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Rebekah Ray: Florida Is the Worst Place to Be a Teacher
by dianeravitch / 37min
Rebekah Ray responded to another Florida teacher who complained the changes by the State Legislature has destroyed the promises made to him when he became a teacher. It’s method of evaluating teachers is one of the worst in the nation. If they don’t teach reading or math in grades 3-8, they are assigned ratings for students they never taught in subjects they never taught. Ray writes: I would not
YESTERDAY
Illinois: Supreme Court Accepts Appeal in Major School Funding Case
by dianeravitch / 21h
A well-educated citizenry is essential to democracy. The Education Law Center reports good news for the schools and students of Illinois: On September 30, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in Cahokia Unit School District No. 187 v. Pritzker, a case challenging inadequate and inequitable school funding that could potentially alter the landscape of school funding jurisprudence in
Oklahoma: State Audit Reveals Financial Issues at Epic Charter Schools
24by dianeravitch / 22h
The Oklahoma State Auditor released a partial audit of Epic Charter Schools that reveals irregular expenditures. A partial investigative audit of Epic Charter Schools has revealed millions of dollars in questionable expenditures that will be referred to the FBI, state attorney general and other authorities for further action, state Auditor Cindy Byrd announced Thursday. “I have seen a lot of frau
Jan Resseger: Why I Love Derek Black’s New Book, Part 2
by dianeravitch / 23h
If you are looking for a book that explains why public schools are foundational to democracy, Jan Resseger writes, read Derek Black’s Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy. Resseger writes: On Monday, this blog examined Derek Black’s important new book, Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy. Black, a professor of constitu
Tennessee: Instead of Wasting Millions on Privatization, Invest in Community Schools
34by dianeravitch / 1d
The leaders of Pastors for Tennessee Children wrote an excellent appeal to the state’s leaders, based on common sense, experience, and research. William Terry Ladd and Amy Frogge, a former member of the Metro Nashville school board, point out that the state has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on privatization schemes that have failed. It’s time now to invest in community schools that addre
OCT 01
James Hohmann: Post-Debate Fallout
24by dianeravitch / 1d
James Hohmann of the Washington Post gathered interesting post-debate happenings. Joe Biden left Cleveland on a chartered Amtrak train and made a six-city whistlestop trip through areas of Ohio and a Pennsylvania that Trump won in 2016. Meanwhile, Trump continues to face negative responses and from Republican leaders, silence, due to his inability to denounce white supremacists, and his dog whist
New Book: Trump Wanted Ivanka as His Running Mate in 2016
by dianeravitch / 1d
As Donald Trump’s top campaign aides began a discussion in June 2016 about who the presumptive Republican presidential nominee should select as his running mate, the candidate piped up with an idea. “I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?” Trump asked the assembled group, according to a new book by his former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates set to be published Oct. 13. Trump
Frank G. Splitt: Existential Threats to American Democracy
by dianeravitch / 1d
Frank G. Splitt is author of the book An Odyssey of Reform Initiatives: 1986-2015 and its sequel Reflections: 2016-2019 . He is a former McCormick Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and a Vice President Emeritus of Nortel Networks. He is the recipient of The Drake Group’s 2006 Robert Maynard Hutchin’s Award and an International Society
Jersey Jazzman: Trump Gets Debate Help from Chris Christie
by dianeravitch / 1d
Trump, we all know, has an aggressive personality and explodes with invective at any setback or slight. So, who helped prepare him for his disastrous debate performance? Chris Christie, who left office in New Jersey as the nation’s least popular Governor. Christie was short-tempered, angry, and domineering. Like Trump. He had hoped that Trump would give him a big job, but Jared Kushner nixed that
An Appeal to Romney to Reconsider
by dianeravitch / 1d
Robert Kagan, a contributing columnist for the Washington Post, calls on Mitt Romney to reconsider his decision to vote on Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. Two Republican senators—Connibs and Murkowski—have said that they would not do so. One more Republican vote is needed for a total of four. Kagan explains that Trump plans to use the Supreme Court to overturn the election. Democracy hangs
