Big news! Steven Singer has received the Ken Goodman In Defense of Good Teaching Award! | College of Education - University of Arizona

The Kenneth S. Goodman "In Defense of Good Teaching" Award | College of Education - University of Arizona

Big news! Steven Singer has received the Ken Goodman In Defense of Good Teaching Award!  

Big news! Steven Singer has received the Ken Goodman In Defense of Good Teaching Award! Steve will go to Tucson in April for the celebration. Bravo Steve!Denny Taylor - CEO & Founder at Garn Press

 

Check Out Steven Singers's Gadfly on the Wall Blog - 

https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/tag/gadfly-on-the-wall/ 

Steven Singer on Tweeter @StevenSinger3

Gadfly On the Wall: A Public School Teacher Speaks Out on Racism and Reform — Garn Press -
 https://www.garnpress.com/news/gadfly-on-the-wall-a-public-school-teacher-speaks-out-on-racism-and-reform

                  Kenneth S. Goodman

This award was established to honor professional educators who have stood up to laws, policies, and practices in an extraordinary way and have set an example of well-grounded, humanistic, holistic education.

The Kenneth S. Goodman “In Defense of Good Teaching Award” is solely sponsored by contributions.

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Unexpected Spring Edition (1/12)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Unexpected Spring Edition (1/12)

Unexpected Spring Edition (1/12)

It is unseasonably warm here, even as some parts of the country deal with a fresh helping of winter. Either way, we've got things to read. Remember-- if the piece strikes you as an important one, go to the original location for the post or article and share it through your social media. It's all about the amplification.

Putting a Price Tag on Public Schools  
Wendy Lecker doesn't write enough, so this piece from the Stamford Advocate is a welcome look at the legacy and future of Eli Broad's do-it-yourself superintendent school.

3D TV Tells You Everything You Need To Know About This Decade's Tech
This Wired piece isn't about education, except that it is. Tag line: "You don't need special glasses to see what it looks like when smart people run out of ideas." Tech that's all about what you want to make, while steadfastly ignoring what the users actually want.

Bad Tech-- Pearson Wants Teacher's Jobs
Alan Singer at the Daily Kos about the problems with AI replacements for actual humans.

Laziness Does Not Exist
Yup. A psychology professor explains why not.

Bernie Sanders: End High Stakes Testing 
This was the week that Sanders plugged that one hole in his education platform And USA Today let him write an op-ed to do it.

Hoboken NJ Charter Schools 
Nobody is better than Jersey Jazzman for breaking down actual facts and data and rendering it all intelligible. This look at Hoboken tells us a lot about much of the charter universe.

Top Reads of 2019
I can resist a good reading list, and Nancy Flanagan has an excellent one.

John White Resigns 
And the indispensable Mercedes Schneider is here to tell him goodbye, and good riddance.

Pressuring Parents To Teach Their Kindergartners To Read
Nancy Bailey and another disturbing trend among parents of the littles.

Mike Feinberg's New Home
Feinberg was booted from KIPP over allegations of harassment and abuse, but that didn't end his career in the ed reform biz. Matt Barnum at Chalkbeat has the story.

Bugs In Teachers Ears? What We Should Be Doing Instead.
Yes, Nancy Flanagan again. When EdWeek trotted out bug-in-ear coaching again, lots of shade was thrown, but Flanagan is smart enough to take it a step further and ask what the answer to ear-bugging should be.

Homeowners Fed Up
Up in Wisconsin, Up North News reports that taxpayers are getting tired of paying for two school systems, only one of which has any accountability.

The Rural Conundrum
Coincidentally, Jennifer Berkshire was just in rural Wisconsin, where even the red parts are still voting to raise their own taxes for schools. What's going on?

