Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/15/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM

Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education] | The Jose Vilson

Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education] | The Jose Vilson: Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education]Whenever conservative pundit Michelle Malkin’s name comes up, you know it’s going to be a bloodbath of lies and obfuscation.Her latest article, reposted by the diabolical folks at that news rag, poses Teach for America (TFA) as a once-well meaning do-gooder or

by mike simpson / 13min 

Informed Citizens - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice

Informed Citizens - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: Informed CitizensFor our republic to survive and prosper, informed citizens are vital. This fact was acknowledged long ago.And as time has marched forward, there has been a notable commonality among U.S. presidents that dissemination of information is an essential national service. Education matters. The question has always been; how do we do

by mike simpson / 15min 

Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk - Wait What?

Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk - Wait What?: Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for NorwalkThere are many questions about why the Norwalk Board of Education would hire the extremely controversial and combative Steven Adamowski to be the community’s next superintendent of schools.Adamowski ha

by mike simpson / 17min 

4LAKids - TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS: TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALSTorlakson green-lights teacher pay raises for union allies -- 6.15.2015  ::  Last week, state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson sent a letter to superintendents that skinned back on Breshears’ relatively strict int

by mike simpson / 3h 

Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school - Yahoo Finance

Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school - Yahoo Finance: Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio schoolFiling alleges Turkish religious movement at work inside Ohio charter school; operator says noCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A recent court filing raises anew allegations a Turkish religious movement is wielding influence inside a chain of Ohio charter schools targeted in

by mike simpson / 3h 

Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” | the becoming radical

Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” | the becoming radical: Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” In her 14 June 2015 email update about her blog, Susan Ohanian offered an opening statement:When I started this website of resistance 13 years ago, I posted a lot of outrage, outrage I tried to buttress with research. Of late, I’ve cut way back because I feel there’s fa

by mike simpson / 6h 

Ohio Charter School Operators Choose Financial Success Over Ethics

Ohio Charter School Operators Choose Financial Success Over Ethics: Ohio Charter School Operators Choose Financial Success Over EthicsColumbus Dispatch readers were shocked, shocked to learn last week that members of Imagine Columbus Primary School’s charter board, protesting that they had no say in negotiating the terms of an operational contract, resigned “en masse” over a lease imposed by the m

by mike simpson / 6h 

Oregon opt-out bill draws Education Dept. threats

This week in the war on workers: Oregon opt-out bill draws Education Dept. threats: This week in the war on workers: Oregon opt-out bill draws Education Dept. threatsParents are allowed to opt their kids out of standardized tests, and doing so has become an important part of the movement against over-testing. But the U.S. Department of Education is threatening education funding for Oregon over a b

by mike simpson / 6h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Magical Magical Standardized Tests

CURMUDGUCATION: Magical Magical Standardized Tests: Magical Magical Standardized TestsWe have become accustomed to teacher essay about magical Common Core Standards. "I used to stumble about my classroom drooling and pummeling my students with rote reading rocks until I discovered Common Core, and now I use reading and writing and thinking in the classroom which is awesome because no teacher

by mike simpson / 7h 

Teachers for Teachers | The Philadelphia Citizen

Teachers for Teachers | The Philadelphia Citizen: Teachers for Teachers As school days offer less time for prep and collaboration, teachers find what they need elsewhere—in networks all over the cityby Roxanne Patel ShepelavyLike so many new teachers, Lisa Hantman entered the classroom ambitious and enthusiastic, with grand plans for how she would engage her young students at the very beginning of

by mike simpson / 7h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Coming Education Bloodbath in New York State

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Coming Education Bloodbath in New York State: The Coming Education Bloodbath in New York StateSchool districts in New York State are extraordinarily diverse in terms of the resources they have available, as well as in the racial and economic background of their students. Some districts have schools which have an incredible array of arts programs, excellent libraries, an

by mike simpson / 8h 

The school that puts kids in charge of their own education | Deseret News National

