Parents Across America Webinar: The Journey for Justice in Education with Karran Harper-Royal | Parents Across America

Parents Across America Webinar: The Journey for Justice in Education with Karran Harper-Royal | Parents Across America:

Parents Across America Webinar: The Journey for Justice in Education with Karran Harper-Royal

by DoraTaylor

Parents Across America Webinar

The Journey for Justice

With New Orleans Parent and Education Advocate Karran Harper-Royal

March 3, 2013

1:00 PM PST

Free tickets available through Eventbrite.

With moderator Dora Taylor.

Journey for Justice is an emerging alliance currently comprised of grassroots community-based organizations from 18 cities across the United States representing constituencies of youth, parents, and inter-generational organizations who have been impacted by the closing, turnaround, and charter expansion of schools in communities of color. The goal of the Journey for Justice alliance is to bring the voice of those directly impacted by discriminatory school actions into the debate about the direction for public education in the 21st century and to promote sustainable, community-driven school reform for all school districts across the country.

“We don’t just have failing schools; we have a failing system of epidemic proportions. Community and parent voices have been removed from the process and the privatization has removed all checks and balances so that the system is no longer accountable to the public,” said Karran Harper-Royal, parent with Parents Across America, New Orleans. “The answer is not charter schools, the answer is fortifying traditional public schools through a community-driven process.”

The First Report on the Journey to Justice

Students, parents and advocacy representatives from 18 major United States cities testified today at a community hearing before Arne Duncan and the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. on the devastating impact and civil rights violations resulting from the unchecked closings and turnarounds of schools serving predominantly low-income, students of color.

Approximately 500 students, parents and community representatives, impacted or at risk of impact by school closings, represented 18 cities from across the country at the hearing including: Ambler, Pa.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Detroit; District of Columbia; Eupora, Miss.; Hartford, Conn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Newark; New Orleans; New York; Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia; and Wichita, Kan.

“Cities across the country are experiencing the racially disparate effects of top-down, neglectful actions by the closing and turnaround of schools serving low-income students of color. The devastating impact of these actions has only been tolerated because of the race and class of the communities affected,” said Reverend Krista Alston, parent leader with the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization in Chicago. “Hundreds of youth and parents are making their voices heard today and it is crucial that policymakers hear the issues, recognize the discriminatory and destabilizing impact these closings and turnarounds have brought about and take immediate steps to put a moratorium on school closings to stop the divestment in our youth.”

As publicity for the hearing intensified, cities including Philadelphia, New York and Detroit accelerated activities and debates to address the devastating impact and civil rights violations resulting from school actions. On Thursday, January 24th, 2013, the Philadelphia City Council voted 14-2 in favor of Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS) nonbinding resolution for a one-year moratorium on school closings. Debate heated up in New York City as representatives took the issue to the state capitol and Detroit confirmed that the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights had launched a probe into its Title VI Civil Rights complaint.

Demands of the U.S. Department of Education include a moratorium on school closings until a new process can be implemented nationally, the implementation of a sustainable, community-driven school improvement process as national policy, and a meeting with President Obama so that he may hear directly from his constituents about the devastating impact and civil rights violations the current policy is perpetuating.

The community hearing was followed by a candlelight vigil at the Martin Luther King Memorial to continue to raise the voices of those impacted by the destabilization and sabotage of education in working and low-income communities of color.

FEDERAL POLICY CAUSED CURRENT ISSUES

Despite current research showing that closing public schools does not improve test scores or graduation rates, closings have continued primarily because current federal Race To The Top policy has incentivized the closing and turnaround of schools by supporting privatization.

However, the federally incentivized privatization of schools has resulted in unchecked actions and processes where the primary fallout is on those in low-income communities of color including:

Displacement and destabilization of children and neighborhoods already in potentially vulnerable situations;

* Significant negative impacts to learning;

* Increased violence and threats of physical harm as a result of re-assignment; and,

* Destabilization at schools receiving the displaced students.

* “For low-income, minority students the only outcome within the current strategy is failure.

By choosing not to make an investment in these students and schools, this creates an unstable environment that leads to significant learning setbacks,” said O’Cynthia Williams, parent leader with NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, New York. “The current federal Race To The Top policy has essentially doomed these students because of their demographic.”

