KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all

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

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG 

A site to discuss better education for all

Carol Burris: New York City Public Schools Should Re-Open

by dianeravitch / 40min

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education and a retired high school principal and a grandmother, argues in this article that public schools in New York City should reopen. She speaks for herself, not for the Network for Public Education. NPE issued a statement calling for additional federal funds to enable the safe reopening of schools. NPE put the emphasis on the neces

YESTERDAY

Florida: Judge Lifts Injunction on Opening schools

by dianeravitch / 13h

The Florida Education Association was disappointed in latest court decision: TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Education Association (FEA) was disappointed today that the First District Court of Appeal reinstated a stay on the temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s emergency order. We look forward to continuing to press our case in court for the sake of students, educators

Stephen Colbert Reviews the RNC Convention That He Didn’t Watch

by dianeravitch / 19h

Stephen Colbert and I have one thing in common. We did not watch the RNC. He explains why. My explanation is that I can’t waste my time watching liars whose lies go uncontested.

Today is the Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice, Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

by dianeravitch / 20h

I was there with my husband Richard. Dick was a close friend of Bayard Rustin, one of the day’s organizers. We took the train To Washington. We met with Dick’s law school classmate, Clifford Alexander, who was Secretary of the Army in LBJ’s administration. (Cliff was the father of Michelle Alexander, who later became a celebrated writer.) I was eager to join the march. Dick and I left Cliff in hi

St. Louis: Charter Founder Admits $2.4 Million Fraud

58by dianeravitch / 21h

The founder and headmaster of a charter school in St. Louis admitted to skimming $2.4 million in public funding by inflating enrollment. This is to be expected when private companies obtain public money without accountability or transparency. The former head of a failed charter school has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges in a scheme that cost taxpayers $2.4 million. Michael Malone, wh

Bill Becker: America’s Air Is Still Deadly, and Trump Is Making It Worse

36by dianeravitch / 22h

Climate expert Bill Becker writes here about the state of America’s air, and Trump’s rollback of regulations to improve its quality. He writes: Our air still is not as clean and healthy as it could be, or should be. The most recent “State of the Air” report from the American Lung Association (ALA) includes the sobering fact that nearly half of the American people live in places where it is still

South Carolina: Teachers Fearful About Returning for In-Person Instruction

27by dianeravitch / 23h

Lucas Smolcic Larson writes in the Island Packet about the views of teachers concerning the return to school. The S.C. McClatchy newspapers asked educators if they felt ready to return to school during the coronavirus pandemic. Over 250 teachers, librarians, coaches and other educators from every corner of the state responded to the survey. The vast majority work at public schools, with about two

How the Trump Organization Made Big $$ by Renting Rooms to Secret Service

30by dianeravitch / 1d

David Farenthold of the Washington Post follows how government money winds up in Trump’s bank account. Has there ever been a president who profited so handsomely from his office? The following article is excerpted in part. Farenthold writes: The Secret Service had asked for a room close to the president. But Mar-a-Lago said it was too late. The room was booked. Would agents like a room across the

AUG 27

How Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin Took Control of the USPS

82by dianeravitch / 1d

The New York Times published a detailed investigation that explained how the Trump administration, acting through the Treasury Secretary, took control of the United States Postal Service and politicized it by selecting an unqualified Trump donor as Postmaster General. This is par for the course, as Trump has put unqualified Trump loyalists in charge of every agency. WASHINGTON — In early February

Bill Gates, The New York Times, and Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

37by dianeravitch / 1d

Leonie Haimson writes here about Bill Gates and his successful efforts to buy positive media coverage for himself and the projects he funds. She read the excellent investigative research on Gates’ strategic funding of influential media outlets by Tim Schwab. She writes: Reporter Tim Schwab just had a must-read piece in the Columbia Journalism Review about how the Gates Foundation provides grants

John Thompson: Oklahoma Politicians Mumbling about the Coronavirus

100+by dianeravitch / 1d

John Thompson is a historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma. He writes: The McAlester Public Schools are in the Oklahoma county where COVID is now #1 in the state in per capita COVID infections. A week before the scheduled opening, McAlester reports five positives linked to football. But its schools will still provide in-person instruction. This is just one of 50 schools with infections on the e

Gary Rubenstein Gives You Some Math Lessons

20by dianeravitch / 1d

You have often read Gary Rubinstein’s sage insights into the hoaxes associated with “miracle schools,” charter schools, and Tesch for America. But his fist love is teaching mathematics. That is also his profession. So, in this time when face-to-face instruction is imperiled, Gary has prepared some lessons to share with parents, teachers, and students. With this pandemic going on and so many peopl

AUG 26

Dana Milbank: Trump and His Bevy of Crooks

33by dianeravitch / 2d

Dabs Milbank is a regular opinion writer for the Washington Post. In this post , he reminds us of the numerous Trump allies who have been arrested or indicted or convicted or pardoned. So much for “Draining the Swamp.” What a joke! Trump’s Swamp is bigger and badder than anyone else’s. He writes: As Donald Trump’s chief strategist in 2016, Steve Bannon helped shape Trump’s “America First” campaig