Tennessee: Why the Courts Rejected Vouchers
58by dianeravitch / 2d
This is an excellent and comprehensive explanation of why Governor Bill Lee’s voucher plan has been rejected by two levels of the state judiciary. Lee is closely tied to Betsy DeVos, and he really wants vouchers but they are stalled. The legislature decided to put them only in Memphis and Nashville, against the will of the local governments. It seems there are some constitutional principles that
SEP 30
Trump, Facing Financial Ruin, Sought Control of His Father’s Estate
by dianeravitch / 2d
The Washington Post published this fascinating story about Trump’s determination to gain control of his ailing father’s estate, at the expense of his siblings. There are many links to depositions and audio recordings. Please open the story to read and hear. Donald Trump was facing financial disaster in 1990 when he came up with an audacious plan to exert control of his father’s estate. His credit
North Carolina: Segregation and Charter Schools
by dianeravitch / 2d
The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, recently released a major study of segregation and charter schools by Dr. Helen Ladd and Muvzana Turaeva of Duke University. Dr. Samuel Abrams introduced it here. The issue of school choice and segregation has been central to education policy debates for decades. In his initial argument for v
G.F. Brandenburg: How Democrats Should Handle the Hearings on Supreme Court Nominee
45by dianeravitch / 2d
Blogger G.F. Brandenburg discovered a very clever post by Bill Svelmoe advising Democrats how to handle the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy C. Barrett. Don’t attack her personally. Don’t question her religious views. Don’t ask her how she will rule on abortion or Obamacare (nominees never answer questions about cases which they may hear.) Ask her about Trump’s actions. Here are a few of hi
Tennessee Court of Appeals Rejects Voucher Plan!
by dianeravitch / 2d
The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision that Governor Bill Lee’s voucher plan is unconstitutional. The voucher plan was supposed to be installed only in Memphis and Nashville, over the objections of their representatives. The deciding vote was cast by a legislator from Knoxville, after he was promised that the voucher program would not include his district. A victory for frie
Dana Milbank on the Debate Between Trump and Biden
by dianeravitch / 3d
I watched the debate in full with a sense of horror and disgust. Trump was a bully. He was rude and overbearing. Trump was obnoxious. He degrades the presidency. There was no fact-checking and Trump repeatedly lied. It should have been X-rated so that young children and adolescents did not see Trump’s crude behavior and assume that’s how adults are supposed to behave. He is a role model of what N
SEP 29
New York Times: Trump’s Taxes, Part 2: The Con
by dianeravitch / 3d
The New York Times has a full copy of Trump’s tax returns. No mention of how they got them. Part 2 is a dissection of how eagerly he exploited his name and monetized his brand, no matter how low he had to go, including selling laundry detergent. It begins: From the back seat of a stretch limousine heading to meet the first contestants for his new TV show “The Apprentice,” Donald J. Trump bragged
White House Pressured CDC to Change Guidelines for Students
57by dianeravitch / 3d
The first set of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control warned that schools needed to take safety precautions to protect students and staff before reopening. Then in July, Trump and DeVos insisted that schools should reopen in full, even as Trump and his allies blocked passage of appropriations that provided the resources needed by schools to reopen safely. Trump’s highest priority was g
Jan Resseger Loves Derek Black’s “Stunning” New Book
by dianeravitch / 3d
Jan Resseger read Derek Black’s new book–a history of American public education by a constitutional lawyer –and loved it. I read Black’s book and interviewed him on a Zoom about the book. I too loved it. Black makes clear that public education is the central American tradition, an idea envisioned by the Founding Fathers and realized over decades as an engine of our democracy. In a multicultural,
Billionaire Reed Hastings Gives $925,000 to Charter Candidate for LAUSD
500+by dianeravitch / 3d
Once again, control of the Los Angeles Unified School Distict school board is up for grabs, and once again the billionaires hope to buy control so they can expand the number of charter schools. The latest financial disclosures show that Reed Hastings of Netflix has contributed $925,000 to try to defeat veteran educator Scott Schmerelson. Billionaire Jim Walton of the Walmart family added another