SCHOOL CLOSING & TURNAROUND PROCESS VIOLATES CIVIL RIGHTS

More than 10 cities have filed, or are in the process of filing, Title VI Civil Rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, citing the closing of schools and the criteria and methods for administering those actions as discriminatory toward low-income, minority communities.

Representatives from cities filing Title VI Civil Rights complaints testified at the hearing on the civil rights violations and the destabilization of their children and their communities. Case studies were presented illustrating the lack of transparent criteria and processes used for school closing and turnaround actions, specifically, the disproportionate number of actions affecting minority students compared with overall student populations, the history of neglect and deprivation of resources and the sabotage of performing schools serving predominantly minority communities to force situations for closure.

“The closing of schools is going unchecked and is a veiled attempt to destabilize communities and speed gentrification of poor neighborhoods,” said Cheyenne Walker, student from Keep the Vote/NO Takeover, Detroit. “These are serious actions to take without understanding the impact in a community and this ongoing neglect and disregard sends a message that these students are not worthy of investment and that educating low-income African American students is less important than the education of their peers. This is a civil rights issue.”

CALL FOR COMMUNITY-DRIVEN PROCESS FOR SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION

In the process of closing these schools, districts have implemented an opaque process that fails to reveal actual criteria for school actions and, at the same time, has eliminated the voice of the people in the communities directly impacted. Parent and community input and proposals for school improvement have been ignored as neighborhood schools are brokered to private companies. This elimination of community-driven school improvement has eradicated the role of minority, low-income parents in protecting the interests of their children’s educational opportunity.

Additionally, the current issues with the elimination of voice and accountability to the public do not improve by turning schools over to private brokers. A recent study from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University cited that many of the authorizers for charter schools fail to provide accountability for these schools and thus fail to deliver on the original charter promise of accountability for flexibility.

“We don’t just have failing schools; we have a failing system of epidemic proportions. Community and parent voices have been removed from the process and the privatization has removed all checks and balances so that the system is no longer accountable to the public,” said Karran Harper-Royal, parent with Parents Across America, New Orleans. “The answer is not charter schools, the answer is fortifying traditional public schools through a community-driven process.”

The hundreds of participants in the hearing have called on the Department of Education to issue a moratorium on school closings until a new national policy has been formed.

“To have effective and sustainable school transformation the people directly impacted need to help shape what that change looks like,” said Kayla Oates, student from Fannie Lou Hamer Center in Eupora, Miss. “It is now up to policy-makers at the federal level to do the right thing, put a stop to these discriminatory actions and create a national policy where those of us who are directly impacted can help reform our schools and our education. This is about our lives and our future.”

In the wake of the hearing, the 18 participating cities, along with additional cities in the process of organizing, have formed a national movement to unite students, parents and advocacy organizations across the country to spread awareness of mass school closings and their impact on targeted communities.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/parents-america-webinar-journey-justice-education-karran-harper-royal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=parents-america-webinar-journey-justice-education-karran-harper-royal#sthash.aXtX6Ak2.dpuf

Common Core Unpreparedness: Teachers Say They Are Not Ready | Truth in American Education

Common Core Unpreparedness: Teachers Say They Are Not Ready | Truth in American Education:

Common Core Unpreparedness: Teachers Say They Are Not Ready

by Shane Vander Hart

Education Week conducted a survey of teachers and nearly half of all teachers say they are unprepared to teach the Common Core, especially to disadvantaged students:

The study by the EPE Research Center, an arm of Editorial Projects in Education, the publisher ofEducation Week, found deep wells of concern among teachers about their readiness to meet the challenges posed by the common core in English/language arts and mathematics.

“Teachers are under tremendous pressure,” said Lisa Dickinson, an assistant director of educational issues for the American Federation of Teachers, which conducts several common-core training programs in school districts each month. “The new standards do require a major shift in instruction. And the needed supports really aren’t there.”

