Nick Hanauer is described as “founder of the public-policy incubator Civic Ventures.” His piece in The Atlantic called “Better Public Schools Won’t Fix America,” is an admission that the corporate message we’ve heard for years that schools will fix the problems of the economy and society is false. Most of us knew this. Here is […]
The PBS NewsHour/Education Week Report About Dyslexia: Biased & Short on Facts
Schools must provide adequate reading programs and reading remediation for students who need more assistance. But the recent report on dyslexia recommending intensive phonics for all children by the PBS News Hour, through Education Week, is irresponsible, short on facts, and presents biased reporting. Education Week receives grants from philanthropic groups that favor school privatization. Here are […]
How is School Choice “Freedom” When Students Lose School Libraries and Librarians?
Libraries allow children to ask questions about the world and find the answers. And the wonderful thing is that once a child learns to use a library, the doors to learning are always open. ~Laura Bush What choice and charter advocates don’t advertise is that most charter schools don’t invest in school libraries with qualified […]
Defining “Educator” During a Teacher Shortage and the Privatization of Public Education
Define educator for America’s schools. It’s critical to nail this down during a teacher shortage and when there are attempts to privatize public schools. We don’t want people with inappropriate or no credentials teaching America’s children and directing their public schools. Ensuring that teachers and administrators are qualified used to be required. Since NCLB, alternative […]
With One Reply, Betsy DeVos Told Us Her Real Plan for America’s Public Schools
In one of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s most troubling responses of both days of testimony, she responded to an inquiry by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) about this nation’s crumbling school infrastructure. It comes about 1:09:45 into the tape (below) from the PBS News Hour. It’s important to remember that she has always said that public […]
Failing Public School Infrastructure Makes Way for Microenvironments
…the nation continues to underinvest in school facilities, leaving an estimated $38 billion annual gap. ~2017 Infrastructure Report on Schools by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Classrooms or microenvironments? For years, the condition of public school facilities has received D ratings from the American Society of Civil Engineers. They claim the gap in funding […]
What Have DeVos, Trump, Congress, and the Wealthy Oligarchs Done to Improve School Safety?
Children are entrusted to us. Students rely on parents and adults in the community to keep them safe. That’s still the case as children grow into teens and beyond. There have been 288 school shootings since 2009. That’s 57 times any other industrialized country. Some question how many shootings actually take place as in this recent […]
All the State Chiefs of Education in a Nutshell
I’ve compiled the list of state school superintendents, commissioners, officers, leaders, CEOs, whatever you want to call them, who are running schools in each state. They’re powerful and responsible for initiating school reform. This includes Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, teacher evaluations, and the digital transformation of public schools. Currently, they’re determining how the […]
88 Reasons Why Children Don’t Read Well, and What to Do About It
The NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) reading scores are flat, and everyone is wondering why. I thought I’d create a list. Why aren’t America’s students reading better? What can schools and parents do about it? I love brainstorming when it comes to teaching reading, as you can tell. Here are some ideas. If you […]
IEPs for All Students? Hold On!
A discussion about IEPs for all students seems to be trending. In an interview with The Nation during the presidential campaign, Jane Sanders talked about IEPs and public schools. It was likely the most we heard about public education at that time. Here are her words. It’s interesting, because we’ve made progress with IEPs [Individualized […]