Discount Chocolate Edition (2/16)
Well, sure-- what else does one do after Valentines Day except shop for deep discounts on chocolate! While you're eating irresponsibly, here's some reading from the week. Remember to share.
School choice detrimental to public schools
A guest op-ed from a state senator in the Sun Prairie Star suggesting that choice is bad for Wisconsin.
Privatizing Oakland Schools
The Black Agenda Report takes a look back at Eli Broad's plan to privatize Oakland schools. It's not pretty.
Coaching and Parent Politics
From a blog called Friday Night Wives, a look at the problems parents are causing in the world of school sports coaching.
Crumbling Schools, Dismal Outcomes
Alexander v. Holmes was supposed to change everything for Southern black children; this article looks at how that isn't happen.
Ed department calls charter backers "desperate"
Matt Barnum at Chalkbeat outlines the blowback from charter boosters who, it turns out, can be just as ugly to their former allies as they are to the rest of us. They are not taking the new budget proposal well, and the ed department is not saying "sorry."
Male teachers of color make a difference at Memphis schools
USA today looks at how-- well, the headline tells it. A good look at how the isue is playing out in one city.
"If we don't learn from this one, shame on us"
The story of a Detroit charter that was set up to aio. A good explanation of why charter advocates ought to want regulation, and how DeVos-backed policies hurt students in Michigan.
The neoliberal misrepresentation of Indianapolis K-12 history
At Cloaking Inequity, a rebuttal to the recent reformy tale of Indianapolis ed history.
The temptation of training teachers
Adam Laats has another history lesson, looking at the history of the notion that we can train teachers in one effective teaching system and all will be well.
NJ Charters can't have it both ways
Charter history includes a lot of time spent in courtrooms arguing that charters are whatever it's most expedient for them to be. (Public? Private? Which one lets us kep our money?) Jersey Jazzman looks at the most recent version of the Both Ways argument, currently being put forward by New Jersey charters
Redefining reading achievement creates problems
Nancy Bailey looks at the odd assertion that, these days, children need to be taught to read sooner. For some reason.
The effective classroom. Do you know it when you see it?
Nancy Flanagan looks at the notion that just looking at a classroom will tell you everything you need to know about it.
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Discount Chocolate Edition (2/16)
CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION
FEB 11
FEB 10
FEB 09
FEB 08
FEB 06
FEB 05
FEB 03
FEB 02
CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/
The Trump/DeVos budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, released Feb. 10, would slash education funding by $6.1 billion—8.4 percent—compared to the amount Congress provided this year. Other budget lowlights include cutting and replacing key education programs with a block grant, robbing public schools of resources with yet another voucher scheme, and ending public service loan forgiveness. 
If the Trump administration gets its way, NEA state affiliates will soon be subject to 60-year-old regulations that until now have applied only to private sector unions. Alice O’Brien, NEA’s general counsel, explains how a proposed U.S. Department of Labor rule would force state affiliates to focus on complex, burdensome financial reporting requirements instead of fulfilling their core mission: advocating for students and educators. 
The Senate is expected to vote later this month on a House-passed resolution to undo the latest misguided policy of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos: making it more difficult for students defrauded by unscrupulous colleges to cancel their federal student loan debt. Scheduled to take effect July 1, 2020, DeVos’ new “borrower defense rule” would put the burden of proof on students, impose unreasonable time limits, and end automatic loan relief for students whose colleges close before they graduate. Veterans, older students, students of color, students with disabilities, and students who are the first in their families to attend college are among those most likely to be affected.