Jewell Elementary & Aurora Public Schools Skirt Law

Letter sent to Colorado State Board of Education, as well as media, senators who sponsored bill, Aurora Education Association, Aurora superintendent office and Aurora school board. Dear Board Members, I wrote to you last week concerning PARCC incentives that are occurring at Jewell Elementary in the Aurora Public School District. See here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/03/08/school-offers-incentives-to -get-kids-to-take-common-core-standardized-test/?utm_term=.ac09ab89615a  The… Read more »

Jewell Elementary Offers PARCC (CMAS) Incentives

On Friday, March 3rd, Jewell Elementary parents received a letter regarding PARCC incentives. Yes – it’s THAT time of year. Many Colorado schools refer to PARCC as CMAS. To catch new readers up to speed before I launch into the information about PARCC incentives, let me give you a quick recap. I taught at Jewell… Read more »

BustED Pencils Trending News: Vouchers Suck.

It’s been decades since a bunch of blockheads decided to listen to Milton Friedman’s idea that public education should be funded through a voucher system that allows parents a school of their “choice.”  After all the invisible hand of the free market would make American schools “great again.” However, just this week we find out… Read more »

Let’s Change Teacher Licensure to Address the Teacher Shortage: FAILURE!

“Teachers are leaving the classrooms in droves all across the state and enrollment in teacher education programs is plummeting. We have a teacher exodus problem. Our elected officials will use this as evidence of a “teacher shortage” and then lower standards and allow a warm body approach to classroom staffing. There is no “shortage.” Those… Read more »

BustED Pencils Trending News: Resistance!

Stark.  Bleak. Depressing. etc. Have you used any of these words to describe your sense of the world lately?  Hey it’s hard not to.  But let’s not forget that the solutions we seek and the remedy for this malaise is within each of us. So in that spirit here are three stories of resistance—with endings… Read more »

BustED Pencils Trending News: Betsy Blocked!

Brand spanking new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was blocked from entering a public school in Washington D.C.  Don’t believe us?  Take a look for yourself.   http://wjla.com/news/local/video-protesters-block-education-secretary-devos-from-entering-dc-school http://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/protesters-greet-betsy-devos-outside-dc-middle-school http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/betsy-devos-blocked-protesters_us_589de192e4b03df370d5b4aa

Fired For A Day. Guest post by Michelle Gunderson.

Our school system is falling apart, and what solution do Rahm Emanuel and his appointed school CEO, Forrest Claypool have? Firing us for four days. It might seem as an extreme statement, but that is essentially what we are experiencing. Chicago teachers have been furloughed for four days, and today is one of them. Our… Read more »

The Achievement Gap: Now Closed by the Alternate Executive Order

Amidst all the furor (Did I spell that right?), the derisive snickering, and those silly pink cat hats that surrounded the water coolers during these first few days of the new administration, it went virtually unnoticed that the Trump administration’s greatest triumph thus far is the end of the Achievement Gap. It’s sooooo over. Over…. Read more »