Teachers in adopting states were asked to rate their preparedness on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very prepared” and 1 “not at all prepared.” When asked how prepared they were to teach the 

UPDATE: What should we do about #edweek + College Board to revamp SAT, from @washingtonpost – @ the chalk face

College Board to revamp SAT, from @washingtonpost – @ the chalk face:

What should we do about #edweek ?

by Timothy D. Slekar

Yesterday Diane Ravitch said,

I have come to the conclusion that the Common Core standards effort is fundamentally flawed by the process with which they have been foisted upon the nation.
The Common Core standards have been adopted in 46 states and the District of Columbia without any field test. They are being imposed on the children of this nation despite the fact that no one has any idea how they will affect students, teachers, or schools. We are a nation of guinea pigs, almost all trying an unknown new program at the same time.

Later Diane posted a letter from NY principal Carol Burris.  Carol said,

I am coming to the same conclusion regarding the CCSS despite the fact that I have advocated college readiness for students during my entire professional career. The CCSS, as they are being implemented, are not about college readiness for all–they are about a testing system that will sort 

On WTDY the other day, talked Walker’s new #edreform proposals, opposite of free-market

by Chalk Face, PhD

Tim and I recorded an impromptu At the Chalk Face episode on WTDY in Madison yesterday. Tim was in Madison on business, I was at home in my pajamas. I’m guessing it will be broadcast this Saturday to keep up with current events in Wisconsin, like Gov. Walker’s new proposals for education. That’s what we discussed, like this for example.

Governor Walker is also announcing today that, in addition to new and expanded educational choice options, his proposed 2013-15 biennial budget will provide per-pupil funding increases for students in private school choice and independent charter school programs.  Per-pupil funding for private school choice and independent charter school students has remained unchanged for many years, and low-income choice students even saw their funding cut in the 2009-11 biennial budget.

This is where the free-market arguments for faith-based education reforms go completely wrong. In a market with perfect competition, you’d have three potential operators-public, private, and charter-with the same amount of funding. So, let’s say they all get roughly $10,000 PPE. The market would then decide, with its magic invisible hand, what provider offers the best education for the money, or $10K PPE.
But in Walker’s system, it’s not a free-market, not in the slightest. He is picking winners and losers here. He is

Great article in emPower on #HSST by friend and colleague Denisha Jones, Go Hoosiers!

by Chalk Face, PhD

Fighting High Stakes Testing. Enjoy.

College Board to revamp SAT, from @washingtonpost

by Chalk Face, PhD

As the title says. But this, to justify:

As soon as Coleman became president of the College Board in October, he said the SAT could be improved. Before joining the board, he helped write the Common Core standards in English for kindergarten through grade 12 that have been adopted by 46 states and the District. The new standards will be rolled out by 2014.

You have someone at both ends of K-12. Is that not a conflict of interest, or a homogenization of what is and is not important in education? Here’s a man who spearheaded an effort to transform K-12 curriculum, to standardize it. Then, the same individual is going to transform one of the two central gatekeepers to higher education. If schools buckle to the pressure to only prepare students for college readiness, or at least Coleman’s

Nice sentiment from AFT, but…

by Chalk Face, PhD

Great quote. I totally agree. But what will AFT do about its support of the CCSS, which is diverting millions of dollars from supporting low-income schools to tests. a

A Moratorium on School Closings Makes Sense « City School Stories

A Moratorium on School Closings Makes Sense « City School Stories:

A Moratorium on School Closings Makes Sense

by fmurphy

A School’s Value Cannot Be So Easily Calculated
Originally posted on the Notebook Blog by Frank Murphy on Feb 26 2013

Posted in Commentary

Superintendent William Hite has changed a flawed school-closings plan, and the revision was an encouraging sign. Hearing the concerns and suggestions of individual school communities was exactly what Dr. Hite needed to do in order to demonstrate that he is pursuing a school reform agenda responsive to the best interests and needs of city neighborhoods. It is time that the members of the School Reform Commission do the same.
To fully grasp the impact that a school has on the children it serves, one must first understand the neighborhood where those children live. A school is not an island. It is part of the social web of a community. With schools operating in economically distressed areas, they can, and often do, serve as beacons of hope. They are lighthouses, so they shouldn’t be judged in the same way as other institutions.
Meade Elementary at 18th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue in North Philadelphia, a school where I was once principal, acts as a vital part of the community. That did not stop District officials from putting it on the original closure list. Although it was subsequently taken off the list, we still aren’t sure how officials calculated its value in reversing their decision. So let me do that for you.
At present, Meade provides good instruction, offers a wide array of other services like parent outreach programs 

