CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: What A Miserable Sunday Edition (8/4)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What A Miserable Sunday Edition (8/4)

ICYMI: What A Miserable Sunday Edition (8/4)

This has not been a great week in the US, but here we are again. Read some pieces about education if you can; otherwise, just go curl up with loved ones.

Testing Craze Is Fading in U.S. Schools. Good. Here’s What’s Next.

At Bloomberg, Andrea Gabor takes a look at testing and what may come after.

Why Do White Reformers Keep Making This Obvious Mistake? 

I Love You But You're Going To Hell adds some historical perspective to the issue. As is often the case with education reform ideas, we have been here before.

When Do Not-for-profit and For-profit Mean the Same Thing? 

Mitchell Robinson on Eclectablog takes a look at how easily Michigan profiteers skirt the laws forbidding for-profit charter schools.

Top 7 Ways Technology Stifles Student Learning in My Classroom

At his blog, Steven Singer enumerates the problems of classroom tech.

Fake Play and Its Dangerous Alignment to Standards and Data 

Nancy Bailey talks about the most critical of issues-- play and the littles.

China has started a grand experiment in AI education. It could reshape how the world learns.

MIT Tech Review looks at one more scary thing the Chinese are up to. If you want to be further alarmed by the company profiled here, I've written about them before-- here and here.

Charter operator: Viral graduation speeches were acts of ‘dishonesty and deceit,’ could cost students their diplomas

Chalkbeat looks at a charter school having trouble with that pesky old First Amendment

For-profit colleges — but not their student 'customers' — have a friend in Betsy DeVos  

Even at The Hill, they've noticed where Betsy DeVos's loyalties lie.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: What A Miserable Sunday Edition (8/4)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

ICYMI: What A Miserable Sunday Edition (8/4)

by Peter Greene / 21min

This has not been a great week in the US, but here we are again. Read some pieces about education if you can; otherwise, just go curl up with loved ones. Testing Craze Is Fading in U.S. Schools. Good. Here’s What’s Next . At Bloomberg, Andrea Gabor takes a look at testing and what may come after. Why Do White Reformers Keep Making This Obvious Mistake ? I Love You But You're Going To Hell adds som

Segregation: Who's The Worst?

by Peter Greene / 21min

A new study of segregation in charter schools has been released. Authored by Julian Vasquez Heilig, T. Jameson Brewer, and Yohuru Williams, " Choice without inclusion?: Comparing the intensity of racial segregation in charters and public schools at the local, state and national levels " concludes that "national, state, and local data indicate that the charter industry has a segregation problem in

AUG 01

Should A Teacher Be Secretary of Education

100+by Peter Greene / 3d

This is part of the value of having a clown car full of candidates for a Presidential primary: the contest becomes a primary of ideas, and certain notions gain traction by spreading across the field of candidates. Not that gaining traction means those ideas will ultimately prevail (a widespread notion among the 2016 GOP field was that Donald Trump was unfit to be President ), but it's still an in

Eight Weeks of Summer: Moving Forward

by Peter Greene / 3d

This post is week 8 of 8 in the 8 Weeks of Summer Blog Challenge for educators . I've been doing the eight week challenge because why not? This is the final prompt, and like any good exercise, it calls for some reflection. Here's prompt #8: What will you keep from the #8WeekofSummer Blog Challenge moving forward? I've been trying to answer these from the perspective of my previous non-retired tea

JUL 30

Why Charter Schools Must Waste Money

200+by Peter Greene / 5d

Back in March, the Network for Public Education, a public education advocacy group, released a study showing that the Department of Education has spent over a billion dollars on charter school waste and fraud . Education Next, a publication that advocates for charter schools, offered a reply to that report. The rebuttal to the rebuttal just appeared in the Washington Post , but there is one porti

JUL 29

Mayor Pete Doesn't Get It (And If He Does, That's Even Worse)

400+by Peter Greene / 6d

In 2016, Hillary Clinton staked out what was supposed to be the safe territory on the charter school issue-- to be against for-profit charters, but in favor of non-profits. That qualified as enough of a break with the corporate Democrat orthodoxy that DFER felt the need to reassure wealthy donors that the Clinton's could be counted on to betray unions. But a position that depends on distinguishing