The school that puts kids in charge of their own education | Deseret News National: The school that puts kids in charge of their own educationOn a recent Friday afternoon in a sleepy suburb just west of Chicago, 5-year-old Zeke Banks faces several teenagers seated at a table.Attentive but unperturbed, with big eyes and curly blonde hair, he peers up at them, answering questions about how and why h

by mike simpson / 8h 

What if all teachers were scholars? SmartBlogs

What if all teachers were scholars? SmartBlogs: What if all teachers were scholars?SmartBlog on Education will highlight summer learning and enrichment for educators during June. In this blog post, English teacher Mike Saenz explores the concept of “teachers as scholars.”As an English teacher, I often find it interesting to pick apart the way we use language. For instance, when asking someone what

by mike simpson / 9h 

What Kind of Workplace Would I Like to Teach in? - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week

What Kind of Workplace Would I Like to Teach in? - Rick Hess Straight Up - Education Week: What Kind of Workplace Would I Like to Teach in?  I spent last week at a pretty nifty gathering hosted by the Spencer Foundation. The second of their "disciplined dialogues," the exercise brought about two dozen practitioners, academics, and others together to discuss what it would mean to create a

by mike simpson / 9h 

State lacks info on 1,700 Ohio charter-school students | The Columbus Dispatch

State lacks info on 1,700 Ohio charter-school students | The Columbus Dispatch: State lacks info on 1,700 Ohio charter-school studentsAs the Ohio Department of Education attempts to close the financial books on last school year, one thing is certain: Making sure charter schools get the right amount of money is no easy task.The state is continuing to withhold or reduce payments to schools that educ

by mike simpson / 9h 

Pension investment fees: Very little transparency and it’s our money. | Fred Klonsky

Pension investment fees: Very little transparency and it’s our money. | Fred Klonsky: Pension investment fees: Very little transparency and it’s our money.Leon Black, head of Apollo Global Management, receives discounts paid for by public pension fundsOn Sunday The New York Times business writer Gretchen Morgenson discusses pension theft. This time not by politicians, but by Wall Street private eq

by mike simpson / 9h 

Refresher: What's in the House ESEA Bill? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Refresher: What's in the House ESEA Bill? - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Refresher: What's in the House ESEA Bill? House Republicans are hoping to resurrect debate this week on a bill that would overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was yanked from the floor in February after it unexpectedly began losing support from GOP members.The measure was not on the Majority Leader's

by mike simpson / 9h 

Somebody wants to stop charter schools from having to open their records. - Hartford Courant

Somebody wants to stop charter schools from having to open their records. - Hartford Courant: Stop Sneak Provision To Derail Charter OpennessThe day before the General Assembly's session adjourned, lawmakers voted in overwhelming numbers to make it clear that charter schools and their management companies are subject to the state's Freedom of Information Act — just like traditional public schools.

by mike simpson / 9h 

Principal: ‘I cannot be part of reforms that eat away at the moral fabric of our schools’ - The Washington Post

Principal: ‘I cannot be part of reforms that eat away at the moral fabric of our schools’ - The Washington Post: Principal: ‘I cannot be part of reforms that eat away at the moral fabric of our schools’K. Butler, right of Benton, Miss., and Lynn Wagner of Hickory, second from right, speak to students as they are guided past their Opponents of Common Core table in the rotunda of the Mississippi Sta

by mike simpson / 9h 

D.C. Council considers steps to restrict public access to teacher evaluations - The Washington Post

D.C. Council considers steps to restrict public access to teacher evaluations - The Washington Post: D.C. Council considers steps to restrict public access to teacher evaluationsThe Washington Teachers Union and open-government advocates are urging the D.C. Council to slow down a vote that would curb access to information related to teacher evaluations, one of the most controversial aspects of edu

by mike simpson / 10h 

Why ‘I believe all students should have the same standards’ — principal who backs Common Core - The Washington Post