Mercedes Schneider: What Matters Most when Teaching During a Pandemic

21by dianeravitch / 2d

Mercedes Schneider is preparing for the opening of her high school in Louisiana. Teaching during a global pandemic is a twilight zone, where everyone is groping to do the right thing. She is aware of the difficulty of planning when there is so much uncertainty. Yet that’s what educators do: they plan. She’s aware of the contradictions that will make every day challlenging. The one constant that s

Why George Conway Turned Against Trump

by dianeravitch / 2d

Kellyanne Conway has been a bulldog for Trump. She recently announced that she was leaving her job to take care of her family. Her husband George, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, is stepping back from his work there but said on Twitter that he supports its efforts, “Passionately.” The apparent cause of the Conway withdrawals from politics is their daughter Claudia, who has been posting her d

Bill Phillis: Vouchers Fail in Ohio

100+by dianeravitch / 2d

Bill Phillis, founder of the Ohio Coalition for Adequacy and Equity and a vocal supporter of public schools, writes here about an investigation of vouchers by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The report echoed the findings of academic research: students in public schools get higher test scores than those in voucher schools. Vouchers don’t “save” children. They don’t “save” black children. Ohio officials

Nancy Bailey: How to Force DeVos into Retirement on One of Her Ten Yachts

by dianeravitch / 3d

Nancy Bailey writes that the best way to fire Betsy DeVos is to vote for Biden and Harris. She writes: If you’re Democrat or Republican, and you care about public education, vote for V.P. Joe Biden to remove Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from the U.S. Department of Education! Four more years of Betsy DeVos means the end of public education. With a President Biden, public schools have a chance o

AUG 25

Trump at the Trump Convention: “12 More Years”

by dianeravitch / 3d

Trump has often expressed his opposition to the term limits for the presidency. He envies his friend Kim in North Korea, who is president for life. He envies his friends Vlad Putin, who just extended his president by 16 years, to 2036. Trump doesn’t see why the law or the Constitution should affect the longevity of his tenure in office, which he hopes to make eternal and then pass on to his proge

The Most Moving Speech at the Democratic National Convention

by dianeravitch / 3d

Almost every reviewer of the Democratic National Convention agreed that this was the most moving speech of all. Thirteen-year-old Brayden Harrington met Joe Biden at a town hall in New Hampshire. When Biden learned that the boy stutters, he asked to meet privately afterwards. He told him how he had overcome his stutter and gave him some helpful,advice. Above all, he gave him hope and the confiden

Mike Klonsky: Biden and Harris Didn’t Say Much About Education But the Platform Does

21by dianeravitch / 3d

Mike Klonsky notes that education was barely mentioned in the convention speeches of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But he points out that the platform contains some strong language in the right direction on charters, vouchers, for-profit businesses, and testing. On testing, for example, it says: The evidence from nearly two decades of education reforms that hinge on standardized test scores shows

New York Times: How Trump Destroyed the C.I.A.

by dianeravitch / 3d

This article in the New York Times Magazine b Robert Draper confirms our worst suspicions about Trump. He has used his authority to eliminate any top official in the Central Intelligence Agency who is not personally loyal to him. He has suppressed any independent analysis of Russian efforts to interfere in our elections. His actions border on treason. In early July of last year, the first draft o

The Dismal GOP Roll Call of States

by dianeravitch / 3d

Robin Givhan of the Washington Post writes about the roll call of the states at the Trump convention. The roll call on opening day of the Republican National Convention was sleepy. Low energy. And sad. This American ritual, during which each state pledges its delegates to the winning candidate, was bereft of charm. It was technically stultifying. It was also devoid of Black people and sorely lack

Boston Globe: The Takeaway from the Trump National Convention

37by dianeravitch / 3d

James Pindell wrote in the Boston Globe about the Republican Convention. For the Republicans, America is a country on the verge of collapse because there is rioting in the cities, impending doom in the suburbs, and some concerted effort in the rural areas to prevent people from going to church or owning a gun. As one speaker put it: “Trump is the bodyguard of western civilization.” The Republican

An Open Letter to Biden and Harris from Washington State’s Superintendent of Public Instruction

400+by dianeravitch / 4d

Chris Reykdal, state superintendent of public instruction in Washington State, published this excellent letter to the Democratic candidates. It overflows with wisdom and common sense. An Open Letter to the Biden-Harris Ticket: Mr. Vice President and Senator Harris, there is so much at stake with this year’s presidential election, including the very foundation of our country’s democracy – the futu

Rabbi in St. Louis: The McCloskeys Are Bullies

200+by dianeravitch / 4d

The Republican Party—that is, the Trumps—made heroes of Patricia and Mark McCloskey, who had menaced peaceful marchers on their St. Louis Street with guns. The McCloskey property abuts a reform synagogue. Its rabbi, Susan Talve, spoke up and said the McCloskeys are litigious bullies. In 2013, the synagogue placed beehives along the wall to produce honey for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. One

AUG 24

Melania Cuts Down Jackie Kennedy’s White House Rose Garden

by dianeravitch / 4d

Jackie Kennedy, wife of President John F. Kennedy, redesigned the White House Rose Garden. Jackie also redecorates the White House. She was an icon of taste and style. Melania Trump decided to renovate the Rose Garden. Her efforts have been received with dismay. What was once a splash of color is now monochromatic white. Some may like this cold aesthetic. Many don’t.

