2014 or face increas
Peter Greene writes that state officials in North Carolina keep getting embarrassed by the facts about their charter schools. In 2016, when the first report came out, the state sent it back to have the data massaged because it turned out that charters were effectively resegregating the students in the state. This year, a similar problem arose when it was time to release the annual report. The cha
Hi, Bill and Melinda, We have never met but I feel that I know you because I am so familiar with your education projects. I have tried in the past to meet you and have a candid conversation but have never had any luck. You were always too busy or out of town. But I am trying again. I will be in Seattle on February 3-4. I arrive on the afternoon of the 3rd and am speaking at a public event on Febr
Steven Singer writes here about how economic thinking has distorted the purposes of schooling and is wrecking our society by turning everything into a transaction. Here is an excerpt, in which he defines the transactional view of teaching: The input is your salary. The output is learning. These are distinctly measurable phenomena. One is calculated in dollars and cents. The other in academic outc
Gary Rubinstein has a deep aversion to hypocrisy, hypes, and propaganda. He read a widely publicized report saying “research shows” that graduates of KIPP have higher college completion rates than their peers. But then he discovered that the research shows no significant difference between KIPP students and their peers in college completion rates. His post debunks Richard Whitmire’s erroneous cla
Zora Neale Hurston is one of my favorite writers. I read in Garrison Keillor’s “A Writer’s Almanac” that today is her birthday. A reader wrote me offline to criticize my reference to Keillor’s work because many women credibly accused him of making sexual advances. I am aware of that. I think everyone has a chance to redeem themselves. In the meanwhile, I will continue to post whatever interests m
It was a curious fact that when billionaire Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York City for 12 years, he had complete control of the public schools yet did not have any fresh ideas about how to improve them. This should not be surprising, because he was never an educator. He hired another non-educator–Joel Klein–to be his chancellor. The two of them relied heavily on McKinsey and other consultan
California claims to have tightened up its charter school law, but huge loopholes remain. For example, state money goes to charters that offer religious education to home school students, as well as to private businesses. Patrick O’Donnell, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, thinks that oversight is needed. Private businesses and religious organizations have been getting public school dol
This is a book you will want to read if you are a parent, a teacher, a teacher educator. Opting Out: The Story of the Parents’ Grassroots Movement to Achieve Whole-Child Schools is an essential addition to your bookshelf. It was written by Professor David Hursh of the University of Rochester and parents leaders of the New York Opt Out movement Jeanette Deutermann, Lisa Rudley, and Hursh’s graduat
During the Clinton administration, Congress enacted a program called EB-5, which promised green cards to foreign investors who put their money into job-creating projects. One of those designated projects for foreign investors was charter schools. Give a lot of money, invest in charter school construction, get a green card. The middle-men quickly figured out how to make this exchange pay off in pr
Let me confess that I have a mad crush on Audrey Watters although I have never met her. I love her fearlessness, her keen intelligence, and her unapologetic humanity. I wrote a few days ago that her recent post on the 100 Biggest Worst Ed-Tech Debacles was the best post I had read in the last decade. She got a lot of feedback to that zinger of a post, and some readers asked her if she could name
Ah, t he burdens of the presidency! THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK: Monday: TRUMP will participate in a ceremony for new ambassadors to D.C., and he’ll have lunch with the vice president. Tuesday: THE PRESIDENT will host the prime minister of Greece. Thursday: THE PRESIDENT will have a political rally in Toledo, Ohio. Lots of executive time for watching Fox & Friends and tweeting. Since it is a slow week,
In this post, Peter Greene reviews Edspeak and Doubletalk , the glossary co-written by me and Nancy Bailey. This is the book you need, the scorecard, to identify the players in the fast-moving world of reform propaganda and over-hyped programs. This resulting book, Edspeak and Doubletalk: A Glossary to Decipher Hypocrisy and Save Public Schooling , is exceptionally useful as a quick-reference res
The Legacy Prep School in Charlotte, North Carolina, closed its doors at the end of the holidays, leaving parents and students on their own to find a school. Legacy Prep was a private school that relied on vouchers from the state. Parents were stunned. “ Yes, 100% caught off-guard,” said Jackie Davis, whose son attends Legacy Prep. On Friday, she and other parents whose children were enjoying hol