Why ‘I believe all students should have the same standards’ — principal who backs Common Core - The Washington Post: Why ‘I believe all students should have the same standards’ — principal who backs Common CoreIn this photo taken Feb. 12, 2015, students in Carrie Young’s sixth grade class work through an exercise on their laptops during a practice session to prepare for the the Common Core State S

by mike simpson / 10h 

Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding | Adequate and Equitable Educational Opportunity for PreK-12 Students and Their Communities

Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding | Adequate and Equitable Educational Opportunity for PreK-12 Students and Their Communities: CCJEF is fighting to ensure that all CT public school children have equal opportunity to a quality education.CCJEF is a broad-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that seeks to achieve an adequately and equitably funded PreK-12 public education system that is bas

by mike simpson / 10h 

From Around the Web: Rumblings in WI - Living in Dialogue

From Around the Web: Rumblings in WI - Living in Dialogue: From Around the Web: Rumblings in WIIn this trenchant look into the battle for Milwaukee schools, teacher/journalist Jay Bullock asks whether City Alderman Tony Zielinski’s recent proposal to reel in charter authorization is an act of principle or politics. Whatever it is, charters, like Rocketship, don’t like it. Is that why his fellow al

by mike simpson / 10h 

Low-Income School Districts Need More, But Many Are Starved Instead

Low-Income School Districts Need More, But Many Are Starved Instead: Low-Income School Districts Need More, But Many Are Starved InsteadFairness in school funding is “the sleeper civil rights issue of our time,” says Leadership Conference on Civil Rights president Wade Henderson. But it’s clear from a new report by the Education Law Center that this issue comes with a loud alarm: In many states ar

by mike simpson / 10h 

Opinion: Torlakson green-lights teacher pay raises for union allies | The Sacramento Bee

Opinion: Torlakson green-lights teacher pay raises for union allies | The Sacramento Bee: Opinion: Torlakson green-lights teacher pay raises for union alliesBY DAN WALTERSdwalters@sacbee.comFrom its inception, the most worrisome aspect of Gov. Jerry Brown’s overhaul of public school finances was his insistence on “subsidiarity.”As he defined it, it meant that the state would pump more money into s

by mike simpson / 10h 

The CTU rallies for a contract and a lot more | SocialistWorker.org

The CTU rallies for a contract and a lot more | SocialistWorker.org: The CTU rallies for a contract and a lot moreGala M. Pierce reports from a rally called by the Chicago Teachers Union to prove that teachers and their supporters are ready for another fight against Rahm Emanuel.Chicago teachers and their supporters rally for a fair contract and a just Chicago NO SUPERMAN will swoop down to save t

by mike simpson / 10h 

The Washington Teacher: No Teacher Left Behind: The Story of Ballou Senior High Reconstitution

The Washington Teacher: No Teacher Left Behind: The Story of Ballou Senior High Reconstitution: No Teacher Left Behind: The Story of Ballou Senior High ReconstitutionBy Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice PresidentBallou teachers stage a sit-in in the cafeteria with their students in protest of their schoolsreconstitution on Monday-June 15th. Followupdates @TheWashTeacher - hashtag #TeachersMatterIn

by mike simpson / 11h 

YESTERDAY

Fraud at the Heart of Current Education Reform | Creative by Nature

Fraud at the Heart of Current Education Reform | Creative by Nature: Fraud at the Heart of Current Education ReformFor many Americans it is becoming increasingly clear that the people behind current education “reforms” in the United States are purposefully attempting to sabotage the nation’s schools and deceive the public. Such is the story shared in a new book Common Core Dilemma by Mercedes Schn

by mike simpson / 22h 

Schools for Democracy – Deborah Meier | Creative by Nature

Schools for Democracy – Deborah Meier | Creative by Nature: Schools for Democracy – Deborah MeierPosted on June 11, 2015by Christopher ChaseI’d like to share some insightful observations from one of the “real” pioneers in education reform, Deborah Meier. In this presentation she made in Chicago, from 2006, Dr. Meier talks about how most of America’s schools function as authoritarian institutions,

by mike simpson / 22h 

First Marylin Zuniga – Now Art and Humanities Classes – Cops Calling the Shots in Discourse at NJ Public Schools

