SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL SPECIAL Jesse “The Walking Man” Turner has ARRIVED Walked 400 miles from CT to D.C.! Children are more than a test score http://www.badassteacher.org/ Dear Jesse, Congratulations, um, proud of you and respect what you are doing, what you did and what you continue… Read more »

  Jesse Turner‎Children are more than test scores 1 hr · Three miles from DC, three miles to turn this candle into a fire of humanity that takes back childhood for 53 million children being abused by the inhumane policies of test and punish. I have been on this road long enough that my every… Read more »

As was noted today in EdWeek, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan applauded the Senate’s passage of the ESEA rewrite. He particularly touted provisions in the bill that would give states more flexibility from NCLB’s “one-size-fits-all federal mandates” and those that would reduce the burden of testing on classroom time. Duncan also cheered language in the… Read more »

Once again, in case you’ve been living under a rock—to celebrate the 4th of July and America’s independence from tyrants—Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republican party thought the people in Wisconsin were getting tired of translucent government and used the budget process to declare legislative discussions to be “free” from public scrutiny. Surprisingly, (to Walker… Read more »

Can it get any worse in Wisconsin?  I guess the answer to that question is it can always get worse.  I mean at this point we’re only restricting local taxpayers’ freedom to self govern their community schools.  Politicians are only restricting citizens’ freedom to new knowledge?  Corporations are only restricting academics’ freedom to have research agendas… Read more »

No not that one. This one—FASCISM. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism. At this point in time we don’t have a dictator. So scratch that. However, we are witnessing the “suppression of opposition… Read more »

MADISON, Wis. – A sweeping proposal giving control of the lowest-performing schools in Milwaukee to a commissioner who could fire all the teachers and administrators might also apply to other large, racially diverse school districts in Wisconsin, including Madison. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, approved the overhaul plan for Milwaukee. The… Read more »

Now that opt out season is coming to a close and schools have moved on to field days and violating copyright laws by showing Disney movies in classrooms there is an interesting conversation emerging here in Wisconsin. What happens if the common core test (the Badger test) we gave isn’t scored? Seriously!  In Wisconsin we… Read more »

Two weeks ago at the Network for Public Education‘s conference, Yong Zhao challenged the entire concept of “readiness.”  His speech was hilarious and moving and I encourage you to check it out.  But I want to focus on one specific phrase that Yong presented us with: “Children do not need to be ready for kindergarten…. Read more »

Originally appeared 2/21/2011 in Huffington Post. Well, my son and I haven’t reached a decision about carrying out the Bartleby project. We are starting to lean towards organizing others in the community to “opt out” of the testing week and plan for a host of alternative educational endeavors. However, since posting my last blog, my… Read more »