JUL 28

ICYMI: Post Jet Lag Edition (7/28)

24by Peter Greene / 7d

All righty. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things (two year olds do not seem to respond to jet lag well). So my reach might not be quite as far as usual, but I've still got some things for you to look at this week. This supreme court case made school district lines a tool for desegregation. A critical piece of history about how school district lines were set up to be a tool for-- or

JUL 27

FL: Next Surveillance State Deadline Approaching

200+by Peter Greene / 8d

In the wake of the murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, the great state of Florida decided to make a giant leap forward in establishing a surveillance state , proposing a data base that would collect giant massive tanker cars full of 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Criminalizing Child Behavior at School

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Criminalizing Child Behavior at School

Criminalizing Child Behavior at School

An audiotape and police report has surfaced about an incident that occurred at Van Asselt Elementary School earlier this year.   Here's the story as the Seattle Times reported it.

Basically, a teacher was threatened with bodily harm by a 5th grade student who is less than 5 feet tall - only threatened but it appears he leaned into her using foul language -  after she denied his request to leave the classroom.  There was no weapon involved. It ended up with her calling the police after he was sent to the office.

Before anything else I want to make clear - the teacher should not have called the police.  I'll say that again - she should not have called the police.  That the student was African-American (as is established in the police report) makes it much worse because of the disproportionality that we know exists for black children.  The teacher was a white woman.

I note that this story has gone national, with the story appearing in Education Week.  I also see that the Seattle Times - which has no stated policy on when they allow comments and when they don't - has no comment section for this story.

I also want to make clear that we are going to have a civil conversation.  Since this situation is so deeply upsetting, I am going to turn on comment moderation to keep things civil.

There are calls for this teacher to be fired.  That might seem an easy call but she is part of a union.

But the Number One action that should happen - and that means before school starts - is that every single person who works in the CONTINUE READING: Seattle Schools Community Forum: Criminalizing Child Behavior at School

How to spot a student loan scam - CBS News

How to spot a student loan scam - CBS News

How to spot a student loan scam

As many families deal with college financing this summer, the Better Business Bureau has reported an increase in fraudulent texts, emails and voicemails about loans.

The Federal Trade Commission says consumers who suspect that they're the target of a student loan scam should file a complaint at ftc.gov and contact their lenders directly. But to keep consumers from ever falling victim in the first place, CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger joined "CBS This Morning" Tuesday to share tips on how to spot a scam. 

"These calls, or texts, or emails, they are promising to eradicate your student loans," Schlesinger said. "If you are sitting there with $30,000 worth of loans, that is going to catch your attention." She added that the scammers are especially active this time of year, targeting students who have just graduated or parents who are preparing to send their kids to college in the fall.

A lot of the calls reference "changes" between the Obama administration's rules and a new set of rules, Schlesinger said, and try to get you to pay money to get them to release the loans. If a consumer does call back, the scammers ask for credit card information and upfront payments.

"Paying any upfront fee – or even a monthly fee – is illegal," Schlesinger said. "That is your biggest red flag. You don't have to pay any more to change the terms of your student loans, you can do that directly with the government."

The scammers often also try to get you to divulge your federal student aid ID number, Schlesinger said. If they have the number, they can go into the federal system and change things – and they can also use it to further swindle you during future calls.

If you do fall victim to one of these scams, "take a deep breath," Schlesinger said. "There are a lot of places you're going to have to do some work: the FTC complaint line, so ftc.gov, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education... you [also] must go into the system and change that ID number that you have been assigned, because you don't want anyone messing with your file."

That doesn't mean that every loan service is a scam. "There are certainly private student lenders who are willing to look at your total loan portfolio, and perhaps refinance them… but they would never call like that, and they'll also never charge you an upfront fee," Schlesinger said.

If you are looking to consolidate or change the terms of your loan, Schlesinger said, you can go to the federal aid website. But she warned that changing the terms could mean paying for a longer time, and paying more interest – so it's worth being "very careful."

For a list of legitimate companies the Department of Education works with click here.