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Unexpected Spring Edition (1/12)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE 

NH: No, Again, To Federal Charter Money

35by Peter Greene / 1d

A month ago, the Granite State's Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee said, "No, thanks" to an offer of $46 million from the feds to be used in doubling the number of New Hampshire charter schools from 28 to 55. The money was to come from the federal Charter School Program, a grant program that has come under fire due to a recent pair of studies showing massive waste and fraud by recipients of CSP m

To A Teacher At The End Of A Discouraging Week

500+by Peter Greene / 1d

It just sucks. You spend the time and effort (and maybe money) to create a lesson that you hope will be engaging and provide your students an exciting, maybe even fun, break from routine. And it bombs. More than once. Not only do your students not appreciate it, but they bitch about it. Sure, these are students who generally bitch and moan about everything (that's partly why you went an extra mile

JAN 10

The Foundation of Real Writing

54by Peter Greene / 1d

As I've mentioned before, we have the poor fortune to live in a golden age of bad writing instruction. There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from the rise of high-stakes testing to some less-than-wonderful traditions to the widespread discomfort with writing instruction of many classroom teachers. The last is probably the worst issue facing writing instruction. It's a curious thing; you

JAN 08

DeVos and Department May Face Increased Fine

200+by Peter Greene / 3d

Back in October, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her department were fined $100,000 for contempt of court regarding their non-compliance with a court order to stop collecting loans from students bilked by a chain of fraudulent for-profit colleges. Turns out that price tag could get a little steeper. In October, the department said that, oopsies, they had continued to collect from about 16,0

JAN 07

How Tech Killed Tractors, And Why Teachers Should Care

100+by Peter Greene / 5d

If you don't spend a lot of time around farms and farmers, you might have missed this story, which just made its way into legit journalistic coverage via the Star Tribune of Minnesota-- there is an exploding market for forty-year-old tractors . Adam Belz reports on auction bidding wars over old tractors. Is it because of tractor nostalgia? Nope-- and if you think about your car or music system or

JAN 06

NC: Whitewashing The Charter Report

81by Peter Greene / 6d

North Carolin's 2020 Annual Charter Schools Report has caused some consternation among members of the state's Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB). They've seen the first draft and requested a rewrite, because, well, members of the public might become confused by the information that suggests Bad Things about North Carolina's charter industry. This is not the first time the issue has come up. Bac

JAN 05

ICYMI: Off A Great New Year's Start Edition (1/5)

by Peter Greene / 7d

Marking the new year always strikes me as a bit odd-- we draw an arbitrary line in the chronological sand, then get all excited about examining it. Humans are fun. In the meantime, this week's list is loaded with some exceptionally good readings. Remember to share the ons that speak to you. Amplifying voices i

CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

Register Now for NPE Action Conference! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Register Now for NPE Action Conference! | Diane Ravitch's blog

Register Now for NPE Action Conference!

It is almost time for the NPE/NPE Action Conference and we need you there. If you have not registered already, please do so today here.

We need you at the conference to engage with leaders of the Red for Ed movement so that we can keep the momentum going in 2020. Thanks to Red for Ed, our nation is renewing its faith in our teachers. Our communities understand the importance of increased funding for our public schools. Teacher leaders stood up and their communities stood with them. Learn what they did to earn their communities’ support and trust.

Learn how the rise of charter schools, especially schools controlled by charter chains, have exploited the communities they were supposed to serve by robbing parents of voice and creating school churn for children–a poor substitute for the well-resourced community schools they deserve.

You will hear from the experts on topics including privatization, grassroots organizing, high-stakes testing, and community schools. And you will learn how you can fight programs like Teach for America that are funded by billionaires who prefer teacher churn to stable school faculties that make long-term commitments to the communities and schools they serve.

You can find the entire conference schedule here.

And of course we want you there to celebrate Diane’s new book, joining us for a special celebration on Saturday evening, open to all who attend the conference.

Don’t wait. Enrollment is limited and there are only a handful of discounted rooms left in the conference hotel.

Register today to join friends of public education from across the nation on March 28-29 for our sixth annual conference in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia.

Register Now for NPE Action Conference! | Diane Ravitch's blog

EdAction in Congress January 12, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress January 12, 2020 - Education Votes

EdAction in Congress January 12, 2020

Tell your representatives to support the College Affordability Act

The College Affordability Act (H.R. 4674), a comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), has cleared the House Education and Labor Committee and is headed to the floor. NEA supports the bill and successfully advocated for expanding eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness to include adjunct and contingent faculty—a huge victory. Tell your representative to support H.R. 4674 and your senators that students and educators need a comprehensive HEA reauthorization. TAKE ACTION

Tell Congress we need to rebuild America’s schools

It’s been nearly a year since NEA President Lily Eskelsen García helped call attention to the pressing need to modernize public schools and the Rebuild America’s Schools Act (S. 266/H.R. 865) passed out of the House Education and Labor Committee. The average public school building is 44 years old. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the condition of America’s 100,000 public school buildings an overall grade of D+. We need action now! Tell your representatives to support the Rebuild America’s Schools Act. TAKE ACTION

Cheers and Jeers

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act to give salaried employees in traditional office environments reasonable break times and private places to pump breast milk. NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said, “The medical community for decades has encouraged women to breastfeed because breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for most infants. This legislation will go a long way toward supporting breastfeeding moms and ensuring that they have break time for expressing milk and a private, secure place in which to do it.”