CNN: Trump Campaign Releases Fake Videos and Says They Are a Joke
62by dianeravitch / 4d
CNN reporter Donnie O’Sullivan reports that the Trump campaign is releasing doctored videos that purport to show that Biden is senile or is an extremist. When the campaign is asked why they traffic in manipulated and false ads, they say it’s a joke. However, Trump’s followers are not in on the joke, and they believe what they see. Somehow, I imagined that there was a federal elections commission
Join Katherine Stewart and Me to Discuss the Assault on Public Schools
by dianeravitch / 4d
[intro] The rise of the Religious Right has coincided with the privatization movement in public schools. While some may feel that this is coincidental, there is reason to believe there is a directly causal relationship between these two factors. Two scholars, from different disciplines, will discuss how their work comes together to help explain the history and current state of efforts to diminish
SEP 28
Forbes: Trump Is a Billionaire Who Doesn’t Pay Taxes
20by dianeravitch / 4d
Dan Alexander, a senior editor at Forbes who covers Trump’s businessses, writes that Trump really is a billionaire . His net worth, he says, is about $2.5 billion. That’s after taking into account more than $1 billion in Trump debts. That makes it even more scandalous that Trump employs every accounting trick to pay no taxes in most years (while deducting $70,000 for his hair stylist), and only $
Sound Advice for Parents of Young Children
by dianeravitch / 4d
Denisha Jones, an expert in early childhood education and a lawyer (and a member of the board of the Betwork for Public Education) has prepared an excellent report for Defending the Early Years. DEY advocates for sound educational practices for young children, and their advice in this report is balanced and humane. Be sure to read the recommendations at the end of the report. It begins: Though th
Chalkbeat: GreatSchools Revises Its Rating System But It’s Still Tied to Test Scores
by dianeravitch / 4d
Chalkbeat reports that the rating agency GreatSchools has revised the way it measures school quality. Critics have long complained that its reliance on test scores as the measure of school quality disadvantages schools that enroll children of color and encourages housing segregation by steering white parents to white neighborhoods. In the future, GreatSchools will rely on test score growth, not j
Capital & Main: Which Plutocrats Are Funding Fight Against Tax Reform
by dianeravitch / 4d
California has been underfunding its public schools for years. The state has vast wealth but low taxes for commercial real estate, due to Prop 13, which was enacted in 1978 as part of a taxpayer revolt. It froze taxes on commercial real estate at 1975 levels. Who are the plutocrats funding the fight against Prop 15? Investigative journalism Capital & Main followed the money. As reporter Bobbi Mur
UNICEF: The U.S. Ranks Near the Bottom in Child Wellness
63by dianeravitch / 5d
UNICEF released a ranking of nations in terms of child wellness. The United States is one of the lowest ranking among the advanced nations of the world. The rankings do not include test scores. It’s important to understand that the test scores are the result of child wellness, not a cause. If we expect to improve children’s academic performance, we should focus on their well-being, which is a sum
SEP 27
Trump Paid No Income Taxes for 10 of 15 Years
27by dianeravitch / 5d
CNN reports that Trump paid no income taxes at all for 10 of 15 years since 2000. The CNN report is based on a story published by the New York Times (behind a pay wall). The Times apparently received Trump’s tax returns from an insider. Trump denied the story and said he would release his tax returns when the IRS finishes auditing them. He has said this for four years. Being under audit is no bar
Leonie Haimson: Why Principals Voted “No Confidence” in De Blasio and Carranza
by dianeravitch / 5d
Right now, Mayor Bill de Blasio must be thinking that mayoral control of the schools is not such a great idea. Michael Bloomberg demanded mayoral control when he was first elected mayor in 2001. The State Legislature turned the schools over to the billionaire. Despite specious claims of a “New York City Miracle,” the problems remained serious. The mayor broke almost all the large high schools int
NYC Administrators’ Union Votes “No Confidence” in Mayor and Chancellor
20by dianeravitch / 5d
New York City’s CSA (Council of Supervisors and Administrators) passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Carranza for their poor leadership during the public health crisis and asked the state to intervene to help the public schools reopen safely. CSA represents the city’s public school principals.