Florida: Judge Blocks State Order to Open Schools

99by dianeravitch / 4d

In Florida, state officials ordered schools across the state to open fully without regard to safety or local officials. The Florida Education Association sued, and a judge blocked them reopening. A Florida judge Monday granted a temporary injunction against the state’s order requiring school districts to reopen schools during the novel coronavirus pandemic, saying in a harshly worded decision tha

Reuters: Business Partner of Falwells Claims He Had Relationship with the Powerful Evangelicals

by dianeravitch / 4d

This article in Reuters reports that a young man says he had an affair for several years with the wife of Jerry Falwell, Jr., president-on-leave of Liberty University, which was founded by his famous father. He told Reuters that Falwell often watched as he had relations with Falwell’s wife. Ah, the hypocrisy of those who claim to be morally superior. The strict honor code of Liberty University fo

Politico: What Obama Really Felt About Biden

by dianeravitch / 4d

Alex Thompson of Politico wrote a fascinating article about the tensions between Obama and Biden. During his eight years as Vice-President, Biden was loyal to Obama. Biden thought he was the inevitable successor to Obama. But Obama preferred Hillary to Joe. Hillary and Barack were both Ivy League, both cerebral, both cut from the same cloth. Biden is an old school politician. He’s not Ivy League.

Bob Shepherd Opens the Republican National Convention

by dianeravitch / 4d

Today is the day when the Republican Party convenes to renominate Donald Trump as President of the United States. Trump has so thoroughly conquered the Grand Old Party that some call it “the Trump Party.” No member dare challenges his decisions, statements or policies, for fear that a humiliating tweet will end his or her career. A once-proud party that trumpeted its devotion to principles like f

McSweeney’s: The Schedule of Speakers at the Republican Convention

by dianeravitch / 4d

This post in McSweeney’s was inspired by the news that the gun-toting couple from Missouri who threatened BLM protestors have been invited to speak at the Republican Convention. Here is the first day: Monday, August 24 9:00 pm The Creatures From Beyond the Mist scream the national anthem. 9:05 pm Morgon, Devourer of Children, discusses his proposal to drastically decrease education spending. 9:20

Michael Hynes Pays Tribute to the Late Sir Ken Robinson

47by dianeravitch / 5d

Dr. Michael Hynes is the Superintendent of the Port Washington School District in New York and a friend of Sir Ken Robinson. The Legacy and Impact of Sir Ken Robinson The world lost an inspiring and incredible human-being on August 21, 2020. Sir Ken Robinson, the gifted author and educator, and one of the world’s leading thinkers made an incredible impact on everyone he met. You may know him from

AUG 23

Politico: The Trump National Convention

by dianeravitch / 5d

Politico writes this morning that there is no “Republican” national convention, no focus on the party. All eyes on Trump. He will break tradition by speaking all four nights. Traditionally, the party’s presidential nominee only speaks one night. But this GOP convention will be more like Trump placing the crown on his own head than it being bestowed by the party.

Jack Hassard: Most Americans Can Vote By Mail

by dianeravitch / 5d

Jack Hassard writes that 75% of Americans can vote by mail. Although your vote will be counted if it is postmarked by 7:00 pm on November 3, I urge you to vote earlier or, if possible, vote in person. I intend to vote in person, no matter how long the lines. Trump will try to drag out the counting of the votes, in order to throw doubt on the outcome and discredit the election. Unless there is an

Arthur Goldstein: NYC Schools Can’t Open Unless They Are Safe

400+by dianeravitch / 5d

Arthur Goldstein, a veteran New York City high school teacher, warns that New York City public schoools cannot open unless they are safe for students and staff. He wrote an open letter to staff at his school. The signs and portents of a strike by the city’s United Federation of Teachers are looming in the background. He writes, in part, Every time I read someone advocating opening buildings, they

Thomas Ultican: Charter Schools Are a Failed Experiment

96by dianeravitch / 5d

Thomas Ultican, who retired last year as a teacher of advanced math and physics in California, has studied school reform in many districts. He concludes that charter schools, created supposedly to improve education, especially for the neediest children, is a failed experiment. He reviews the origins of the charter school idea and shows how AFT leader Albert Shanker became disillusioned. The premi