How to spot a student loan scam - CBS News

5 Ways to Spot a Student Loan Scam — NerdWallet - https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/?p=157811 by @briannamcscribe on @NerdWallet

Avoiding Loan Scams | Federal Student Aid - https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/node/920




Better Business Bureau’s top five scams targeting college students | News | parkerpioneer.net - https://www.parkerpioneer.net/news/article_9dfeebe4-b551-11e9-abcd-73cc644f694e.html

Schools Matter: If #LAUSD's Nick Melvoin did engage in acts of moral turpitude…

Schools Matter: If #LAUSD's Nick Melvoin did engage in acts of moral turpitude…

If #LAUSD's Nick Melvoin did engage in acts of moral turpitude…

The esteemed Professor Diane Ravitch wrote about one of the newest revelations on the Michael Kolhaas dot org website. She writes:

"He says that [Nick] Melvoin as a member of the board was privy to the LAUSD legal strategy in its perennial struggle with the charter lobby. He says that Melvoin shared this strategy with the charter lobby."

This is very serious.

I don’t have time to look into this closely, but if this Nick Melvoin—an attorney—was sharing confidential information with the opposing party in litigation, then he has likely violated a number of The State Bar of California’s Rules of Professional Conduct. At issue are several parts of Rule 8.4 Misconduct (e.g. 8.4(a), 8.4(c), 8.4(e)), Rule 1.11, and others—particularly those governing conflicts of interest and the duties of honesty and candor.

I strongly encourage people to visit How to File a Complaint Against an Attorney on The State Bar of California’s CONTINUE READING: Schools Matter: If #LAUSD's Nick Melvoin did engage in acts of moral turpitude…

Our Children Are Not Safe - LA Progressive

Our Children Are Not Safe - LA Progressive

Our Children Are Not Safe

I made the mistake of reading the El Paso shooter’s manifesto.

At one point he concedes that an immigrant is someone willing to do a job no US citizen is willing to do, but then he immediately engages in a screed about the contempt he holds for the children of immigrants.

And upon reading those words all of the nightmarish images trapped behind my eyelids spilled forth.

Families bombarded with chants of “build that wall!” And “send them back!”

I made the mistake of reading the El Paso shooter’s manifesto.

Families torn apart by detention and deportation.

Children without toys or books, in soiled clothes, stunted developmentally, scarred psychologically, tortured physically and CONTINUE READING: Our Children Are Not Safe - LA Progressive

The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About Gun Control | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About Gun Control | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

THE BEST RESOURCES FOR TEACHING & LEARNING ABOUT GUN CONTROL

The shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton this week have, once again, brought the issue of gun violence (and white supremacy terrorism – see resources on racism here.) to public attention again.

I have many lists lists of resources related to gun violence here.

I have previously posted one on gun control, but it’s time to post a completely revised and updated one.

Here are some resources to begin with:

Guns In America is from TIME.

How To Reduce Shootings is from The NY Times.

After Parkland, a New Surge in State Gun Control Laws is from The NY Times.

Gun Deaths in America is from Five Thirty Eight.

Gun Violence, Gun Control, Gun Rights: Where We Go from Here (with Lesson Plan) is from KQED.

The Lowdown | Gun Violence, Gun Control, Gun Rights: Where We Go from Here Lesson Plan is from PBS.

Gun laws in the US, state by state – interactive is from The Guardian.

Where Congress Stands on Guns is from ProPublica.

Let’s talk about guns, but stop stereotyping the mentally ill is from MSNBC.

CONTINUE READING: The Best Resources For Teaching & Learning About Gun Control | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Peter Greene: The College Chase Is Pushing Parents Over The Line

The College Chase Is Pushing Parents Over The Line

The College Chase Is Pushing Parents Over The Line

It has become one of the recurring themes in the news--the lengths that parents will go to in order to get their child into college.

The big story was the college admissions scandal that uncovered the rich and famous bribing and lying to get their children into college. The scandal touched a national nerve, as witnessed that just three days ago, Vanity Fair published yet another story about the scandal. The unveiling of the story has not so much awakened national shock as it has elicited a national recognition. Not so much "I can't believe anyone would do such a thing" as "Well, sure. Let me tell you about these parents I know..."

