Education Reform

It’s Opt Out Season: Let the Bullying Begin.

It must be opt out season. How do I know? Child abuse is rampant. It is abuse when you threaten a child with false consequences to make them and their parents submit to a meaningless standardized test. Using fear to elicit behavior is abuse. However, for some reason adults in schools seem to have no… Read more »

Mandatory Civics Test: A “good idea” to deny Ethnic Studies?

This is my third post concerning Representative James Edming’s good idea to use the budget process to thwart democracy and require all Wisconsin students to pass a civics test before they can graduate (Using the budget process to pass legislation without debate is NOT on the civics test). At first I thought it was just a… Read more »

Wisconsin’s mandatory Civics test: State mandated racism by omission.

A few months ago I wrote about about opting out of the new “mandatory” civics test that recently became a graduation requirement in Wisconsin.  Remember, this is the test that  Representative James “Jimmy Boy” Edming thought was “a good idea.”  I also went on Capital City Sunday with Representative Terese Berceau to talk about the problems associated… Read more »

AFT and NEA: Killing Teacher Education in the Name Of…?

FACT: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was brought to you via bipartisanship, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and “others.” ESSA creates unaccountable, fast-track teacher certification academies that operate independently from colleges and universities. These academies offer a certificate that must be recognized as the “equivalent of at least a Master’s… Read more »

BustED Pencils Trending News: Special Birthday!

Happy 13th Birthday Lacey! Our Very Own BustED Pencils Student Correspondent Turns 13! Lacey Slekar – our Newest Student Hero Lacey Slekar – our Newest Student Hero Lacey Slekar addresses School Board   Get BustED Pencils Trending News to come right to your in-box! Enter your email under “SUBSCRIBE” on our Home or Trending News page at bustedpencils.com

A Right-Wing Delusion: ESSA is “leftist and progressive” victory.

Since the passage of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Every Student Succeeds Act)—pundits are either confused or simply just acting out their part in this never ending nightmare. Being a “leftist” I typically don’t read The Pulse 2016.  However a short post from The Pulse was sent my way this morning. And so… Read more »

Dear PARCC, Guest post by Justin Escher Alpert

Dear Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers: Congratulations on the PARCC test reports finally coming out.  It will be great for the kids to come back from the holidays to work on where they fell short last spring.  Thanks for bringing it back up.  Without your efforts, it would be very hard… Read more »

Dear Teacher Education “Leaders”

As I am sure you know by now, ESSA passed the Senate and is headed for the President’s signature.  Not good news for teacher education. If you’re confused by that statement please take some time to read Ken Zeichner’s piece in the Washington Post.  The new realities facing “traditional” teacher education are frightening. Question: Can we… Read more »

ESSA: Losing the Next Generation!

The biggest problem with NCLB, RttT, and now the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is simple!  They are an unimaginative repackaging of compliance training for the masses. To call them “education” bills is asinine. They are protective and politically motivated distractions. They destroy each generation’s one moment to change the world. The first remain first… Read more »

Revolutionary Civics for All.

“It’s so important for students to feel their role as the office of a citizen!” Isidore Starr The quote above illustrates beautifully what we are throwing away when we mandate the regurgitation of rote knowledge about government. However, come to Wisconsin and share in the ignorance that is unintelligent legislation without deliberation. Because starting next year,… Read more »