Tim Schwab: Bill &Melinda Gates Are Buying Favorable Coverage in the Media

62by dianeravitch / 6d

It’s rare indeed to read a critical article about how Bill & Melinda Gates use their vast wealth to burnish their image as the greatest benefactors of all time. This article by freelance journalist Tim Schwab, published in the Columbia Journalism Review, documents how the Gates have purchased a larger-than-life portrayal of themselves by strategic investments in the media. With rare exceptions, t

Trump’s Sister Told Mary Trump that Donald is a Liar with “No Principles”

23by dianeravitch / 6d

The Washington Post published an explosive story based on audios supplied by Donald Trump’s sister, Maryanne, a retired federal judge. Maryanne Trump Barry was serving as a federal judge when she heard her brother, President Trump, suggest on Fox News, “maybe I’ll have to put her at the border” amid a wave of refugees entering the United States. At the time, children were being separated from the

AUG 22

BREAKING: Federal Judge Issues Injunction Against DeVos’ Coronavirus Aid Rule

500+by dianeravitch / 6d

A federal judge blocked Betsy DeVos’ rule requiring states to split their coronavirus aid with private schools , regardless of need or student poverty levels. For DeVos, the CARES Act was yet another opportunity to divert money from public schools to private schools. Andrew Ujifusa of Education Week reports: A federal judge has ruled against U.S. Department of Education in a lawsuit over how much

Charles Pierce: Joe Biden’s Big Gamble

by dianeravitch / 6d

Charles Pierce is a blogger at Esquire whose sensibility I share. I always enjoy what he writes. He wrote about the Democratic Convention that Joe Biden was making a big gamble. He was betting that the American people would choose to vote for decency, for democracy, for science. That they would vote for light over darkness, for love over hate. But will they? Biden is leading in all the polls, but

Missouri Lowers Standards for Substitute Teachers

100+by dianeravitch / 6d

In an amazingly alarming move, the state of Missouri plans to lower standards for substitute teachers. One superintendent of a rural district has floated the idea of bringing in National Guard units as substitute teachers. Matt Davis, superintendent of Eldon, Missouri, schools, made the suggestion to Gov. Mike Parson in a July meeting, according to a report in the Fulton Sun. On Tuesday, the Miss

Biden and Harris May Forge a New Path on Education

100+by dianeravitch / 6d

Evie Blad of Education Week writes that a Biden-Harris administration may forge a new path on education issues. They have pledged to increase funding, regulate charters, and back away from standardized testing. They also have pledged to support the right to collective bargaining. This heartens advocates of public education, but frightens the corporate reformers who have controlled education for 2

Emily Harris: Have Faith in Tulsa Public Schools

by dianeravitch / 6d

Emily Harris teaches A.P. U.S. History at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa. She writes here about her faith in the public schools. She is concerned that some students have enrolled in the EPIC virtual charter school, which has a horrible record and operates for profit. I am a teacher at Will Rogers High School. My husband, John, is a teacher at Nathan Hale High School. We are proud our 1-year-old

Bill McKibben: Don’t Let Trump Kill the Postal Service

by dianeravitch / 7d

Bill McKibben writes frequently about the environment, climate change, and rural life for the New Yorker.. Here he writes that Trump’s attack on the Postal Service Threatens democracy. The irony, McKibben points out, is that rural 

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

The Post Office, the Election and Social Media—Four Lessons | Teacher in a strange land

The Post Office, the Election and Social Media—Four Lessons | Teacher in a strange land

The Post Office, the Election and Social Media—Four Lessons

This isn’t a blog about Our Beloved Post Office, or DeJoy the Impaler or even How to Vote. At its core, my ultimate point here is that Americans are terrible—godawful—media critics. And, consequently, our students–whom we frequently, jokingly label our on-site tech support–are floating in a sea of toxic TikTok spin and political sludge with no paddles and no anchor.
While young people are often fearlessly intuitive about using social media tools and platforms, the wisdom that comes from analysis, evaluation, fact-checking–and simply being mature—is not necessarily in place. True, I have, in 30+ years of teaching, met 7th graders I would trust with my life. But one look at 17-year old Kyle Rittenhouse’s social media presence ought to give anyone pause.

On the other hand—well, here’s a story about a viral FB post and adults who ought to know better.

This narrative is just one illustration of how misinformation is spread. I have my own theories about how this particular blot on the truth may have happened, but no proof.

It’s kind of like what’s happened to the Post Office this summer—moving from citizens’ early observations about the mail being slow, to a loose accumulation of facts and accusations, with people becoming more informed (or misinformed).

This week, we moved into Congressional hearings that have convinced many people that a critical, constitutionally mandated service is being deliberately destroyed by a guy who knows bupkis about delivering the mail and has an economic stake in shutting it all down.

