CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Opt Out Under Attack

CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Opt Out Under Attack:
OH: Opt Out Under Attack

Word came from a high-ranking official through Facebook today that somebody is gunning for those mean old Ohio Opt Outers.

The vehicle is Ohio House Bill 420, a bill "to amend sections 3302.01 and 3302.03 of the Revised Code to prohibit the Department of Education from including students who 'opt-out' of state assessments in calculations of certain grades in the state report card and to declare an emergency."

But that title sounds like a Good Thing, right. In fact if we look at some of the specific changes, we find versions of this language:

any student to whom a district or school is required to administer an assessment under section 3301.0710 or 3301.0712 of the Revised Code, but who chooses not to take the assessment, shall not be included in the calculation of the district's or school's grade under division (B)(1)(b) of this section.

In other words, students who opt out of the Big Standardized Test (still PARCC, in Ohio's case) will not be counted against their school's state rating.

However, the bill is listed as still in committee, where apparently the following language has been CURMUDGUCATION: OH: Opt Out Under Attack:

Kindergarten teacher: Don’t blame us if your kids are overworked. It isn’t our fault. - The Washington Post

Kindergarten teacher: Don’t blame us if your kids are overworked. It isn’t our fault. - The Washington Post:

Kindergarten teacher: Don’t blame us if your kids are overworked. It isn’t our fault.

I published a post the other day titled, “Parent: No, my kindergartner won’t be doing that homework assignment,” by a mother of three, Cara Paiuk, who wrote:

I just can’t imagine prioritizing homework with my 5-year-old son when I feel it’s more important we spend time together as a family, nurture our children, or let the kids play together.

That followed a number of other Answer Sheet posts in the last few years about how kindergarten has changed from a year in which young children learn largely through play to one that is focused on academics and tests.

In many places, kindergartners now go with very little — or no — physical education, recess, art and music. Parents have complained, and so have kindergarten teachers, who say they feel as if they are being forced to present curriculum and lessons to kids before they are ready in this era of standardized test-based reform. In this 2014 post, for example, a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts named Susan Sluyter explained that her job had become all about “tests and data — not children” and that is why she had decided to quit.

[A very scary headline about kindergarten]

Paiuk’s post prompted a response from teachers, including a 24-year educator named Valerie E. Hardy who has taught children in kindergarten through grade 4 — 16 years for Garden Grove Unified School District in California, and the rest for Cherry Creek Schools in Colorado. She has been a master teacher for countless student teachers, as well as a new-teacher mentor, and has been Kindergarten teacher: Don’t blame us if your kids are overworked. It isn’t our fault. - The Washington Post:

“My daughter will not be taking the “state mandated” NEW SAT on March 2nd 2016.” - Wait What?

“My daughter will not be taking the “state mandated” NEW SAT on March 2nd 2016.” - Wait What?:
“My daughter will not be taking the “state mandated” NEW SAT on March 2nd 2016.”

According to a new “state mandate,” approximately 40,000 Connecticut high school juniors will not be attending their classes on March, 2, 2016.  Instead they will be taking another “Common Core aligned” standardized test – this time the NEW SAT.

The attempt to force the state’s 11^th graders to take the NEW SAT is not about helping students, improving graduating rates or expanding the number of people who go to college.

This new “mandate” is part of the broader corporate education reform agenda that is crippling public education in Connecticut and across the nation.

In this case, it is about trying to force children to take a test that will then be used to label those students and provide the state with faulty information to evaluate Connecticut’s teachers.

Parents should we aware of what it taking place and step up to ensure that our children are not being used as pawns in his massive testing farce.

Here is the background;

Thanks to a contract signed by Governor Dannel Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Dianna R. Wentzell and approved by Malloy’s political appointees on the State Board of Education, Connecticut taxpayers will be shelling out in excess of $4.3 million in scarce public funds, over the next three years, to the College Board, the company that owns the “My daughter will not be taking the “state mandated” NEW SAT on March 2nd 2016.” - Wait What?:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Flint water disaster was preceded by takeover of schools and local govt's

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Flint water disaster was preceded by takeover of schools and local govt's:

Flint water disaster was preceded by takeover of schools and local govt's

In Michigan, the idea of a government of, by, and for the people did not apply to poor black cities, and when residents were robbed of the ability to govern themselves, they suffered. In Flint, it meant they got poisoned. -- Bill Moyers

The current disaster in Flint has its roots in Gov. Snyder's racist, anti-democratic coup d'etat in which power was usurped from local elected officials in financially distressed municipalities across Michigan. Snyder replaced them with his own appointed political cronies and corporate managers.

Flint isn’t the only city in Michigan deeply affected by the coup. In fact, Flint was one of six cities — most of which were poor and had a majority black population — to be placed under emergency management by Snyder since 2011.

Bill Moyers, who grew up in Flint, writes:

The emergency manager law gave unchecked power to the governor in the name of helping these communities emerge from financial Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Flint water disaster was preceded by takeover of schools and local govt's:

The Washington Teacher: DC Public Schools Imposes Longer School Year in Some Schools Without Stakeholders Input

The Washington Teacher: DC Public Schools Imposes Longer School Year in Some Schools Without Stakeholders Input:

DC Public Schools Imposes Longer School Year in Some Schools Without Stakeholders Input

By: Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Statements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, AFT, Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) or its members. Views are my own. 

It seems like DCPS is forging ahead with the extension of the school year for the 2016-17 school year for some of the District’s lowest performing schools. According to inside sources, some Ward 7 and 8 junior high schools will be on the list with  a longer school year including Hart Middle School and Johnson Middle School in SE as well as Kelly Miller Middle School located in NE. There may be as many as a dozen schools may be affected, however, exact numbers have been yet to be confirmed.

 It disappoints me that as an education stakeholder, I am learning of the news in this way. I searched the DCPS website to see if there was any updates on the proposed extended school year news. Neary’ a word. Needless to say, I am not shocked or surprised.

Currently, Raymond Education campus became part of a DCPS pilot where the school year was extended beginning with the 2015-16 school year. Teachers who worked at Raymond were given the option to get a placement at other schools if they did not want to work the longer school year at Raymond. The  WTU filed a The Washington Teacher: DC Public Schools Imposes Longer School Year in Some Schools Without Stakeholders Input:

“No Excuses” Charter School Dean Speaks #SCW – Cloaking Inequity

“No Excuses” Charter School Dean Speaks #SCW – Cloaking Inequity:

“No Excuses” Charter School Dean Speaks #SCW

 The former dean of students at a New Orleans charter school urges teachers and staff at No Excuses schools to ask some hard questions about the model’s social and emotional costs…

Dear You:

You were selected to teach at your school because of your intelligence, spunk, tenacity, vigor and, most of all, your passion for public education. You are a risk-taker. You have a can-do attitude with swag to match. You believe that every child has the capacity to achieve academically and are committing your life to ensuring that you affect change in every student you encounter. Your dedication to ensuring that traditionally marginalized students receive a first class education is commendable. But do you know how much power you hold? Do you truly understand the *No Excuses* school culture that you are part of? Do you know the psychological and emotional costs that the No Excuses model has on students of color? Furthermore, do you care to know? Continue reading →

This teaser was reblogged from Edushyster                                                                      n.

See also the piece by Ramon Griffin,

Colonizing the Black Natives: Reflections from a former NOLA Charter School Dean of Students https://t.co/PqTIPAqx8B #SCW

— JulianVasquezHeilig (@ProfessorJVH) January 28, 2016

For all of Cloaking Inequity’s posts on charter schools click here.

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Want to know about Cloaking Inequity’s freshly pressed conversations about educational policy? Click the “Follow blog by email” button on the home page.“No Excuses” Charter School Dean Speaks #SCW – Cloaking Inequity:

LAUSD board told charters attracting more federal dollars than magnets - LA School Report

LAUSD board told charters attracting more federal dollars than magnets - LA School Report:

LAUSD board told charters attracting more federal dollars than magnets

For all the successful magnet schools in LA Unified and elsewhere, they are not attracting as much federal support as charter schools.

That was a stark message from the district’s federal lobbyist, who told a district board committee this week that Washington is increasing national support for charter schools by nearly 32 percent but by only 6 percent for magnet schools, a difference that surprised some of the school board members.

“We never imagined this would ever be this much of a discrepancy,” board presidentSteve Zimmer said at a meeting of the board’s Committee of the Whole.

The money for charters rose to $350 million from $270 million while the magnet school support increased to $96 million from $91 million, according to Joel Packer, of the Raben Group, which lobbies for the district in Washington.

“Charter schools have big bipartisan support in Congress,” Packer said. “They got a big increase. Magnet schools don’t have the same political clout.”

In response to Packer’s overall report outlining changes in federal education policy, committee chairman George McKenna pointed out, “Charters can lobby and have money to give to campaigns and give to board members. Magnets don’t have that LAUSD board told charters attracting more federal dollars than magnets - LA School Report:

Obama and the Charter School Sugar Daddies | Black Agenda Report

Obama and the Charter School Sugar Daddies | Black Agenda Report:
Obama and the Charter School Sugar Daddies

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

As hedge funds spin their financial webs to spur charter school expansion and President Obama bullies states to lift caps on charters, "right-wing foundations are attempting to swallow whole the entire school district of Washington, DC." For a $65 million donation, the Wal-Mart family and other fat cats demand DC schools drop union rules - and threaten to take back the money if the voters change administrations.

Obama and the Charter School Sugar Daddies

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

"Hedge funds and bankers have become the Sugar Daddies of charter schools."

When it comes to the public schools, the Obama administration is allied with the most rapacious sectors of Wall Street and far-right foundations. That political reality is most evident in  the administration's campaign to establish a parallel national network of charter schools, with a heavy emphasis on inner cities. Obama and his education chief, Arne Duncan, have spent their first year and a half in office coercing states to expand charters or lose out on more than $4 billion in federal education moneys. Obama's allies on Wall Street invest heavily in charter schools, tapping into the public money stream to build their own vision of corporate education.

Historically, Wall Street is to Democrats what Big Oil is to Republicans. Hedge funds and bankers have become the Sugar Daddies of charter schools, using their clout with big city Democrats to give charters every advantage over conventional public schools.

Wall Street finds charters especially attractive, since bankers and hedge funds can exerciseextraordinary influence on the schools while the public pays most of the tab. And profiteers have found numerous ways to turn charter schools into cash cows, where taxpayers finance private contracts over which the public has no control. Charter schools are a low-risk, fast buck dream, tailor-made for corporate exploitation and political manipulation.

RIch foundations have banded together to amass a mountain of money to ensure that charter schools have sources of funds that most public schools lack, plus a steady income from the Obama and the Charter School Sugar Daddies | Black Agenda Report:

Report on the Stability of Student Growth Percentile (SGP) “Value-Added” Estimates | VAMboozled!

Report on the Stability of Student Growth Percentile (SGP) “Value-Added” Estimates | VAMboozled!:

Report on the Stability of Student Growth Percentile (SGP) “Value-Added” Estimates

The Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) model, which is loosely defined by value-added model (VAM) purists as a VAM, uses students’ level(s) of past performance to determine students’ normative growth over time, as compared to his/her peers. “SGPs describe the relative location of a student’s current score compared to the current scores of students with similar score histories” (Castellano & Ho, p. 89). Students are compared to themselves (i.e., students serve as their own controls) over time; therefore, the need to control for other variables (e.g., student demographics) is less necessary, although this is of debate. Nonetheless, the SGP model was developed as a “better” alternative to existing models, with the goal of providing clearer, more accessible, and more understandable results to both internal and external education stakeholders and consumers. For more information about the SGP please see prior posts here and here. See also an original source about the SGP here.

Related, in a study released last week, WestEd researchers conducted an “Analysis of the stability of teacher-level growth scores [derived] from the student growth percentile [SGP] model” in one, large school district in Nevada (n=370 teachers). The key finding they present is that “half or more of the variance in teacher scores from the [SGP] model is due to random or otherwise unstable sources rather than to reliable information that could predict future performance. Even when derived by averaging several years of teacher scores, effectiveness estimates are unlikely to provide a level of reliability desired in scores used for high-stakes decisions, such as tenure or dismissal. Thus, states may want to be cautious in using student growth percentile [SGP] scores for teacher evaluation.”

Most importantly, the evidence in this study should make us (continue to) question the Report on the Stability of Student Growth Percentile (SGP) “Value-Added” Estimates | VAMboozled!: 

U.S. Education Department threatens to sanction states over test opt-outs - The Washington Post

U.S. Education Department threatens to sanction states over test opt-outs - The Washington Post:

U.S. Education Department threatens to sanction states over test opt-outs

Anyone who thought that the U.S. Education Department’s power over states in regard to standardized testing was over because of the new K-12 education law passed in December should think again.

The Every Student Succeeds Act was the result of a compromise among Republicans and Democrats who were intent on ending No Child Left Behind, the chief education initiative of former president George W. Bush, and the Obama administration’s micro-managing of education policymaking. It did send a good deal of education policymaking power back to the states but did not eliminate the federal role in education.

ESSA carries over the No Child Left Behind mandate of annual standardized testing from grades 3-8 and once in high school, and it has left enough room for the Education Department to threaten to sanction those states where too many students refused to take the state-mandated standardized “accountability” test.

In the last year, an “opt-out” movement has been growing around the country, with many parents refusing to allow their children to take tests that they believe are being used in an improper manner to evaluate students and teachers, and some educators refusing to administer exams they believe are poorly designed.

Under NCLB and now under ESSA, at least 95 percent of eligible students are required to take the state-chosen standardized test used to hold states and school districts “accountable.” Federal funding can be withheld by the Education Department to states that dip below the 95 percent threshold. Last year, some states did more than “dip.” In New York state, for example, 20 percent of eligible students refused to take the state’s accountability test.

Education policymakers — the same ones who support “school choice” — don’t like the idea of parents deciding that their students shouldn’t take a standardized test. So, on Dec. 2, the department sent a letter to states reminding them of the testing and 95 percent participation requirements, warning that failure to produce the mandated results could result in the withholding of federal funds about participation rates.

The letter also urges states to sanction local education agencies where participation rates are below 95 percent and offers suggestions for how to do that. A state could, for example, without funds, lower a local education agency U.S. Education Department threatens to sanction states over test opt-outs - The Washington Post:

Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center

Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center:

Libraries at the Crossroads

The public is interested in new services and thinks libraries are important to communities

American libraries are buffeted by cross currents. Citizens believe that libraries are important community institutions and profess interest in libraries offering a range of new program possibilities. Yet, even as the public expresses interest in additional library services, there are signs that the share of Americans visiting libraries has edged downward over the past three years, although it is too soon to know whether or not this is a trend.

A new survey from Pew Research Center brings this complex situation into stark relief. Many Americans say they want public libraries to:

• support local education;
• serve special constituents such as veterans, active-duty military personnel and immigrants;
• help local businesses, job seekers and those upgrading their work skills;
• embrace new technologies such as 3-D printers and provide services to help patrons learn about high-tech gadgetry.

Additionally, two-thirds of Americans (65%) ages 16 and older say that closing their local public library would have a major impact on their community. Low-income Americans, Hispanics and African Americans are more likely than others to say that a library closing would impact their lives and communities.

At the same time, the survey finds that the share of Americans who report using a library has ebbed somewhat over the past several years, though it is too early to identify a definitive national trend. Compared with Pew Research Center surveys from recent years, the current survey finds those 16 and older a bit less likely to say they have visited a library or bookmobile in-person in the past 12 months, visited a library website or used a library’s computers and internet access.

• 46% of all Americans ages 16 and over say they visited a library or a bookmobile in-person in the prior year. This is roughly comparable with the 48% who said this in 2013, but down from 53% in 2012.
• 22% of those 16 and older have used library websites in the past year, compared with 30% who said this in 2013 and 25% in 2012.
• 27% of those who have visited a public library have used its computers, internet connection or Wi-Fi signal to go online in the past 12 months. This compares with 31% who said this in 2012.

A trend in the other direction is that mobile access to library resources has taken on more prominence. Among those who have used a public library website, 50% accessed it in the Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center:

REPORT MATERIALS

• Complete Report PDF
• Topline Questionnaire PDF
• March 17-April 12, 2015 – Libraries and Technology Use Dataset

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview
• Chapter 1: Who Uses Libraries and What They do at Their Libraries
• Chapter 2: Libraries and Services for Learning, Key Groups and Economic Opportunities
• Chapter 3: Lower Income Americans and Communities of Color More Likely to see Libraries as Community Anchors
• About This Report
• Methods
• Libraries at the Crossroads | Pew Research Center:

The return of Steinberg - Sacramento News & Review

Sacramento News & Review - The return of Steinberg - Feature Story - Local Stories - January 28, 2016:
The return of Steinberg
Respect, money, vision, likability—Darrell Steinberg’s candidacy has it all. But is the former state Senate pro tem really a lock to become Sacramento’s next mayor?

Darrell Steinberg darts across a quiet Tahoe Park street toward a woman standing in her doorway. “You’ve got my vote, Darrell, I just wanted to say hi,” she yells from her porch. “Can I get a lawn sign, too?” he asks, deferentially, like a kid wanting a cookie. She obliges. “Count it!” he shouts to his canvassing sidekick, a law student from his alma mater, UC Davis. It’s an overcast weekend morning in January before noon—and some six months until Sacramento’s primary election. Yet here’s Steinberg, the antithesis of Jeb Bush energy, already hustling for votes. A man in his late 40s thanks Steinberg for stopping by, for his time. “I know you’re famous,” the man says.

“I don’t know about that,” Steinberg replies. “I call it minicelebrity—with an emphasis on mini.”

Clearly Steinberg isn’t taking the mayor’s race for granted. When he’s not banging on doors each weekend, he’s meeting neighbors at coffeehouses or holding court at the farmers market. He seems to genuinely want to lead Sacramento. And experts say the mayor gig is Steinberg’s for the taking.

“It’s his to lose,” said local political strategist Steven Maviglio, who guided Mayor Kevin Johnson’s 2008 campaign. “He’s got money, he’s got message and he’s got name ID. Those are the three ingredients to success.”

He said the 56-year-old former state Senate leader is known around town as Mr. Nice Guy. “Darrell Steinberg doesn’t make enemies. That’s the key to his strength.”

But what’s that saying about nice guys finishing last? Local consultant Matt Rexroad attended the recent debate between Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and Steinberg earlier this month at the Crocker Art Museum. Afterward, Rexroad said he’s “not convinced that the average voter would have said [Steinberg] was the frontrunner.” He described Ashby as folksy and real, and says in contrast Steinberg came across as political royalty.

Esteem, money, vision—is Steinberg simply too qualified to be top boss of weak-mayor Sacramento?

The politician

Steinberg sits at a high table in the back of an East Sacramento coffeehouse. It's a few days before Christmas, a suit-but-not-tie day, and he's sipping a cappuccino. He refers to his accomplishment at the Capitol affectionately, like one might about one’s children—his “work,” as he calls bills passed and initiatives championed. It’s true that his was not the quotidian, boilerplate, here-you-go-constituents Sacramento News & Review - The return of Steinberg - Feature Story - Local Stories - January 28, 2016:

CURMUDGUCATION: Power and Order

CURMUDGUCATION: Power and Order:

Power and Order

 It's School Choice Week and all the usuals have to check in, and I've been trying to read the work of the more serious choice advocates. And that would have to include Andy Smarick.


Smarick's entry at the Rordhma Institute blog is School Choice: The end of the beginning in which he would like to suggest that charter-choice systems are a done deal, and he has a lesson from his years of pushing choice that he wants to share:

But probably the most important lesson I’ve learned over the last fifteen years—the reason why school choice progress moves so slowly—is this: An education system without school choice makes perfect sense from the point of view of central administrators.

Thas's probably true in the sense that it's true to say that I married my wife because she smells nice-- it's true, but a rather incomplete picture. Or to phrase Smarick's observation another way-- we have the traditional pubic system we have because the trained professionals who have devoted their adult live to working in the ed biz have, in their constant work at growing and testing and refining, have settled on several best practices. Smarick might as well complain that the only reason that surgeons like to operate on tables instead of floors is that it makes it easier to operate safely and accurately.

Smarick observes that a centralized authority for a large cityful of students (like most people in the ed debates, Smarick is really talking just about large urban school systems) is efficient and sensible, except when it isn't.

When there’s a single school operator, it’s a big problem if it’s not good at CURMUDGUCATION: Power and Order:

We Know How To Prepare “High Quality” New Teachers | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

We Know How To Prepare “High Quality” New Teachers | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

We Know How To Prepare “High Quality” New Teachers

“Having taught four decades, and having had the privilege of working with so many talented and experienced educators throughout those four decades, I can say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that becoming a good teacher takes time. Nor only do you need time to develop and hone your skills, you need time to learn about kids and “how they work.” You don’t develop these skills in a vacuum, but through the mentoring, assistance and wisdom of more experience people with years of experience, tired and true, proven methods, strategies, best practices and techniques.”

– Former colleague and old friend, Bernie Keller: Former Teacher of English for 40 years.

I graduated from Fordham University’s undergraduate School of Education in 1970 with Bernie’s older brother Harold who eventually joined Bernie and me at A.E. Stevenson High School in the Bronx, NY. Fordham undergraduate education was probably considered a 2nd tier University, yet it produced a large number of excellent teachers in and around NYC, and I will lay odds that it was better at producing high quality teachers than many a top tier university. The program no longer exists. It was merged into a graduate program.

Our four years included heavy academic work in our subject area, class work in pedagogy, and fieldwork in local neighborhood, afternoon centers. All of that was before you began a full-time, semester-long internship as a student teacher. The pedagogy classes weren’t worth much, but that’s true in all schools of education. That is because more are still taught by researchers or “higher “education professors and less by experienced public school teachers. I have always believed that more practical experience with great teachers beats theory taught in an ivory tower.

University education programs must get with the program. The ivory tower is too blinded by its own light. They must retool and develop more in-school mentor programs rather than rely on pedagogy classes that, well, for the most part, are less than helpful. They have to put more emphasis on fieldwork and internship work. If schools of education want to improve teaching they must make teaching training more similar to the other “life saving” professions, plumbing and medicine. They both include long periods of apprenticeships and ongoing certification before permanent licensing. As long as they think PhD academics are more important than teacher training, things won’t change much.

A major difference between my generation and present-day new teachers inWe Know How To Prepare “High Quality” New Teachers | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing: 

Inviting Policy Ideas for Democracy Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Inviting Policy Ideas for Democracy Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Inviting Policy Ideas for Democracy Schools

Deborah Meier continues her conversation with Harry Boyte. To read their full exchange, please visit here.

Dear Harry and friends,

Speaking of Bernie Sanders, I just read a persuasively friendly piece in Bloomberg Businessweek (Jan. 7, 2016)! The author, Joel Stein, ends his piece with Sanders saying, in response to Killer Mike's fear of growing soft as he ages: "That's being human," said Sanders. "If you see stuff that's bad and you don't respond with—what did King call it?—'the urgency of the moment,' then you're not alive."

Well, he's got hold of something important even if, like me, his passions run along the lines of politics rather than ... music? Mountain climbing? Poetry? Democracy depends on passionate musicians, mountain climbers, poets, and inventors having some passion left over to fix the state of the world. If not 24/7, some of the time.

And yes, we need places—as you suggest—where people find it easy and enjoyable to come together to swap stories, plan adventures, and discuss and argue politics. (Democracy depends also on our getting accustomed to view the word politics itself in a different and more positive light. The way we use it now suggests that we're against it, which most oligarchs and dictators would be only too happy about.)

It's amazing how little we (me) know about prior attempts to do these things. I knew, vaguely, that there was something called the Farmer Labor Party in Wisconsin and Minnesota. But not much more. Your phrase—"organic intellectuals"—is a great term for what our schools should aim for. I'd like to replace the term "academics" with the word "intellectual"—a topic I took up in some detail in The Power of Their Ideas, and what Dewey and Ted Sizer called the "habits of mind" at the heart of good schooling. The switch from Latin to vernacular is an interesting example of the importance of the change in the "dialect" that became legitimated. 

But the habits of that help sustain democracy and the habits that assist oligarchy are different—in dialect and substance. The relationship between means and ends is one of those things that good schools should be exploring. The trade-offs. Add to that your quote from M. L. Wilson about the belief in the intellectual ability of "ordinary" people—of those thousands of ordinary people who you describe in your letter. 

The belief that "ordinary" human beings are extraordinary was reinforced for me when I became a mother and then taught 4- and 5-year-olds. We are born theorists working out how the world works, persevering even when our hypotheses so often turn out to be wrong. Rare is the infant who gives up easily. This belief is now, for me, a fact, not just a wish.

But sustaining this work—the work you describe in the agrarian Midwest. Did it end with a bang or a whimper? Many of the best school have died with a whimper; we barely notice it. Such was the case with CPESS. My friend Diane Suiter is the retired principal of an amazing teacher-, parent-, and student-led K-8 school in Middletown, Ohio. After a decade or more of development, its staff is hanging in without her, but a change in administration has surely made it harder to deepen the work. And then—I hope not—it begins to fade. At its heart, she saw it as a place where adults and young people learned together to use their voices effectively, to be learners with respect and empathy for others, and finally to discover what a community is and how to be a member of one. 

You and I are seeking new ways to imbed these ideas, reinventing communities, into the world of Inviting Policy Ideas for Democracy Schools - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Christie: A fine sixth place showing everywhere | Bob Braun's Ledger

Christie: A fine sixth place showing everywhere | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Christie: A fine sixth place showing everywhere

What?

The headline in The Star-Ledger after the last Republican presidential debate was “IT’S ON.” in nearly two-inch high, all-capital letter,  headlines, followed–mercifully–not by an exclamation point but by a curious red dot.  While the headline was, at best, ambiguous, the subhead beneath it told the story, at least from the perspective of New Jersey’s largest newspaper: “While the divide between Trump and Cruz is the big news, experts say Gov. Christie’s solid debate keeps him on the rise.”

Well, no. It didn’t–and, in a moment, the figures that show the fallacy of the headline.

But, first, just a brief journey into the arcane world of journalism with this question: What in the world did that front page mean to say?

What’s on? If the Trump/Cruz “divide” is the “big news,” why does the state’s largest newspaper concentrate on something other than the “big news?” And the use of so-called “experts”–not just by the Ledger but by all sinking media outlets–is getting, well, tedious.

Back in the day when I worked for The Star-Ledger–and, still, today, but not so much–reporters were encouraged by their editors to keep dead stories alive by reaching out to a third party for a comment that could be magically converted into a news stories. This was especially true of investigative stories where a report has spent loads of time coming up with shady dealings by some political figure. The story is written–and the reaction is, well, zero.

Ah, those were the days. A front page with Christie’s fave quotes from 2012

So what you do is this: You call some investigative agency. County prosecutor, say. Or state criminal justice division chief. The feds (Christie was good this way, although, often, he or one of his assistants was the source of the investigation in the first place, so the pump was primed). Most of the time, you’d get a comment like: “Well, of course, we’re interested in allegations that state Sen. Wetlands stole heron eggs and sold them on the open market in Secaucus–we’ll look into it.”

Bingo. The next day’s headline: “State to investigate Wetlands,” and the lead paragraph would contend the state is probing the allegations that “originally appearedChristie: A fine sixth place showing everywhere | Bob Braun's Ledger: