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 […]
DeVos and the Domino Effect on State Legislatures
So Betsy is in, or maybe she isn’t. DeVos stands as an example of both the corruption and stupidity of corporate America with its involvement attempting to educate America’s children. Republicans are spineless to confirm her, and Democrats, while united today, have also been complicit in permitting the dismantling of America’s public schools. If you […]
Priorities In a School System Where Nearly Half of Students Live in Poverty
By Laurie Taylor-Mitchell The annual costs for new computers and technology (STAT*) is now $57 million, and over $250 million overall is expected to be spent by 2018. Administrative salaries and costs are also increasing within the school system: the salary budget for the Chief Academic Officer and two other positions is nearly $500,000. In […]
Is the Digital Conversion of Baltimore County’s Schools a Worry for All Schools?
This op-ed first appeared in STAT-us-BCPS A grassroots education coalition working to slow down the high-tech takeover of Baltimore County Public Schools. Check it out and give them your support! What’s the Status of STAT Costs? In a Dozen Years, that Could Be a Billion Dollar Question A year ago, the public first glimpsed the […]
President Trump, Betsy DeVos, and the Elitist Drive to End Public Schooling
Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of social machinery. —Horace Mann President Trump, a billionaire, has demonstrated elitist hatred for our most public democratic institution and its teachers. It is the institution, despite its problems, that has the greatest chance of […]