Many people–but not all people, of course. Because others have read memes and posts and seen tweets that say the USPS has always been second-rate, and it’s time to CONTINUE READING: The Post Office, the Election and Social Media—Four Lessons | Teacher in a strange land

Leadership committed to excellence and social justice | Cloaking Inequity

Leadership committed to excellence and social justice | Cloaking Inequity

LEADERSHIP COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The semester has started! In the midst of twin pandemics of racism and Covid-19, we must lead and be committed to excellence and social justice. We must demand that is of our educational leaders and our policymakers! I recently gave an opening address to the faculty and staff at the UK College of Education. Here are the thoughts I shared:

I have been honored to serve the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the College of Education for nearly 14 months.

Dickens once said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity”

On the one hand, according to US News, we are ranked the #1 College of Education in Kentucky. We are top 30 among Publics— our highest ranking in the history of the college. We are also ranked top 20 Online Education Masters Degrees and UK College of Education Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Counselor Education leads the way with a top 10 departmental ranking.

Despite the best of times in term of recognition by our peers and the education community, we are dealing with the twin pandemics of Covid and racism.

To address twin pandemics of Covid and racism that rose to the fore that past several months, our courage, our tenacity, our intellectual curiosity, and our compassion has come to the fore.

Back in 2011, I remember buying and watching the movie Contagion. We are living in a real life plot that is eerily similar to a movie. It’s an unprecedented time not only for our political leaders, but also our academic leaders.

We spent the entire summer in design with remodeling our buildings, modifying our courses and physically reconfiguring classrooms.

Your college leaders spent many, many hours seeking to safely and responsibly open this week based on university guidelines. We are doing our best to follow their guidelines to ensure physical and emotional safety for our community.

Our values demand that we keep our community safe and we have sought to innovate out of the problems that Covid has presented us.

We are learning to work and teach in entirely different ways. We have all had to change our work and work differently.

We aspire to be the most innovative and nimble leadership team not only on campus, but in our state and nation. During times of crisis, we often see what people are made of. I heard in a political speech recently that commitment resides in every heart — and ours is fierce and clear.

The aforementioned staff and faculty attributes were also highly visible this summer, during the many months of racial unrest in our country. Many in the college galvanized to brainstorm what we can do toward more racial harmony, here on campus and in our communities.

But your college was preparing for the moment before it arrived. For a year, we had been working behind the scenes to create a first of its kind Education and Civil Rights Initiative with the national NAACP, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization. When it was announced in the Washington Post, the UK College of Education officially became the center of the national discourse via this groundbreaking collaboration. We are incredibly grateful to have Greg Vincent and Sarah Lacour leading the work. We are also having discussion with other nationally renowned scholars who have reached out and would like to join the work.

We have taken a variety of other steps to address the pandemic of racism. We held a symposium series, named the College’s first Associate Dean of Diversity and Student Success, create a social justice student advisory committee, and have sought to integrate the Inclusiveness Committee in new ways. Furthermore, last fall I published a law review article that examined faculty diversity across higher education. We found that higher education has failed to move the needle appreciably. But not at UK. This summer we announced the diverse, dignified, dynamic dozen— 2/3 of our hires are people of color and 1/3 of our hires are African American— 100% are game changers for their field.

I submit to you that the College of Education is leading in UK’s efforts to address the racism pandemic. Candace Hargons is conducting anti-racism training for the leadership of the University. Dr Steven Watkins is leading the new $10 million UNITE initiative focused on research for historically marginalized communities. The administration and other deans have looked to us to lead in this moment… we will.

The twin pandemics are wearing on us. We are fortunate that most of the faculty hiring work was completed before the COVID hiring freeze. However, that didn’t save us from the loss of staff from two departments and shortages in two others. So we spent 6 weeks brainstorming and listening to our community on how to address the dire staffing needs created by the pandemic. At the end of that process, a taskforce of 4 staff and 3 faculty created a team model with a fiscal team, academic team and Department Support Specialists to prototype this year.

We understand that the world is rapidly evolving and coming at us from all angles. Let’s have each other back.

I also want to say that I learned the news this week about one of our own. As a community we need to step up and support Justin Bathon and his family in this challenging time. We are family and family cares for each other.

We continue to be grateful for you, our alumni and friends. Your commitment, tenacity, and generosity has made it possible for us to continue our important mission— impact for the children and families in our Commonwealth, nation and beyond. We WILL leave a legacy.

Leadership committed to excellence and social justice | Cloaking Inequity

CURMUDGUCATION: Information Sources: Don't Quit Your Day Job

CURMUDGUCATION: Information Sources: Don't Quit Your Day Job

Information Sources: Don't Quit Your Day Job

The New York Times just announced another "project" to be embedded within the paper and funded by philanthropic types. It's not a new model; the Gates Foundation has been funding journalism "projects" for a while. This piece by Tim Schwab at the Columbia Journalism Review lays out in depressing detail just how large the Bill Gates Underwritten Journalism Industry actually is (freakin' huge). This kind of funding model reflects how hard times for "journalism" has affected the tilt of what you and I get to read.