Bernie Sanders on Barrett Nomination to High Court
22by dianeravitch / 5d
Realistically there is no way to stop the confirmation of Trump’s third nominee to the Supreme Court unless four Republicans defect. So far, only two have shown willingness to dissent. Sanders Statement on SCOTUS Nomination BURLINGTON, September 26 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court: “President Tru
Dana Milbank: The Reichstag Is Burning. Wake Up!
100+by dianeravitch / 5d
Dana Milbank is a regular columnist for the Washington Post. He writes: America, this is not a drill. The Reichstag is burning. For five years, my colleagues and I have taken pains to avoid Nazi comparisons. It is usually hyperbolic, and counterproductive, to label the right “fascists” in the way those on the right reflexively label the left “socialists.” But this is no longer a matter of name-ca
My Conversation with Steve Suitts about the Segregationist Origins of School Choice
by dianeravitch / 5d
Link corrected! In case you missed our Zoom conversation, this is the link to my discussion with Steve Suitts about his new book about the segregationist origins of “school choice.” His book is “Overturning Brown: The Segregationist Legacy of the Modern School Choice Movement.”
Leonie Haimson: Success Academy Retrenches Due to Lack of Students
by dianeravitch / 5d
Leonie Haimson reports that Success Academy is dropping plans to open three new high schools because it doesn’t have enough students. Parent activist Brooke Parker wrote the report as a guest blogger. No waiting lists. Not enough students.
Jack Hassard: Raking Leaves in the Forest Won’t Stop California’s Mega-Fires
by dianeravitch / 5d
Jack Hassard, a professor of science education, scoffs at Trump’s claim that California could avoid forest fires by raking leaves on the forest floor. The cause of the raging fires, he writes, is climate change. Trump has declared that climate change is a hoax so he can’t admit what scientists agree is a growing environmental crisis. This interesting post quotes Trump’s exchange with California o
Peter Greene: Arne’s New Gig in the Edu-Biz
by dianeravitch / 6d
Peter Greene learned that Arne Duncan has accepted a position as chair of the board of an edu-biz called FullBloom. He continues to be a partner at billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective. He quotes the owner of the biz: Here’s what CEO Jeffrey Cohen has to say about the momentous acquisition: “Having a thought leader like Arne help guide our decisions through this time of unprecedent
SEP 26
David Von Drehle: The Republican Party Stands for Nothing
26by dianeravitch / 6d
David Von Drehle is a regular opinion writer for the Washington Post. In this column, he describes the lack of ideas in the Republican Party. Their only goal is power. They didn’t even bother to write a party platform. Whatever Trump wants, that’s what they want. No discussion, no debate, no dissent. Their goals in capturing six seats on the Supreme Court are negative: to roll back abortion. To r
Kendall Deas: Good Schools are the Basis of Economic Success
300+by dianeravitch / 6d
Kendall Deas, a political scientist at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, has worked in the field of economic evelopment. In a recent article, he warned the leaders of the state that investing in food schools will do more for the state than corporate tax breaks. He is responding to a recent study by @GoodJobsFirst showing that South Carolina had cut education by $423 million to subsidiz
A Republican State Superintendent: Hero of Public Education
300+by dianeravitch / 6d
Dr. Jennifer McCormick, state superintendent of education in Indiana, is a hero of public education. She has steadfastly sided with public schools and defied her own party’s embrace of charters and vouchers. Blogger Steve Hinnefeld reports that Superintendent McCormick has endorsed Democratic candidates who support public schools instead of members of her own party aligned with the Mitch Daniels-
DeVos Loses Fight to Split Public School CARES $$ with Private Schools
200+by dianeravitch / 7d
Betsy DeVos lost the biggest fight of her tenure as Secretary of Education. Federal judges consistently rejected her legally binding rule requiring states to give private schools a share of the $13 billion Congress allocated for public
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
