Sheila posted this exactly two years ago and her words are still stunning. The post has been recirculating and I wanted to highlight it. Many thanks to Sheila Resseger for her passionate and pointed writing. By Sheila Resseger, M.A. Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only […]
Privatizing Recess: Micromanaging Children’s Play for Profit
You might hear that school recess is returning, but it might not be the recess we have come to know and love, and miss. It is not run by the school, but by a nonprofit called “Playworks: Play and Recess to Support Emotional Learning.” I have written about social and emotional learning before. Many are […]
Trump’s Budget Cuts: Make America Hungry Again
If you have ever spoken to a relative or friend who lived through the Great Depression, you will learn how the little things in life, that most of us take for granted, meant so much during that time. If we are lucky, we will never know the want those who lived through that period experienced. […]
Digitally Damning a Student’s Future with Old Data
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. —Johnny Cash Some colleges and universities […]
Is Betsy DeVos Getting Rid of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services?
Who will Betsy DeVos choose to run the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)? Anyone? Will she leave the position vacant? Will the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services be dismantled? Education Week is reporting she hasn’t chosen anyone yet. One would think, since she didn’t understand the meaning of the […]
The Embedding of AP in American High Schools: The Debate
Questions about whether America’s high schools should drop Advanced Placement (AP) classes, created a debate on social media. The fact that AP is driven by an outside money-making nonprofit, sometimes bothered parents and teachers, but not enough to end AP. Or, it did not seem to matter to some. The overriding question could be why […]
Why Not Ditch Advanced Placement (AP) Classes?
If you have a high school student with college on their mind, chances are you are saving to pay for the myriad of standardized Advanced Placement (AP) tests they will need to take at the end of their classes. Each test, one for each subject, is $93. Students in U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools […]
DeVos and False Claims of Failed Schools: How School Reform Hurts Children
The conviction that the best way to prepare children for a harsh, rapidly changing world is to introduce formal instruction at an early age is wrong. There is simply no evidence to support it, and considerable evidence against it. Starting children early academically has not worked in the past and is not working now. —David […]
Where Are the Celebrities Supporting Democratic Public Schools?
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 […]
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 […]