The idea that college may not be the best destination for everyone is not new. The Chronicle of Higher Education was asking "Are too many students going to college" a decade ago. There has been are newed push for career and technical education. But here is still steady drumbeat for students to go to college, even as college has become extraordinarily expensive. The days in which a summer minimum wage job could pay for college are long, long gone. That means that parents are concerned both about college admissions and scholarships.

Teachers have been watching the effects of this pressure for decades. High school, and even elementary teachers, can tell stories. The CONTINUE READING: The College Chase Is Pushing Parents Over The Line

Mitchell Robinson: When do "not-for-profit" and "for-profit" mean the same thing? Welcome to Michigan's dystopian charter schools | Eclectablog

When do "not-for-profit" and "for-profit" mean the same thing? Welcome to Michigan's dystopian charter schools | Eclectablog

When do “not-for-profit” and “for-profit” mean the same thing? Welcome to Michigan’s dystopian charter schools

Michigan, allegedly, does not permit for-profit charter schools.

And yet one of the largest for-profit charter management corporations, National Heritage Academies (NHA), is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And they take the “for profit” part seriously:

NHA funds itself partly by charging its schools high rates. For example, the New York Daily News reported that NHA owned property in Brooklyn and charged one of its charter schools there $2.3 million to rent the property, which is $1 million over market rate. This means that the extra $1 million dollars goes to NHA instead of the individual charter schools.

So, how does a school claim to be a “non-profit” operation when they are diverting public tax dollars to a “for-profit” enterprise like NHA?

While only one state, Arizona, currently allows for-profit charter schools to operate in their state (California just passed a law against for-profit charters on July 1, 2019), in the upside-down world of corporate education reform the differences between for-profit and not-for-profit charter schools are so negligible as to be nonexistent.

How could this be?

Because not-for-profit charter schools in many states, including Michigan, are free to contract with for-profit charter management companies for HR services, custodial services, and a number of other personnel and facilities needs.

Taking full advantage of this seeming “loophole” in funding arrangements, NHA operates 50 charter schools in Michigan, with many of these schools claiming “not-for-profit” status even as CONTINUE READING: When do "not-for-profit" and "for-profit" mean the same thing? Welcome to Michigan's dystopian charter schools | Eclectablog

Education Insider for August 4, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for August 4, 2019 - Education Votes

Education Insider for August 4, 2019

Keep telling your senators to push for action on bills that help families and educators

As the Senate begins its August recess, the list of House-passed bills awaiting action just grows longer. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is proud of his refusal even to consider legislation with broad-based support—in the House and among the American people—and smilingly describes himself as the Grim Reaper. More than 100 House-passed bills are languishing in the Senate’s legislative graveyard, including five that are NEA priorities. Email your senators—again, if you’ve already done so—and tell them to push for action on the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act, the Equality Act, the Raise the Wage Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the Background Check Expansion Act.

---

Senate passes bipartisan budget bill that prevents severe cuts in education funding

By a vote of 67-28, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (H.R. 3877) already passed by the House. The bill lifts the budget caps introduced in 2011 and prevents severe cuts in non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. In 2020 alone, the budget caps would have resulted in automatic cuts of $55 billion to education and other NDD programs. Now, NEA is urging senators to support significant investments in education like those in the House-passed education appropriations bill—particularly in programs serving the students most in need such as Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The House bill also increases funding for community schools and takes steps to make college more affordable. Email your senators and tell them to push for increases like those in the House education appropriations bill.

---

FCC wants to make changes that would negatively affect rural students, schools, and libraries

Rural schools and libraries could find it harder to access the internet if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has its way. A proposed rulepublished earlier this month combines funding for the E-Rate and Rural Health Care programs, forcing them to compete for a single pot of money—not what Congress intended when it passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that established them as separate programs with distinct purposes. E-Rate has played a vital role in connecting nearly 100 percent of our schools and public libraries to the internet. Today, E-Rate ensures that schools stay connected with high-speed broadband, providing access to information and services critical to 21st century teaching and learning. In comments on the proposed rule, NEA urges the FCC to “immediately terminate this rulemaking and abandon these harmful proposals.”

