Oppressive Atmosphere in Schools School is quite regimented and authoritarian. Students are told when they can use the bathroom or blow their noses. They are often asked what they want to be or how much money they want to make, but they are seldom asked what kind of world they want to live… Read more »
I’m going to pause here for just a moment. This is irritating. Not because it’s a new form of the continued testing of students. That’s hardly a surprising thing. This is irritating simply because we’ve known about this for a while. Advocates like Alison Hawver McDowell and Emily Talmage have been talking about this for… Read more »
Jeff Bryant over at Education Opportunity Network writes (and backs up): “No one – not a single source I can find – anticipated Trump would look for education expertise in the deep, dark well he repeatedly seems to draw from – the extremist, rightwing evangelical community.” The bad chef concoction of DeVos, Falwell Jr., Hillsdale… Read more »
Ok, I’m back. The semester is coming to a close, and I just have to finish up my grades, attend a few meetings, and answer about a dozen e-mails from students who didn’t realize they actually had to turn their assignments in to earn a passing grade. What did I miss? What’s all this bitchin’… Read more »
Gotta wonder how much organizations like the Gates-funded NPR helped prime American society for this. By promoting the false narrative of “bad teachers”, “school choice”, the need for “higher standards” and “accountability”, NPR has only fueled the privatization movement. Read this dribble from NPR here. Even now they only tepidly discuss the issues behind vouchers…. Read more »
In the continuing media discussions over why there’s a teacher shortage, this piece from TruthOut showed up today. No, it doesn’t need to be this way. But until we stop supporting the failed political views of corporate Democrats who see public education through the same lens as any run-of-the-mill Republican, nothing is going to change.
You can count me amongst the people who have been worried about the meteoric rise of Cory Booker. He is the neoliberal politician personified and I was a little surprised he didn’t end up as Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential choice. Maybe his views on public education had something to do with it. As Daniel Katz… Read more »
“The President-elect and Vice President-elect then met with Ms. Michelle Rhee and enjoyed an in-depth discussion about the future of public education in our country. This included the possibility for increasing competition through charter and choice schools. They also brought the idea of merit pay for teachers going above and beyond in their classrooms into… Read more »
More on the experiment that is the nuclear option for Western civilization. “Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Education Department, Betsy DeVos, has spent two decades successfully pushing “school choice” in her home state of Michigan — a policy that she and her husband vowed in 1999 would “fundamentally improve education.” Except the track record… Read more »
An excellent article. Even though it’s out of Tennessee, it’s spot-on true for anywhere. Share it with the pro-charter legislator you love to hate. “I explained that there are many ways non-profit charters make money, including: (1) a 39% federal tax credit that allows investors to double their money in seven years; (2) all sorts… Read more »
