Education Reform

Letter to Arne Duncan, Guest post by Michelle Slekar

  Arne Duncan, I am deeply offended and insulted by the accusations and down right LIES you are putting out to the press. You really should be ashamed of yourself. I AM a white suburban mom and I worked in the schools with the children you labeled as disabled or minority. THIS tactic will NOT… Read more »

Opt Out Hits a Nerve!

From the Daily News in New York. Teachers unions and the parents who fueled New York’s testing opt-out movement are claiming the hollowest of victories after the refusenik ranks rose a still-to-be-determined amount. In 2014, 60,000 students statewide sat out standardized math and English tests. Guesstimates this year range from 100,000 to a quarter-million of… Read more »

Criminals in Atlanta or Test and Punish Propaganda?

This week we witnessed how amazingly fragile the test and punish paradigm really is.  Teachers were proclaimed criminals for cheating on high stakes standardized tests.  Why?  Not because they are truly criminals. Rather these teachers are now criminals to serve as a warning to those fighting the test and punish system. The message: Our test… Read more »

Teacher Education under attack since 2011: Our Response!

In 2011 I posted the blog below and ticked off some of my teacher education colleagues.  I received messages and notes and voice mails that proclaimed that speaking out in ways that are not “civil” does nothing but hurt our movement. Well check it out and judge for yourself.   HELP! Where are all the credible… Read more »

#optout needs school leaders not politicians.

When I first got involved in the opt out movement I regularly tried to engage  school leaders (principals, superintendents, assessment coordinators) in a positive discussion about the opt out motive.  Things didn’t always go very positively.  Check out an older post that seems incredibly relevant today.   “If you oppose state testing, please contact your… Read more »

Education Reformers HATE public schools! Just being honest.

We have a manufactured crisis in education being pushed on the American people. Everyone from Arne Duncan to Jeb Bush is pushing the “public education crisis” narrative. The “public education crisis” narrative, while being dishonest, is absolutely brilliant. Just think of the work and the time the reformers were willing to put in. They designed a system that… Read more »

Wisconsin Education Policy: Part 1 Hail to the king. Part 2. Let the bodies hit the floor.

Part 1. Once again our elected officials have decided to intervene (here and here) in matters that deal with public education and as usual they continue to muck around—and if they get their way—make things worse for children, but reward campaign donors. First, in a blatant attack on one of our foundational democratic institutions, our elected officials have decided… Read more »

Guest Post: The Eroding Educational Landscape in the State of Wisconsin

Sharon R. Daly Erosion is defined as the gradual destruction or diminution of something. It is an apt term to describe what is happening to education in Wisconsin and in the nation at large due to misguided policies and legislation that are wearing away at the fabric of public education. I have been a teacher for… Read more »

The choice? Closer to the heart.

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice” I remember listening to these lyrics for the first time when I was in middle school.  It was later in my life when I finally “heard” the lyrics. For those of you that can place the lyrics with the song, you know what I’m… Read more »

Wisconsin Senate Bill 1: Less Flogging is still Flogging

As most of you know the Wisconsin House republicans had a hearing on their destroying public schools accountability bill (Assembly Bill #1) a few weeks ago.  Read here for a review of that disastrous day.   It’s now been two days since I went to the capital in Madison to testify against Senate Bill #1.  In case… Read more »