The Oscars are over and I wonder where the celebrities are when it comes to supporting public schools. Especially when so many dislike President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, you would think at least one movie star would champion democratic public schools. Hello out there! Hey Hollywood and beyond! All of you who love […]
Archives for February 2017
A For-Profit Charter ALTERNATIVE School?
A confusing article was just published by USA Today using the term “for-profit charter alternative school.” I’ve never seen a charter school described this way before. Charter schools and alternative schools are two different schools. And since Betsy DeVos is crookedly selling school choice to America, it is important to understand the difference. So I […]
Finland’s School Reforms are Troubling: 4 Reasons Why
Finland’s new curriculum means that schoolchildren will no longer need to sit down quietly in classrooms, since they will instead be able to choose where and how they study. In future there will not necessarily be any traditional enclosed classrooms. —“The Truth About Finnish Schools” This is Finland Finland’s schools have been admired for years. […]
How to Protest Against Betsy DeVos
Our schools are being starved into failure in order to justify mass privatization. —Timothy Meegan, Chicago Sun Times A while back, I attended a meeting at the University of Memphis where many of us were against the Relay Graduate School of Education—a reform group that recruits students out of their chosen careers and supplies unqualified […]
Educating Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVos does not understand what it is like to teach in any school let alone poor public schools. She does not understand what the lives of real teachers and students are like. She does not understand the problems facing many of America’s children. These problems won’t be solved with a voucher. They also won’t […]
Dyslexia, The DeVos Vote, and a Senator’s Lost Credibility
There were several senators who I expected would change their vote on Betsy DeVos. In the end none of them did, and I think they need to called-out. Their votes for DeVos were especially unethical due to their past positions, or where they are from. I will write today about one, William Cassidy, M.D., who […]
Betsy DeVos, Democrats, and Good Theater
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. —Maya Angelou Betsy DeVos I think one thing Betsy DeVos has done is wake […]
When P.E. and 12 Other Activities Masquerade as Recess
As state legislatures make mandates claiming to secure recess in schools, it is important to nail down what they mean when they define recess. There are a lot of canned activities and commercialized gimmicks parading as recess. It is important not to be duped into thinking your child is getting recess when they aren’t. Look […]