Blame the internet, at least in part, because of its prodigious grasping hunger for content. If you want to keep your site in the game, you've got to be rolling out new content several times daily. And that content has to come from somewhere, and there has to be a lot of it, and it has to be cheap.

The old Huffington Post model was a prime example of what can happen next. You may recall that I used to write for HuffPost. So did a lot of other people. It paid exactly $0.00; more accurately, it paid in eyeballs. Sometimes it paid handsomely; this piece may be the most-viewed thing I've ever written.

What we've got is an information ecosystem in which people can't afford to be writers. Nobody who does journalism for a living is making a particularly great living

And what that means, in turn, is that we have an information ecosystem in which many of the CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Information Sources: Don't Quit Your Day Job

DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at RNC - POLITICO

DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at RNC - POLITICO

DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at RNC
The Education secretary didn’t even get a role in a convention video montage about the role of female leaders in the Trump administration.

School choice is finally getting prime-time attention as President Donald Trump makes the issue a focal point of his reelection bid, appealing to parents clamoring for an alternative to neighborhood public schools during the pandemic.

But the policy issue’s biggest cheerleader, his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has been kept out of that spotlight.

DeVos isn’t so much as getting a cameo during the Republican National Convention this week, even as the president builds his second-term ambitions around the cause DeVos has championed for the past 30 years. The billionaire's public image is synonymous with “education freedom” or “school choice,” political shorthand for using government money or tax credits to help pay for kids to attend private schools, home instruction or other programs instead of their regular public school. It also encompasses charter schools, public schools that are independently run.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about why DeVos was excluded from the lineup. From the secretary's own team, Education Department spokesperson Angela Morabito said DeVos "has never sought the spotlight" and is instead "focused on doing what’s best for students, and making sure they have a voice in the debate."

Among the core fan club for school choice, DeVos is still a star. In the eyes of Democratic political strategists, she has long been seen as the perfect villain to help drum up dissent against the president. So the polarizing secretary is not CONTINUE READING: DeVos out of sight even as her signature school issue gets top billing at RNC - POLITICO

The Politics of Teaching: #BlackLivesMatter Edition – radical eyes for equity

The Politics of Teaching: #BlackLivesMatter Edition – radical eyes for equity

The Politics of Teaching: #BlackLivesMatter Edition

On a social media group for educators, a teacher asked for clarification about the legal grounds for an administrator requesting that the teacher remove #BlackLivesMatter and LGBTQ+ support posters from their room.

The responses were illuminating since they tended to drift toward larger and different concerns about ideology and of course the standard claim that teachers should “not be political.”

This was a discussion among teachers in South Carolina, where I taught public high school English throughout the 1980s and 1990s; I also attended SC public schools from 1967 until 1979.

Not to be simplistic, but my experience teaching in SC, and my subsequent two decades working with public schools and teachers, has shown that what is technically legal isn’t as important and how administration—supported by community standards—views what is “allowed” or “banned.”

Therefore, at the root of this teacher’s dilemma is the fundamental problem with the term “political” and how teaching and education are framed as “not political” (or more clearly, how teaching and education should not be “political”).

Public schools tend to reflect and perpetuate community, state, and national CONTINUE READING: The Politics of Teaching: #BlackLivesMatter Edition – radical eyes for equity

As Schools Reopen, A New Tool Tracks Coronavirus Cases As They Emerge : Shots - Health News : NPR

As Schools Reopen, A New Tool Tracks Coronavirus Cases As They Emerge : Shots - Health News : NPR

How Many Coronavirus Cases Are Happening In Schools? This Tracker Keeps Count

Teacher Alisha Morris created an interactive tracker of coronavirus in schools, current through Aug. 23, including this map, created by another volunteer. The National Education Association will now take on updates to the database.

US schools tracker/Screenshot by NPR

Looking for a snapshot of coronavirus outbreaks in U.S. schools? The National Education Association has just launched a tracker of cases in public K-12 schools.

The tracker is broken down by state and shows schools and counties with known cases and suspected cases and deaths, as well as whether those infected were students or staff. It also includes links to the local news reports so users know where the virus data comes from.

The NEA tracker builds on the volunteer efforts of a Kansas theater teacher Alisha Morris. In early August, just ahead of the new school year, Morris was looking for data about coronavirus cases in U.S. schools. She could find local news reports about positive cases at individual schools across the country but nothing that gave her a cohesive picture of how the virus was spreading in schools.

So Morris built it herself.

She started with a simple Internet search.

"I put in the words 'school, positive' " she tells NPR's Morning Edition. "I clicked on the news tab and would search the articles from the past week or the past 24 hours and then I would input those articles into my spreadsheet."

Kansas high school theater teacher Alisha Morris created a database of coronavirus outbreaks in U.S. schools.

Alisha Morris

Morris started building a database on Aug. 6. She looked for news reports going back to July 1, since some schools had begun holding practices for fall sports or opening for administrative activities early in the summer.

Even with schools in only a few states back in session by early August, she had no trouble finding reports of coronavirus cases. Morris quickly logged cases at over 700 schools.

"I started feeling sort of shocked by what I was seeing and how many cases were already popping up in opening schools," she says. "That's when I decided that I should share it with some personal colleagues in Kansas and my district board of education. And their reactions are what really prompted me to share it on a wider scale with other CONTINUE READING: As Schools Reopen, A New Tool Tracks Coronavirus Cases As They Emerge : Shots - Health News : NPR

Teacher Tom: "Just In Time" Education

Teacher Tom: "Just In Time" Education

"Just In Time" Education

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes made of ticky tacky

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes all the same

There's a pink one and a green one

And a blue one and a yellow one

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same

                   ~Malvina Reynolds

One of the theories underpinning "normal" education is that children need a "foundation" upon which to build future learning. Indeed, that's pretty much what the first 18 years is all about for most kids: memorizing the stuff they're going to need to have memorized in order to memorize the stuff they're going to need to memorize for next year, and so on, until they are released into the world, their foundations finally ready to support their "little boxes." Of course, it's not entirely like that. Some more progressive teachers might allow the children to write their papers on "any topic you chose" or "read any book you want (unless it's a comic book)," but they are largely constrained by the blueprint curriculum that they've been issued for constructing foundations so that those little boxes will turn out "all the same." 

It's a theory that starts with the idea that the adults, in their wisdom and superior soothsaying about the future, can predict what every child will need, as if there is a common body of knowledge that all children, no matter their interests, aptitudes, background, culture, or developmental stage, must know in order to move forward in life. We argued that they must be "well rounded." We say we are preparing them for the "jobs of tomorrow." We warn they are "falling behind" when the foundation for their little box is not the same as all the others. We tell them they are wrong when they, say, CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: "Just In Time" Education

CURMUDGUCATION: The Zero Sum Game

CURMUDGUCATION: The Zero Sum Game

The Zero Sum Game

I'm feeling a little dumb at the moment, because a light bulb just went on that should have gone on a while ago.

I was having the same conversation I've had many times. "Charters and vouchers and public schools could absolutely coexist. There's no reason it has to be a zero sum game," said someone.

And I agree, sort of. There are some things that can't help being zero sum, like having enough students to run certain programs. But financially, it's absolutely true that we don't have to make it a zero sum game. We don't have to be forced into the ridiculous attempt to finance multiple school systems with the money that isn't sufficient to fully fund just one. That's a choice that politicians make.

There are a couple of reasons we get stuck with a zero sum financial game. One is simple-- there is no politician with the cojones to stand up and say, "We want to set up multiple school systems and we want to raise your taxes to pay for it." The old claim of "my money should follow my child" line is a lie (it's your money--and your neighbors' money, too), but it sounds good and kind of fair. I even think there are people who honestly believe that you should just be able to move some money CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: The Zero Sum Game

Second Judge Blocks Flow of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools. Will Public Schools Ever See the Money Congress Intended for Them? | janresseger

Second Judge Blocks Flow of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools. Will Public Schools Ever See the Money Congress Intended for Them? | janresseger

Second Judge Blocks Flow of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools. Will Public Schools Ever See the Money Congress Intended for Them?

While the Republican Party announced the themes of the Republican Convention—“Monday is ‘Land of Promise,’ Tuesday is ‘Land of Opportunity,’ Wednesday is ‘Land of Heroes’ and Thursday is ‘Land of Greatness.'”—the Convention instead dramatized a very old theme: the difference between appearance and reality.  Producers, including people from The Apprentice, put together a spectacular show draped in flags. Their purpose: to distract, distort, and dissemble.

The Convention hardly touched on education policy. But last night in his acceptance speech, the President claimed he will “expand charter schools and provide school choice for every family in America.” Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Tim Scott, (R-SC) also extolled school choice as the future of education, even as, ironically, President Trump himself and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are demanding that the nation’s 90,000 public schools reopen as the only path to getting America’s parents back to work. Trump and DeVos certainly haven’t been counting on their favorite patchwork of charter schools and private schools to accomplish their systemic goal. The convention’s primary education speaker, Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff in an anti-teachers union case called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, not surprisingly, attacked teachers unions. Although she claimed that the unions “are subverting our republic, so they undermine educational excellence, morality, law and order,” you will remember that instead a wave of #Red4Ed strikes during 2018-2019 pushed states like West Virginia and Oklahoma to increase school funding at least a little bit and forced Los Angeles, Oakland, and Chicago to address unreasonable conditions including class sizes of 40 students and a dearth of school counselors in public schools serving concentrations of our nation’s poorest students.

While the Republicans held their convention, Betsy DeVos herself wasn’t having such a good week. She was left off the Convention agenda, and on Tuesday, the Savannah Morning News reported that she visited a reopened public school in Forsyth County, Georgia, where she made CONTINUE READING: Second Judge Blocks Flow of CARES Act Dollars to Private Schools. Will Public Schools Ever See the Money Congress Intended for Them? | janresseger

NYC Educator: Mayor de Blasio Uses 1.1 Million Children as Guinea Pigs

NYC Educator: Mayor de Blasio Uses 1.1 Million Children as Guinea Pigs

Mayor de Blasio Uses 1.1 Million Children as Guinea Pigs

Sometimes you see something so unbelievable that you have to check it twice to make sure you saw it right. When I saw a headline declaring indoor dining would depend on how school reopening goes, I had to look twice. This is remarkable from a mayor whose watchwords have been "equity and excellence."

But in Bill de Blasio's New York, some people get more equity than others. Who are those people exactly? Well, those would be the people who patronize Broadway, for example. I mean, you can't just have some couple that paid 1600 bucks to see Hamilton come down with COVID. That would be unthinkable.

“As more and more people come back to work, as schools begin, you know, we’ll get to see a lot about what our long-term health picture looks like, and that’s going to help inform our decisions going forward,” said de Blasio referring to the administration’s wait and watch approach on making a decision on indoor dining.

And it very much appears Bill de Blasio doesn't think it's safe for well-heeled New Yorkers to venture into restaurants and spend their money. Odd, then, that he has no issue whatsoever with having schoolchildren sit in classrooms and eat lunch. Oh, and just in case the risk of COVID isn't enough, de Blasio wants them to do tedious busy work while fretting over whether the students six feet away from them are contagious.

There are a lot of conclusions you could draw about a leader who distinguishes between public school children and people who can afford to eat in restaurants. Maybe he feels public schools are less risky than restaurants. After all, schools aren't cleaned as often or as throroughly as restaurants, particularly since de Blasio, for years, has failed to replace departing custodial employees. Hmmm...that doesn't really make things better at all. In fact, it's probably less risky in a restaurant, since a restaurant has to really make sure paying customers are comfortable enough to return.

Students and school staff, on the other hand, are more or less captive customers. It's not like CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Mayor de Blasio Uses 1.1 Million Children as Guinea Pigs

Confessions of a School Reformer (Part 6) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Confessions of a School Reformer (Part 6) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Confessions of a School Reformer (Part 6)

This is the last post of a series drawn from “Confessions of a School Reformer,” a book I am now writing. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 describe my entry into classroom teaching beginning in 1955 and ending in 1972.

In August 1968, no longer teaching at Roosevelt High School, I resigned from the full-time job I had at federal Commission on Civil Rights (CCR). No job did I have for 1968-1969.

Treading water

For the next few months, I was at home. With no more salary checks from either the DC schools or CCR, Barbara found a job as an administrative aide to a Rabbi at a nearby congregation. I stayed home with Sondra and Janice, walking them to school in the mornings, writing, doing household chores and making occasional dinners. I thought that with my name as an urban educator, an expert on multiethnic instructional materials, and author I could drum up sufficient business as a consultant to provide enough cash to cover monthly mortgage payments and expenses. I was wrong.

After sending out many letters advertising my talents and experiences, few requests dribbled in. Of those that came in, most asked me to speak or consult for free. My work on Scott Foresman textbooks brought in a few advances from the publisher. Between my paltry earnings and Barbara’s job we were just barely covering monthly expenses. Apart from worrying about money, I was thoroughly enjoying the time I spent with Barbara and my daughters.

Then in December, I heard from Associate Superintendent of Instruction, Norman Nickens of the DC schools that he wanted to see me. I had gotten to know Nickens when I directed the Cardozo Project and he headed the Model CONTINUE READING: Confessions of a School Reformer (Part 6) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Open Letter: Prioritize Instruction AND Safety | JD2718

Open Letter: Prioritize Instruction AND Safety | JD2718

Open Letter: Prioritize Instruction AND Safety

This petition gets it right. Read it here (or read it below, but the numbering is a little weird.) And then sign here.

August 25, 2020

TO: Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza,

We are two weeks away from the beginning of the school year and the DOE has yet to provide clear actionable support for instructional planning and programming for the hybrid and remote classroom models. Instruction, the engine of the classroom, has been overlooked, and overshadowed by the daunting task of creating protocols for physically returning to school buildings. What has been promised to families and paraded before the media is not possible to enact. I am a high school teacher with 20 years of classroom experience. I want to go back to my building and teach. But we are not prepared. Opening the school year now, using the Chancellor’s plan, means going back with inadequate staffing for both models, which will result in fragmented lessons, teacher burnout and diminished learning for all students. We urge the Mayor and the Chancellor to open schools remotely for the first semester. Allow teachers the time to focus on developing quality online instruction first. Then when it is safe, and we have developed a tenable plan, we can go back to our buildings for in-person instruction. 

1. 1. Schools have not received the guidance or programming support needed to create a coherent plan for day-to-day instruction.
      1. Principals had to choose one of the city’s proposed instructional models before they knew the CONTINUE READING: Open Letter: Prioritize Instruction AND Safety | JD2718