Decarcerate The Garden State: First Marylin Zuniga – Now Art and Humanities Classes – Cops Calling the Shots in Discourse at NJ Public Schools: First Marylin Zuniga – Now Art and Humanities Classes – Cops Calling the Shots in Discourse at NJ Public SchoolsIt started with the persecution of Marylin Zuniga.  She is the elementary school teacher whose students wanted to send get well cards to Mumia A

by mike simpson / 22h hide  //  save

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/14/15

SPECIAL NITE CAP CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: Building Social CapitalCURMUDGUCATION: Building Social Capital: Building Social CapitalTop of my serious summer reading list is Robert Putnam's new book, about which I expect I'll blog plenty once I've read it. But I assigned myself a pre-reading exercise. I'm going to write out what I think I understand about social capital and where it comes fr

by mike simpson / 1d 

Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education] | The Jose Vilson

Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education] | The Jose Vilson:

Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education]

Whenever conservative pundit Michelle Malkin’s name comes up, you know it’s going to be a bloodbath of lies and obfuscation.

Her latest article, reposted by the diabolical folks at that news rag, poses Teach for America (TFA) as a once-well meaning do-gooder organization who’ve let the inmates run the asylum (yes, I know what I did there). She said:

“Teach For America has transformed itself into a recruiting center for militants bent on occupying themselves with anything other than imparting knowledge and academic excellence to children in the classroom. When a government-funded outfit abandons education as its mission in favor of social agitation, it’s time to cut off the taxpayer pipeline.”

This reflexive libertarian response to the surging resistance within TFA made me look at TFAers (and by extension, TFA) with another, more righteous lens. As someone who was baptized in the church of pro-public school, pro-whole child (i.e. anti-high stakes testing), I often see TFA as a neo-liberal Peace Corps, one that often pals around with the very folk that also support Michelle Malkin. We can’t ignore the years of no-bid contracts in major cities, two-year teaching commitments that drove out hundreds of experienced (and usually Black and Latino) educators, monopolistic relationships with Native American reservations and nations, and the droves of government officials making education policy on limited classroom knowledge as the narrative that TFA wrote for themselves.

Teach for America still gives their candidates pamphlets that suggest they have “alumni” who work in other places, as if teaching is not itself a profession, as if what I do daily is another notch on one’s belt.

Yet, as someone who also came through an alternative certification program (NYC Teaching Fellows), I see the need to support and offer different pathways to folks who came through this program and have the best intentions, especially those who did not fully understand their complicity in TFA’s neoliberal legacy. The folks I’ve gotten to know through the program, including one who was mentioned in the NY Post article, seem to have their proverbial “eyes on the prize,” namely equity for all students, and training others to take on the social justice mantle in a meaningful way. Plenty of other edu-activists who were once alt-cert either have worked within the system to make change or outside of it (you’d be surprised!), and both Take Me To Church [On TFA, #BlackLivesMatter, and Education] | The Jose Vilson:

Informed Citizens - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice

Informed Citizens - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice:

Informed Citizens

For our republic to survive and prosper, informed citizens are vital. This fact was acknowledged long ago.And as time has marched forward, there has been a notable commonality among U.S. presidents that dissemination of information is an essential national service. Education matters. The question has always been; how do we do it?

With the civil war raging, President Lincoln answered in 1862 by signing the Morrill Act establishing the land-grant college system. He said at the time:

“The land-grant university system is being built on behalf of the people, who have invested in these public universities their hopes, their support and their confidence.”

Fifty-two years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Smith-Lever Act that established the cooperative extension system for disseminating practical applications of research findings from the land-grant colleges to the people who needed the education.

President after president has acknowledged the success of that dual system including President Ronald Reagan as quoted in A Nation at Risk.

“The American educational system has responded to previous challenges with remarkable success. In the 19th century our land-grant colleges and universities provided the research and training that developed our Nation’s natural resources and the rich agricultural bounty of the 

Informed Citizens - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice:

Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk - Wait What?

Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk - Wait What?:

Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk

There are many questions about why the Norwalk Board of Education would hire the extremely controversial and combative Steven Adamowski to be the community’s next superintendent of schools.

Adamowski has left a trail of destruction behind him.  One need only ask parents, teachers, school administrators and taxpayers in Windham, New London and even Hartford.

But above all else, not only is Adamowski one of Governor Dannel Malloy’s closest advisors and allies when it comes to education, Adamowski – who is presently on the payroll of Malloy’s Department of Education – is one of Malloy’s star witnesses in the effort to derail and destroy the critically important CCJEF v. Rell School Funding Lawsuit.

In fact, when the CCJEF v. Rell case finally goes to trial later this year, Steven Adamowski will be there.

But Adamowski won’t be there to testify on behalf of Connecticut’s public school students, teachers, parents and schools.  And he won’t be there to testify on behalf of Connecticut’s property taxpayers.

And he certainly won’t be there to testify on behalf of the best interests of Norwalk.

He will actually be there to testify against all of those people.

Instead, Steven Adamowski will be there to testify on behalf of Governor Dannel Malloy and his effort to stop Connecticut’s judicial branch from finally requiring that the state of Connecticut to design and adopt a fair and equitable school funding system.

The truth is that Steven Adamowski has already given a deposition in support of Malloy’s position and against the interest of Norwalk and all the other communities that are fighting so hard to force Connecticut’s elected officials to adopt a fair, equitable and constitutional school funding formula.

Here at Wait, What? I’ve called the CCJEF v. Rell lawsuit the single most important court case of our lifetime.   There are almost as many posts about the CCJEF case as there are against Adamowski.

CCJEF v. Rell is the case that correctly argues that Connecticut’s school funding system is unconstitutional and that Connecticut’s Governor and General Assembly have a Why would Norwalk hire one of Malloy’s key witnesses against fair school funding for Norwalk - Wait What?:

4LAKids - TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS:

TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS

Torlakson green-lights teacher pay raises for union allies -- 6.15.2015  ::  Last week, state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson sent a letter to superintendents that skinned back on Breshears’ relatively strict interpretation of the LCFF rules, saying it “supersedes that letter.” The money could be used for general salary increases, Torlakson declared, if they furthered LCFF goals.

" ...a district must demonstrate in its LCAP how this use of the grant funds will increase or improve services for unduplicated pupils as compared to services provided all pupils. This should be in proportion to the increase in supplemental and concentration funds apportioned on the basis of the number and concentration of unduplicated pupils."

Walters column in Sacramento Bee

Teacher Raises by Jon Ortiz

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS:

Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school - Yahoo Finance

Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school - Yahoo Finance:

Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school

Filing alleges Turkish religious movement at work inside Ohio charter school; operator says no

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A recent court filing raises anew allegations a Turkish religious movement is wielding influence inside a chain of Ohio charter schools targeted in federal raids last year, claims the schools' operator maintains are false.

An ex-employee of Horizon Science Academy Denison Middle School made the allegations in a May affidavit filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in an ongoing discrimination lawsuit brought by his wife, a fired teacher.

Mustafa Emanet, who worked at the school from August 2006 to May 2009, says followers of the moderate Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen brought him to the U.S. from Turkey without a job interview, demanded cash kickbacks to the Gulen movement from his pay and pension and repeatedly deceived the U.S. government.

Emanet, of Elyria, says the school's Turkish teachers and administrators were called to exclusive staff meetings, attended religious retreats and made regular visits to the Poconos compound where Gulen lives in exile. Emanet says he saw a man who was with him on a 2007 trip to the compound deny any connection to Gulen in a 2012 television interview.

The Chicago-based Concept Schools, which operates the Horizon and Noble academies in Ohio, continues to deny formal ties to the Gulen movement. Officials there have said many of them admire the teachings of Gulen, a promoter of universal education, but he doesn't run their schools or benefit from the public money they collect.