EdAction in Congress January 12, 2020 - Education Votes

Black Families, Be Grateful for What You Have and Don't Ask for More. - Philly's 7th Ward

Black Families, Be Grateful for What You Have and Don't Ask for More. - Philly's 7th Ward

BLACK FAMILIES, BE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE AND DON’T ASK FOR MORE.

From presidential candidates to affluent parents to public school principals, I am weary and wary of anyone trying to convince Black and Brown folks that fewer school options better serve their children’s advancement and liberation. The only thing these families should have less of are bad schools.

This morning, I read Nimet Eren’s piece in the Philadelphia Notebook. While I am sure Principal Eren is a strong advocate and principal, her piece has several pretty wild claims that don’t jive with the experiences of many Black families. However, her claims are very consistent with the mostly white teachers unions here and around the country. 

Parents want [only] what’s best for their own children. [Only] Teachers want what’s best for all children.

Eren makes the assumption that Black communities aren’t filled with adults who love and care for their community’s children and youth. I’ve been surrounded by Black parents and advocates who have consistently, over the course of 50 plus years, been staunch advocates for other people’s children, as CONTINUE READING: Black Families, Be Grateful for What You Have and Don't Ask for More. - Philly's 7th Ward

My Book Tour Dates for SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

My Book Tour Dates for SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

My Book Tour Dates for SLAYING GOLIATH

This is the current (and evolving) list of my speaking engagements in connection with the publication of my new book: SLAYING GOLIATH: THE PASSIONATE RESISTANCE TO PRIVATIZATION AND THE FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

I am trying not to wear myself out. Ten years ago, I hopped from city to city like a mountain goat.

But now I am 81 years old, and my knees are worn out. I have to pace myself.

Come out and say hello if you are in one of these cities.

SLAYING GOLIATH is a pro-public education, pro-teacher, pro-social justice, pro-common-good book. It is a book meant to give hope and encouragement to those who stand up to the billionaires and fight the status quo of choice and high-stakes testing. It contains inspiring stories of parents, students, teachers, and civil rights activists who took action against the powerful and won. At some of these events, the bookstore charges a modest fee to cover its expenses. Most are free. 

My Book Tour Dates for SLAYING GOLIATH | Diane Ravitch's blog

Jersey Jazzman: Correcting the Facts About NJ Charter Schools and My Research

Jersey Jazzman: Correcting the Facts About NJ Charter Schools and My Research

Correcting the Facts About NJ Charter Schools and My Research

I'm trying to keep this short because there are many other things that deserve my attention. But I feel compelled to respond to mischaracterizations of my work when they are directly affecting public policy, especially in my home state.

Last month, Newark Public Schools superintendent Roger León called for the NJ Education Commissioner, Lamont Repollet, to deny the renewals of four charter schools in the Newark city limits.

I'm going to hold off expressing any opinions about these specific renewals, or León's arguments about their impacts on the finances of NPS. Suffice to say that there is plenty of empirical evidence that small school districts -- which are, for all intents and purposes, what NJ charter schools are -- are not as efficient as larger ones. There is reason to believe, therefore, that small charter schools with redundant systems of administration can produce fiscal pressures on hosting public school districts, which have the obligation to fund charters. My own work in New Jersey shows how this pressure manifests, although the issue is complex. Again, we'll save a discussion of all this for later.

For now: León's letters to the commissioner refer to several pieces of research on charter schools, including a brief I wrote with Julia Sass Rubin: New Jersey Charter Schools: A Data-Driven View - 2018 Update, Part I (2018). Here's how León characterized our work:

Research conducted at the Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning & Policy shows that the proportion of special CONTINUE READING: Jersey Jazzman: Correcting the Facts About NJ Charter Schools and My Research