John Kuhn: Our Schools are Touchstones, and We Will Stand and Fight to Save Them - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

John Kuhn: Our Schools are Touchstones, and We Will Stand and Fight to Save Them - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

John Kuhn: Our Schools are Touchstones, and We Will Stand and Fight to Save Them

from Living in Dialogue by Anthony Cody

Two years ago we met superintendent John Kuhn, as a result of his booming speech at the Save Our Schools rally in the great state of Texas. Last Saturday, once again there were 10,000 people marching on behalf of public schools, brought together by Save Texas Schools. Once again, John Kuhn delivered. Please watch the video to hear his words.
John Kuhn:

Popout

I want to say something to teachers that our lawmakers should have said long ago: Thank You! Thank you for keeping our children safe. Thank you for drying their tears when they scrape their knees, for cheering on our junior high basketball players, for going up to your room on Sundays to get ready to teach my kids on Monday.Gracias por cuidarlos! As a dad, I thank you.
Coaches, thank you for fixing little girls' softball swings and for showing our boys how to tie their ties. Thank you

Schools Matter: Shelby County Schools Slashing, But Charter Plans Remain Untouched and Invisible

Schools Matter: Shelby County Schools Slashing, But Charter Plans Remain Untouched and Invisible:

Shelby County Schools Slashing, But Charter Plans Remain Untouched and Invisible

by Jim Horn

The Gates Plan for Memphis schools is proving to be more expensive than Bill fans ever dreamed, and apparently the superintendents of city and county plan to push forward without public knowledge or discussion among themselves, preferring instead to present a phony-baloney budget to the County Commission that they know will not survive.   Apparently, the Board is not eager to take responsibility for increasing class sizes or for slashing employees, benefits, libraries, etc.:

Despite a proposed 170 central office employee layoffs, five school closings, changes in the teacher-pupil ratios in the schools, a reduction in the district’s contribution to employee health insurance premiums and other cost-cutting measures, however, a preliminary 2014 general fund budget for the unified district was still short by $83 million.

Meanwhile, no one at the School Board is talking about the primary reason there is a projected deficit of $200 

Modern School: Lies and Damned Lies: U.S. Test Scores Actually Near the Top

Modern School: Lies and Damned Lies: U.S. Test Scores Actually Near the Top:

Lies and Damned Lies: U.S. Test Scores Actually Near the Top

by Michael Dunn

For years, free market education reformers have claimed that the U.S. public education system is broken—some have even called it a threat to our national security (Reagan’s Nation at Riskreport, 1983). They have used this “crisis” to justify everything from No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top to attacks on teachers’ seniority, tenure and due process rights. It has led to a decade of accountability and testing mania that has eaten up instructional time and replaced activities that foster creativity and critical thinking with rote memorization. It has taken away billions of dollars that could have been used for teacher training, recruitment and remuneration, and transferred it into the pockets of test and textbook publishers, private charter school operators, and online curriculum producers.

The claims that America’s schools are failing are grossly exaggerated, if not utterly false. For example, the number of students attempting and passing SAT and AP exams has been 

UPDATE: Urgent. Call NOW + More on Monday’s meet up with Biss and Nekritz. More on Bizarro World. | Fred Klonsky

More on Monday’s meet up with Biss and Nekritz. More on Bizarro World. | Fred Klonsky:

The in box. Madigan is impatient. Make the call NOW. 888-412-6570.

by Fred Klonsky

John Dillon’s blog:

Madigan’s Impatient 

 

 

In “The Lottery,” a chilling fable by Shirley Jackson, a town politician guides his  small town citizenry to find a single townsperson to stone to death in order to assure the safety of the village for another year.  If you’re a pensioner, I don’t recommend you read this anywhere near sharp objects.