Stuart Egan is an National Board Certified Teacher in North Carolina. He writes here about the horrible policies imposed on public schools in North Carolina since Tea Party Republicans took over the state’s General Assembly. North Carolina was once considered the most progressive state in the South, for its dedication to improving public schools and honoring fine teachers. It had the highest prop
Nancy Bailey is an experienced classroom teacher who is now retired. She and I co-authored a glossary to explain the duplicity of today’s phony school “reforms,” called Edspeak and Doublespeak. We discovered that we shared the same disdain for hypocrisy and hype. Nancy posted a letter here by a teacher in a suburban school about how corporate reform is ruining education in her district. Here is a
Last month, Betsy DeVos testified to Congress about her role in the student loan program. Her Department hounded students to pay back loans instead of canceling them because their for-profit college defrauded them. A federal judge ordered the Department to stop harassing the students, then fined the Department $100,000 for violating the court order. Rep. Josh Harder of California grilled her for
Jeff Bryant attended the Presidential Forum for Democratic candidates in Pittsburgh, and he watched to see how the candidates reacted to the Bush-Obama-Duncan agenda. Michael Bennett was the only one to endorse it, and he got a tepid reception. The others spoke of their love for public schools, their desire to raise funding, etc, but barely mentioned charters or testing unless pushed. Duncan’s na
Earlier this year, LAUSD board member Scott Schmerelson revealed that 82% of the charter schools in Los Angeles have empty seats (no waiting lists). Yet because of California’s charter-friendly environment, the privately managed schools continue to open. A report in 2017 found that charters in Los Angeles are proliferating where they are not needed. The report points out that traditional school d
Why do the Disrupters continue to insist that charter schools will “save poor kids from failing schools,” when the evidence continues to accumulate that this is simply not true. According to the latest state data for Indiana, the graduation rate is about 87%, with variations among different groups of students. For charter schools, the graduation rate is 40%. Indiana’s high school graduation rate
Former superintendent Tom Dunn wrote a blistering critique of federal and state interventions into education that were lies, all lies. And the promises and lies continue despite the failure of all the previous promises. He writes: As a former school superintendent, one of my most important, difficult, and frustrating responsibilities was trying to stay abreast of state and federal laws governing
This is the most curious news story of the week, written by the GoLocalProv News Team.”* It says that the fate of the reform of the Providence public schools lies in the hands of the Providence Teachers Union, led by Maribeth Calabro; she, the story warns, may be able to veto the new state commissioner’s plans to transform the Providence public schools. It does not mention that the state commissi
Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes here about Superintendent Joe Roy, a champion for students and public schools. I add him now to the honor roll of the blog. Superintendent Joe Roy is a fearless fighter for better opportunities for the students that attend his small city school district of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His district is diverse, and about 60% r
Jan Resseger reviews the story of Eli Broad and his leadership program , whose graduates have brought top-down management ideas and disruption wherever they go. To keep the program alive, despite its long history of failure, Broad gave Yale University $100 million. The Broad Leadership Institute is accredited (I have repeatedly called in unaccredited, but a reader pointed out to me that it was ac
Liat Olenick was a charter school teacher. Fatima Geidi was a parent of a charter student. They write in a joint article that proposals by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren should not be controversial. Charter advocates have reacted fiercely against any effort to regulate the privately-run schools. But, say the authors, charters will improve if they are both accountable and transparent, as Sand
John Thompson is a historian and a retired teacher, who blogs often, here and on other blogs. He has keen insight into what’s happening in Oklahoma. He writes: Since 2015, the Tulsa Public Schools have cut $22 million from its budget, even dipping into its reserve fund to balance the books. Now it must cut another $20 million. Given the huge support for the TPS by local and national edu-philanthr
Audrey Watters may be our most articulate critic of tech obsession. I enjoy her regular posts, and her ability to connect birds with events. Open this link to see what I mean. She begins every post with a bird and finds a way to connect it to