---

Reach out while Congress is back home

Both the House and the Senate have adjourned until after Labor Day. Please take the opportunity to reach out to your senators and representative while they’re back home. Continue to weigh in via NEA’s Action Center as well!

---

Cheers and Jeers

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Senate version of the Improving Training for School Food Service Workers Act (S. 2331) to clarify that training for school food workers should be scheduled during paid working hours, offered in person when appropriate, incorporate hands-on training techniques, and provided at no cost to employees.

House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) is pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to come clean about how many children could lose free school meals under a proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on July 24, that changes eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). USDA staff estimated that the rule “will result in more than 500,000 children losing their automatic eligibility for free schools meals” during a briefing for committee staff, Scott wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Max Rose (D-NY), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Abby Finkenauer (D-IA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) for forming the College Affordability Caucus to address the student debt crisis and related issues.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) voted to advance the Secure and Protect Act of 2019 (S. 1494), which would gut the Flores settlement agreement’s protections for children. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Graham jammed the bill through the committee with no amendments, breaking several Senate rules in the process.

Education Insider for August 4, 2019 - Education Votes

Teachers' Role In The Puerto Rico Uprising | PopularResistance.Org

Teachers' Role In The Puerto Rico Uprising | PopularResistance.Org

TEACHERS’ ROLE IN THE PUERTO RICO UPRISING

Rosello Funneled Money To Charter Schools In Puerto Rico.

The Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico and the AFT demanded that federal recovery money restore public education on the island instead.

As Americans lament the current sorry state of democracy in Washington, D.C., government by the will of the people was very much alive recently in Puerto Rico, where a prolonged general strike that virtually shut down the island forced Governor Ricardo Rosselló to announce his resignation.

During the strike, huge crowds mobbed the governor’s mansion around the clock, closed highways in the capital of San Juan, and persuaded some presidential candidates in the Democratic Party to join in calling for the governor to resign.

Protesters had multiple grievances, but a “final straw” seems to have been a series of text messages leaked to an independent news organization in which the governor and his closest associates insulted political opponents and allies, members of the news media, and the LGBTQ community. Another notable target for insults in the text exchanges were the island’s public school teachers, whom the governor’s chief financial officer at the time, Christian Sobrino, called “terrorists.” (Sobrino and other top officials participating in the chats have resigned since the messages went public.)

Puerto Rico’s school teachers have been a constant nemesis to the Rosselló regime, and the island’s largest teachers’ union, the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (AMPR), united with other labor unions on the island to organize the general strike. Randi Weingarten, the leader of the American Federation of Teachers, which AMPR is an affiliate of, joined in the calls for Rosselló’s resignation.

The teachers’ disagreements with Governor Rosselló started long before the release of the insulting texts.

“People in Puerto Rico felt betrayed by the governor,” says Myrna Ortiz-Castillo in a phone conversation. Ortiz-Castillo is a third-grade teacher and serves as finance secretary at the AMPR local in Bayamon. She insists, “He is supposed to be the person CONTINUE READING: Teachers' Role In The Puerto Rico Uprising | PopularResistance.Org

Peter Greene: Four Truths About For-Profit Charter Schools - Progressive.org

Four Truths About For-Profit Charter Schools - Progressive.org

Four Truths About For-Profit Charter Schools

2020 Democratic candidates taking a stand against for-profit charters is like bravely standing up in opposition to yeti attacks.

Democratic candidates have been steering away from supporting charter schools. For a further-left candidate like Bernie Sanders, a call to endcharter expansion is not far removed from his other anti-corporate positions. But even longtime education reformers like Cory Booker are backpedaling, talking about an end to “raiding public schools.” Others, like Pete Buttigieg, are trying to repeat the Hillary Clinton line of 2016, some variation of “I’m against for-profit charters, but nonprofit charter schools are just fine.” Since this is again part of the conversation, let’s review the ways in which this is a distinction without a difference.

1.  For-Profit Charter Schools Are Rarer Than Unicorns

At the moment, Arizona is the only state in the country that allows for-profit charter schools. There were more, but for-profit charters established themselves as a target for regulation early on. Plus, it seemed obvious to many people that a for-profit charter school pitted the financial interests of its owners against the educational interests of its students. Taking a stand against for-profit charters is like standing up against yeti attacks.