 

If you have not read it: Spoiler Alert!  After the village has trod the carefully managed and orchestrated procedure, targeting the poor soul Tessie Hutchinson, the village manager exhorts them to hurry up the sacrifice.  “All right, Folks,” Mr. Summers said. “Let’s finish quickly.”

( http://www.americanliterature.com/author/shirley-jackson/short-story/the-lottery )

 

They have Mr. Summers. 

 

We have Mr. Madigan. 

 

Speaker of the House Madigan has presided over the theft of billions of dollars owed the retirement systems of the public sector unions for over thirty years.  He’s been party to it for forty 

GOP’s Cross and Dem’s Nekritz file a new pension bill. It just gets worse and worse.

by Fred Klonsky

From CapitolFax:

* House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Rep. Elaine Nekritz have filed a new pension reform bill, HB 3411. Video of the press conference, viaBlueRoomStream.com, is here.
It appears to have a sorta kinda cost shift in it. From the press release…
• Creates Tier 3 defined benefit/defined contribution plan for SURS and TRS members who start work after January 1, 2014. Local Employers and employees will be responsible for funding these plans.

The in box. Urgent. Call NOW. Madigan is calling the pension cutting bills this week. Urgent. Call NOW.

by Fred Klonsky

From the IEA:

On Tuesday, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan announced there will be a “weekly order of business” session of the Illinois House this week, focused on pensions.
This means there will be floor debate on legislative amendments that, if passed into law, would reduce pension benefits for participants in TRS, SURS and the other state pension systems.
The floor debate and voting, which are expected to begin on Thursday, will focus on areas of great concern to IEA members in the affected pension systems;

• The annual cost of living adjustment (COLA)
• The retirement age for active members of the state pension systems
• Employee contributions to the retirement systems, as well other pension-impacting proposals offered by members of the House.

This is a serious attack on your pension– Call NOW! 
IEA members are urged to contact their state representatives immediately to stop these pension-cutting proposals from getting out of the House.
Tell your representative that the only proposals they should support are those calling for guaranteed funding of the state pension systems and for a dedicated source of revenue for pensions, such as pension obligation bonds.
Also, be sure to tell your representative that the employee contributions must not be increased more than two percentage points.
Make the call NOW! Call  888-412-6570 to be connected to your state representative. Print out this information so you can refer to it when you get your representative on the phone,
Floor debate is expected to begin Thursday.  So make the call now.
Be sure to check the IEA website  regularly for updates.

Make the call NOW!

More on Monday’s meet up with Biss and Nekritz. More on Bizarro World.

by Fred Klonsky

Illinois Representative Elaine Nekritz.
I have already posted about Monday night’s pension forum at Niles North High School sponsored by the North Suburban Teachers Union of the IFT.
The political cynicism and pension ignorance of the legislative participants (Biss, Nekritz, Fine and Gabel) were on display for all to see.
Representative Fine, a newbie, said nothing.
Gabel, who must have thought she was too cool for school, made some lame comment about something she heard from somebody in TRS about amortization. That was her singular contribution to the discussion.  Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability immediately shot down.
Both Gabel and Nekritz tried to suggest that the TRS board agreed with them, but the TRS board has taken no

Pat Fioretto. Just to be clear.

by Fred Klonsky

Pat Fioretto, a member of the Park Ridge school board, wrote and accused me of being less than accurate in my post yesterday about the current state of employee – management relations in District 64.
Just to be clear.
He suggested I had made judgments about the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement between the PREA and the board.
I didn’t.
He suggested I had made judgments about the current content of bargaining between the PRTAA and the board.
I didn’t.
He suggested I called the board scumbags.
I didn’t.
He said I called them Scrooges.
That’s true. 
What they are offering the non-union secretaries, health assistants and custodians qualifies as Scrooge-like.
He claims collective bargaining “always works.”
While I am a die-hard defender of the right to collective bargaining, I make no claim that it always works. Not for the employees anyway.
It is better than the alternative.
What is the alternative?
Exactly what the current District 64 Board of Education is doing to the secretaries, health assistants and custodians.
Giving them a take-it-or-leave-it compensation package.
Tell me Pat. If you believe collective bargaining always works, why don’t you and your colleagues engage in collective bargaining with all your district employees?

The in box. Park Ridge board member Pat Fioretto takes exception to my post.

by Fred Klonsky

Good afternoon, Fred.
I always have enjoyed reading your posts. I thought , overall, you have been fair with your recitation of facts. Indeed, on most issues I agree with you. However, I think you missed some important facts on this one. You really should talk to the groups who have been impacted by the lowlife BOE. Or, perhaps you can review the video which should be posted on the District’s website shortly. I also would be willing to talk to you or anyone else who might care enough to learn the facts. Most of the individuals who stood in solidarity and spoke (eloquently) to the Board last night, chose to leave before the BOE addressed the matter. You know how to get in touch with me if you wish. I normally do not post comments on blogs, I prefer talking to people–like you and I have done in the past. However, since I am now being accused of being one of those “scumbags,” as referred to by one of your friends, I felt compelled to offer another version of the facts. The PRTAA 

Arts Education, Chinese Food and Matt Yglesias’ Tale of Non Sequiturs:

Arts Education, Chinese Food and Matt Yglesias’ Tale of Non Sequiturs

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 BY M.D. ANDERSON LEAVE A COMMENT

You know the saying: one is a coincidence, two is a pattern, three makes you a certified glutton for punishment.

For months I’ve watched Slate writer Matt Yglesias flail away, writing on education issues. First, he tried to pit teachers unions against taxpayers in a smug piece on the Chicago Teachers Union strike. Then he analyzed the phony StudentsFirst report card, treating it like an objective measure of state education policy rather than an ideological wish list of Michelle Rhee‘s pet priorities.

It was at that point that I started counting the days until Dana Goldstein, one of the best writers anywhere on education policy, completes her book and reclaims Slate’s education beat. After reading Yglesias’ latest big brain idea, Dana’s return can’t come soon enough.

How do you respond to a blog penned by someone who writes this, comparing neighborhood public schools to being forced to eat at the nearest restaurant?

In the best case scenario you’d have a neighborhood that wasn’t 

Leaked Broad School Closure Guide

1344-schoolclosureguide:

Leaked Broad School Closure Guide 

1344-schoolclosureguide by John Kugler

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 2-27-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

This Florida Teacher Is Running for School Board

by dianerav

Michael Weston got fed up with being bullied.
So he did what he had to do: he is running for the school board.
Good luck, Michael!
We will be rooting for you.
Hi Diane. I am the Hillsborough County, Florida, teacher you featured in your post “Vote for this man for School Board”. Many thanks for that! I want to let you, and any others interested in our fight against Bill Gates, know that my Campaign website, http://michaelweston.org/ is now up and running. There is a volunteer page for an locals wishing to help out, and of course a donate page for anyone, anywhere, who wishes to help us kick Gates 

Florida: Not Enough Money to Pay for Common Core

by dianerav

Not many people in the U.S. are as enthusiastic about the Common Core as Jeb Bush and his far-right Chiefs for Change.
One of his chiefs is Tony Bennett, who lost his superintendency in Indiana because of a popular revolt against the Common Core.
No problem, Bennett landed on his feet in Florida (thanks, Jeb!) where he could continue the battle for Common Core. Why is Jeb Bush so excited about Comon Core? He told business leaders last year hat he expects the

Heckuva Job, Reformers!

by dianerav

There is this motley group of people and organizations in the U.S. who call themselves “reformers.” Few of them are educators. Most are corporate leaders, pundits, think tank thinkers, or rightwing politicos.
They say they want to “fix” education but their main goals seem to be to belittle the people who actually work in schools and to close down public schools in high-poverty districts.
These self-named reformers (did GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz write their playbook?) have been in charge of federal policy since the passage of No Child Left Behind. President Barack Obama built his Race to the Top 

Diane in the Evening 2-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Illinois: No Class Size Limits for Special Education? by dianerav Please don’t say this is school “reform.” The state superintendent of education in Illinois wants to remove class size limits for special education. Time to ask why the richest nation on earth can’t afford to provide a free and appropriate education for children with the greatest needs. Today! Three Million Page Views! by dianerav Today, this blog passed the three million page view marks. That represents the number of times someone has read a post ... more »