Spokesman Mark Weaver said claims in the affidavit have been previously raised and disproved. He said Emanet and his wife, Mary Addi, have a longstanding vendetta against the school because of her firing and because it's non-union and are spreading falsehoods. He produced a letter in which Concept's attorney says Addi was terminated for reasons including "breach of contract, fraud, dishonesty, (and) insubordination."

"The school fired this disgruntled former employee because she was caught lying and caught working another job when she had promised taxpayers she would work full time," he said. "Later, she destroyed numerous public records to cover her tracks."

According to the affidavit, Murat Sagnak, then-director of the Horizon Academy, instructed Emanet to tell officials at the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul if they asked "that he (Sagnak) had conducted several phone interviews with me, which never actually happened."

Emanet says employees also were told to hand over the usernames and passwords to their State Teachers Retirement System accounts with the expectation they would "give the Gulen Movement our STRS retirement funds if we left the school." Further, he alleges Concept raised his pay from $28,000 to $42,000 and he "was instructed to give the money back in cash to the Gulen Movement every pay period." Federal labor officials settled an earlier claim between Emanet and Concept on Turkish religious movement influence alleged at Ohio school - Yahoo Finance:

Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” | the becoming radical

Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” | the becoming radical:

Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” 

In her 14 June 2015 email update about her blog, Susan Ohanian offered an opening statement:

When I started this website of resistance 13 years ago, I posted a lot of outrage, outrage I tried to buttress with research. Of late, I’ve cut way back because I feel there’s far too much jabber filling the air–too much rage and not enough explanation. Everybody blogs. Nobody reads. I figure whatever I might say just gets lost in the cacophony so I’ve turned my efforts elsewhere. Right now I’m working on a big project that I hope will startle you with originality. At the very least, it won’t be part of the chorus.  

I’m not abandoning the site–just cutting back on its size.

Well before the education reform debate blossomed on social media, Ohanian was dissecting and challenging the most recent cycle of high-stakes accountability—from the perspective of a classroom teacher.

I very much feel compassion for Ohanian’s concerns, having begun writing against accountability and specifically high-stakes testing in the 1990s, also as a classroom teacher. Once I moved to higher education in 2002, my access to public work was significantly expanded so my public commentaries reach back about as long as Ohanian’s (although my move to blogging is about half that span).

The powerful refrain—”Everybody blogs. Nobody reads”—resonates, I think, because it touches on how social media has in many ways had the opposite effect than its great promise: Instead of building solidarity, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and all the rest have allowed factions to develop and has reduced much of the vibrant and important discourse to be subsumed by the great failure of social media—the cult of personality.

The online world of public debate about education and education reform has included the ugliest part of social media—anonymous vitriol—but it has also, for me, created a much more troubling dynamic. On more than one occasion, I have been refuted and attacked (based on false assumptions) by those with whom I share solidarity.

It is all too easy, then, for those of us who share the same mission to turn on each other while those who are running the education reform machine sit by mostly untouched.

In fact, that is what the minority in power thrive on—divide and conquer.

Part of my advocacy includes making a case for the importance of workers so I often ask people to consider if all service workers in the U.S. (mostly poorly paid and many part-time without benefits including the horribly under-paid wait staff) simply did not work tomorrow, how would that compare in impact to if all the CEOs did not go to work tomorrow?

And how does that impact expose real value to society versus how we compensate work in the U.S.?

One wait staff compared to one billionaire is a tale of supreme inequity.

Without solidarity, without a moral grounding among those who still may disagree, each of us is ripe for the sort of resignation that happens in isolation and powerlessness.

Each time I post on Common Core and the views increase and then I post on race and the views drop, I contemplate simply walking away from trying to make a difference.

The reason I have shifted from traditional scholarship and toward public work stems from the echo chamber that is scholarship where, to paraphrase Ohanian, everybody publishes, but nobody reads.

Social justice and educational equity are, simply put, the defining goals of a free people, and it Divided, Conquered: “Everybody blogs. Nobody reads.” | the becoming radical: