Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Many teachers are being bombarded by gifts and thank you notes as they are appreciated for what they do. In Grand Rapids, the YMCA, the science museum, universities, and the local school district, with millions of dollars of funding by “XQ: The Super School,” are conspiring to replace teachers and their […]
Unwrapping Charter School Titles: Where’s the Innovation?
Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music. ~Diogenes Where’s the innovation with choice and charters? Betsy DeVos has said, it’s how you go from a closed system to an open system […]
“Dropout Factories”: The Disparaging & Hypocritical Reference to America’s Public Schools and Teachers
How many times do you hear America’s public high schools called “Dropout Factories?” How do those words make you feel? The general public hears these words and unfairly accepts that our public high schools and the teachers working in them are failing. Dropout Factories were highlighted in the awful anti-public school propaganda film Waiting for […]
14 Devious Claims to Destroy Special Education
Around the country, state education chiefs, local school superintendents, and school boards are eliminating special education services. There’s an effort to get rid of special education. Sometimes, this is done through language that sounds appealing. Who doesn’t want a quality education for all children? Why not declassify students? Do schools need part-time resource classes for […]
Piecemeal Privatization of Arts and Music in Public Schools
So you think you saw the Easter Bunny this morning? But you’re not sure. The current status of the arts and music are like that in our public schools. One might think these subjects are returning, they’re back…or, not really. Just like the hippity-hoppity bunny that moves in lightning speed, privatization of public schools is sneaky […]
How Students Are Hurt By Replacing School Librarians and Libraries with Computers
There are many ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. ~Jacqueline Kennedy Happy School Library Month to school librarians across the country! We have always known librarians and libraries provide vital support to students and teachers in our public schools. But for years school districts have let go […]
Tennessee Legislators Cry, “Thank God for Memphis!”
Many voucher plans are popping up in state legislatures across the country. Here’s what’s happening in Tennessee. By Jim Gifford No matter what, many Tennessee legislators know a good deal when they see it. If a proposed new bill or untested program concerning public education is considered too risky or is unpopular with the constituents […]
Learning & Brain Conference Alert! Making Kids “Happy” in “No-Excuses” Schools
Teaching children to be happy and resilient, to have grit, in a “changing and chaotic world,” and telling parents their children will now need skills “well beyond good test scores,” raises serious questions when you consider the no-excuses schools so many students now attend. I am referring to the upcoming Learning & the Brain conference […]
How to Find Out if A Teacher is Qualified
School districts used to be vigilant about ensuring teachers had state credentials. That no longer appears to be the case. Many online programs are unaccredited, and fast-track teacher preparation programs put almost anyone in the classroom with little educational background. However, a parent has the right to know who’s teaching their child. If you’re a […]
Patty Duke and Helen Keller: Similarities of Greatness
The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrast between the two lives which it connects. – Helen Keller I thought I would revisit a past post remembering Patty Duke […]