So if for-profits are so rare, then why does a twitter search on #AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal turn up so many examples of fraud and misbehavior?

2. It’s Pretty Easy to Profit from a Nonprofit Charter

Let’s say I want to get into the charter business. I set up Nonprofit Elementary School. Then I immediately outsource all the operational functions—teaching, cleaning, cafeteria—to a for-profit company. So-called “sweeps contracts” allowed charters to pass on almost every cent of collected tax dollars to a for-profit management company. In some cases, the for-profit can actually end up owning the assets purchased for the school with public dollars. In particularly striking cases, like that of Baker Mitchell in North Carolina, one individual can own the charter school and the companies serving the charter. In Florida, CONTINUE READING: Four Truths About For-Profit Charter Schools - Progressive.org

Justice John Paul Stevens on Gun Control | Diane Ravitch's blog

Justice John Paul Stevens on Gun Control | Diane Ravitch's blog

Justice John Paul Stevens on Gun Control

I posted this originally on March 2, 2018, after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a series of essays about the Supreme Court and its treatment of important issues like gun control. The Washington Post excerpted one of them here, in 2014.

“Following the massacre of grammar-school children in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, high-powered weapons have been used to kill innocent victims in more senseless public incidents. Those killings, however, are only a fragment of the total harm caused by the misuse of firearms. Each year, more than 30,000 people die in the United States in firearm-related incidents. Many of those deaths involve handguns.

“The adoption of rules that will lessen the number of those incidents should be a matter of primary concern to both federal and state legislators. Legislatures are in a far better position than judges to assess the wisdom of such rules and to evaluate the costs and benefits that rule changes can be expected to produce. It is those legislators, rather than federal judges, who should make the decisions that will determine what kinds of firearms should be available to private citizens, and when and how they may be used. Constitutional provisions that curtail the legislative power to govern in this area unquestionably do more harm than good.

“The first 10 amendments to the Constitution placed limits on the powers of the new federal government. Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of the Second Amendment, which provides that “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

“For more than 200 years following the adoption of that CONTINUE READING: Justice John Paul Stevens on Gun Control | Diane Ravitch's blog

The Not-so-Secret War against OUR Public Schools | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

The Not-so-Secret War against OUR Public Schools | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé

The Not-so-Secret War against OUR Public Schools

About eight years ago my wife heard Diane Ravitch being interviewed on NPR. When Anchee got home, she told me I’d be interested, and I’ve been following Diane’s blog since and have read a few of her books on the war being waged against our public schools.

Make no mistake about this issue; it is a greed-based war of power and corruption that mostly old, white billionaires and corporations managed by old, white CEO’s launched against the people’s public schools long before I learned about Diane Ravitch.

I was a public school teacher for thirty years working in Rowland Unified School District in Southern California from 1975 to 2005. The two schools I taught at the longest were Giano Intermediate and Nogales High Schoolin La Puente, California. After President Ronald Reagan’s flawed and misleading “A Nation at Risk” report was released in 1983, it didn’t take long for news and opinion pieces to start appearing in the media blaming public school teachers for literally everything that was allegedly wrong in the United States, including poverty and the number of Americans in Prison.

National Public Radio reported, “The idea that American schools were worse just wasn’t true,” says James Guthrie, an education professor at Lynn University in Florida. Guthrie published a scholarly article in 2004 titled “A Nation At Risk Revisited: Did ‘Wrong’ Reasoning Result in ‘Right’ Results? At What Cost?” … “I looked at it every which way,” he says now. The authors in 1983 “were hell-bent on proving that schools were bad. They cooked the books to get what they wanted.”

Did you know that one of the leaders in this war against our public schools is Bill Gates? But, he isn’t alone. There are others like Eli Broad, the Wal-Mart Walton family, the Koch brothers, and Betsy DeVos. Taking a page from Hitler’s Nazi propaganda machine, these greedy, power-hungry enemies of our public education system created a misleading phrase and have relentlessly repeated it through the years. That phrase was the school  continue reading: The Not-so-Secret War against OUR Public Schools | Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé