Texas: Public Schools Are Better Than Charter Schools: Stop Funding Failure!
I recently had the pleasure of speaking to the North Texas School Boards Association by Zoom. Right now, Texas is ground zero for the charter industry. This is astonishing because the public schools in Texas far outperform the charter schools. The charter school lobby markets themselves as “saviors” of children, but they are far more likely to fail than public schools. This is a summary of what I told my friends in Texas:
I am a graduate of the Houston public schools. My father, who grew up in Savannah, never finished high school; my mother, who was born in Bessarabia, was very proud of her high school diploma from the Houston public schools.
I believe that all of us, whether or not we have children, whether or not we have children in public school, have a civic obligation to support public schools, just as we must support other public services, like police, firefighting, public roads, public parks, and public libraries. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society, and no investment is more precious than investing in the education of our CONTINUE READING: Texas: Public Schools Are Better Than Charter Schools: Stop Funding Failure! | Diane Ravitch's blog
In New York, several school districts announced an “opt in” policy for state testing, led by the Ossining School District. The deal: If parents want their children to take the tests, they must write a letter asking for them to “opt in.” Other districts followed. Now the entire state of New York will allow districts to have an “opt in” policy. If parents want their child tested, it will be done. If they don’t, they don’t have to “opt out” or do anything. Some districts may prefer to stick with the old way of requiring everyone to take the tests.
This is a remarkable turn of events!
The U.S. Department of Education has denied waivers to states that don’t want to administer the tests. This was an incredibly tone-deaf decision that brought an outcry from educators and parents, who know it is unfair to administer standardized tests in the midst of a pandemic. During the campaign, candidate Joe Biden promised to get rid of the annual standardized tests. But his test-happy minions in the Department of Education issued a decision breaking his promise, even before Secretary Cardona was confirmed. He has had to explain and try to justify an very CONTINUE READING: New York Allows Opt IN for State Tests This Year | Diane Ravitch's blog
Betsy DeVos’ hand-picked candidate for Wisconsin state school superintendent loses
The race became somewhat nationalized with the charter school industry fighting Underly, who was backed by unions
Jill Underly has officially been elected as the new Wisconsin state school superintendent, local news stations reported Tuesday evening.
"State superintendent candidate Deborah Kerr solicited clients and organized branding for her private consulting business through her public school district email address, including several times during work hours, prior to her retirement as Brown Deer School District superintendent last year," said the report.
The race became somewhat nationalized with the charter school industry fighting Underly, who was backed by teachers' unions. Ultimately the normally unnoticed state-wide race brought in over $1 million in out-of-state money, TMJ4 reported.
Let's Turn The World Around: Teacher Tom's Play Summit
We heard it from Mandela,
"Turn this world around,
For the children" - turn this world around.
He's done it once before, and now we hear his call
For the children, turn this world around.
Turn, turn, turn,
Turn this world around
For the children, turn this world around.
Turn, turn, turn,
Turn this world around
For the children
Turn this world around.
~Raffi
It's an urgent message, one that's part of almost every conversation I
have these days. The principle project of every society has always been to
care for the children, yet in so many ways, we are failing in this
fundamental task. I myself have been going along for years, feeling like I
was doing enough: that if I just tended my little corner of the world
where children are free to enjoy an authentic childhood, where they are
respected, where their needs are met in a community that strives to let
them grow up as free people . . . but I know now that this is not
enough.
These last 12 months have been transformative in so many ways, not all
bad. Indeed, many of us have expressed our hopes that the legacy of the
pandemic might be exactly the catalyst we need to turn this world around,
not just for children, but for all of us. At least as many are expressing
fears, because transformation doesn't always naturally happen the way we
want it to. No, the only way the world has ever "turned around" has been
when we make it happen.
This is the inspiration behind Teacher Tom's Play Summit, a free online gathering of early childhood educators and parents taking
place June 21-25. Please join us. Together we will turn this world around.
We've managed to pull together some of the most progressive and
thoughtful people in ECE, from Peter Gray, Lisa Murphy, and Maggie Dent to
the beloved children's troubadour Raffi whose message of "child honouring"
comes directly from the Dali Lama. We have cast a wide net to assemble a
line-up of both established experts as well as less often heard voices
from marginalized communities. The fate of young children is one of the
few issues that can truly unite all of us, and it starts with listening to
children, to one another, and sharing our perspectives from around the
globe.
Maori educator Brenda Souter says, "It's a journey. It's not a
destination . . . And we certainly have not reached it if it is." Ojibwe
teacher Hopi Martin warns, "There is a real need to repair what is lost.
We've got to work together or we're in big trouble." And Denisha Jones,
co-founder of Black Lives Matters in Schools, tells us that first "we have
to liberate ourselves" which is, I think, the most logical next step in
this journey that may not reach its destination in our lifetimes.
But that's okay. As Defending Early Childhood board member and Play
Empowers founder Kisha Reid said to me when last we spoke, "Let's take
over the world!" which is her way of saying "Turn this world
around."
As we hopefully try to emerge from a pandemic, from political and social
turmoil, and as we are finally opening our eyes and ears to the voices of
those less often heard, the time is ripe for transformation, for children,
for all of us, and we are the ones to make it happen.
In consultation with Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is creating “new processes and procedures” for highway projects undertaken in partnership with tribal nations, a stark shift in policy that caused Transportation Commissioner T.W. Shannon to ask frustrated questions of ODOT director Tim Gatz during the restructured Transportation Commission’s meeting Monday.
Paula Lewis will continue to serve as chairperson of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education after winning Tuesday’s general election with about 52 percent of the vote. Challenger and current District 1 Representative Charles Henry walked away with about 48 percent of Tuesday’s vote despite finishing ahead of Lewis in February’s primary. Results […] The post appeared first on NonDoc
Bradley Carter and Barbara Young are headed for the OKC City Council horseshoe. Carter defeated Shay Varnell in the OKC Ward 1 race today, picking up 54 percent of the vote to about 45.6 percent for Varnell. In Ward 3, Young edged out Jessica Martinez-Brooks. Young picked up 57 percent of the vote while Martinez-Brooks […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
Edmond voters selected Darrell Davis as their next mayor today. Davis, who has already served on the Edmond City Council for nine years, received about 62 percent of the vote against homebuilder Nathan Walters. “I am humbled and honored to serve as the 36th Mayor of Edmond,” Davis said in a statement to NonDoc. “I […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
Jake Merrick has won the special election in Oklahoma State Senate District 22, securing the district for Republicans with 65.5 percent of 11,330 total votes cast. He defeated Democrat Molly Ooten. The seat, which was vacated when U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK5) was elected to Congress in November, has been firmly in Republican hands for […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
In today’s election, Norman voters passed a $27 million bond for street projects while Ward 3 voters elected Kelly Lynn over incumbent Alison Petrone. In south Norman, voters re-elected their current board of education president. Lynn, a political newcomer, defeated Petrone with 52.4 percent of the vote, preventing her from earning a second term. All […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
After an executive session during Tuesday’s meeting, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board unanimously voted to deny Epic Charter School’s motion for summary judgement regarding the board’s intent to hold a termination hearing on Epic’s charter authorization. The board also approved May 12 and May 13 as new dates for the charter termination hearing. “I […] The post appeared first on NonDoc
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has nominated Acorn Growth Companies CEO Rick Nagel for a position on the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents. If confirmed, Nagel will fill the seat previously held by Chairman Gary Pierson, who Stitt appointed in 2019 after the death of another regent. “Rick Nagel is passionate about education, and his […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
The Oklahoma Schools Risk Management Trust, a self-insurance pool that provides property and casualty insurance for public school districts in the state, recently sent an email to its 78 member districts saying the program needs an additional $850,000 in order to operate for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year, the cost of which will […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
News coverage of the special election in Senate District 22 — the only legislative seat that will be on the April 6 ballot — has been hampered somewhat by one candidate’s refusal to talk to almost anyone in the press. While Democrat Molly Ooten has done the usual election rounds of interviews and forums, the […] The post appeared first on NonDoc .
Less than a year after television shows Live PD and COPS were canceled amid criticism that the programs were exploitative and racially insensitive, Oklahoma County commissioners approved a contract this morning for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office to be featured in a reality series that will
