Many well-prepared educators have spent years teaching and leading schools and are well-prepared to improve public education, even making our schools the best in the world! Instead, Trump chose an education secretary, Linda McMahon, who could lead the final knockdown of America’s public schools. More about McMahon in a minute. Trump, Musk, and Maga Republicans […]
Sal Khan and AI Reimagined Schools: Questions and Concerns
Recently, 60 Minutes showcased Sal Khan, known for the popular Khan Academy, describing Sal Khan’s Khanmigo, a new AI-powered program promising to revolutionize teaching by giving students an online personal tutor. Here’s Khan’s TED talk, “How AI Could Save (Not Destroy) Education,” Khanmigo’s format, feedback, and human-like online conversation and interactions are clever and innovative. […]
Republican Kids in Public Schools Also Lack Mittens
A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or food. If you say to that person, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you do not give what that person needs, your words are worth nothing. In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead. […]
Honor President Carter: Save and Improve the U.S. Department of Education!
President Jimmy Carter, a peacemaker and human rights activist, improved public schooling by establishing the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), removing it from its less significant place in Health and Human Services. Carter seemed keen to unite people; a USDOE aligns with that thinking. As the nation mourns and celebrates President Carter, it’s ironic that […]
Give the Gift of Removing Reading Pressure on Kindergartners!
This holiday season, give children the gift of reading. One of the best ways to do that is to relieve the pressure of insisting they read early. Some children might pick up reading when they’re very young, but others will learn a little later, and there’s nothing wrong with this. However, children who are made […]
How Assessment and Data are Used to Stigmatize Children as Failing
School districts continue to purchase high-cost commercialized tests that depersonalize teaching, stigmatize children and schools as failing, and build public distrust. Assessment should inform educators and parents about where children are academically and behaviorally, but it doesn’t appear to improve learning. Current tests appear to primarily be used to collect data, invading a child’s and […]
Education: The Democratic Party’s Working-Class Issue
If the Statue of Liberty opened the gateway to this country, public education opened the door to attainment here. Schools like my sister’s Buffalo State Teachers College and CCNY have served as the Harvards and Princetons of the poor. And they served us well. I am, consequently, a champion of public secondary and higher education. […]
Closing the U.S. Department of Education: A LOSS for Children with Disabilities
Donald Trump just proclaimed the Project 2025 agenda in 10 points about education. As expected, this includes dismantling the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), responsible for many federal laws protecting students. This post will focus on the loss of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Many believe that states and local school districts […]
Ending School Vouchers: Finding Hope for Public Schools
Searching for hope after this election, it seems many people see through the deceptive promise of school choice. There’s danger that the new administration may ignore this, but let’s hope not. Public schools were hardly discussed this election, and that’s a shame, because saving them is essential for our democracy. America needs a strong public […]
Children and the Presidency: X-Rated or Fine for Prime Time?
As the election approaches, the stakes of how and what children learn, what they see and hear from both Presidential candidates, couldn’t be more different and critical for the future of America’s children. Breaking it down for kids, one candidate is X-rated, and the other is fine for prime time! For years, former President Trump’s […]