Betsy DeVos is gearing up for another tour, this time in the South. Chalkbeat shared the questions she is asking about schools. Here I try to interpret her questions with answers to what she is really getting at. I believe her questions are related to technology and “disruption” in education. The drive is to transform […]
Who Arne Duncan is Today Speaks To His Past Role as Education Secretary
Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently stepped away from his ventures to discuss his new book How Schools Work: An Inside Account of Failure and Success from One of the Nation’s Longest Serving Secretaries of Education. Few teachers were impressed with Duncan in this role. He never worked in a school. He’d never been a […]
Betsy DeVos Conquers the World: The Global Education Reform Movement (GERM)
Education in almost every country in the world is subject to the grip of education ‘reform’ which is diminishing public schooling, promoting privatisation and destroying teacher professionalism. It aims to produce a narrowly educated workforce, which can read instructions and advertisements but is discouraged from thinking critically about the world. ~UK’s National Education Union Betsy […]
Schools, and a Country’s Children: Remembering a Gentler (Not Perfect) Past
This is our land. These are our children. We’re all in it together. ~Brochure for the Van Buren Intermediate School District, Project NOMAD (Needs and Objectives for Migrant Advancement and Development), 1972 and 1973. In the early seventies, as a young college student, I became an aide for two summers, in the Michigan Migrant Education […]
Why Merging DOE with DOL is Wrong! Education is for Children, NOT Corporations
Moms and Dads, when you looked into your newborn’s eyes for the first time, did you think, I wonder what job our government will steer our baby into? A merger of the Department of Education (DOE) with the Department of Labor (DOL) is about just that. Here’s a quote from this administration’s manual called “Delivering […]
“Stop, Thieves!” DeVos & Company Drive Deregulation and the End of Public Education
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries; But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor’s garden, and squeezed under the gate! First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes; And then, feeling rather sick, he […]
In DeVos Interview, Lesley Stahl Went Where Few Journalists Go
It’s been a long time since any journalist has defended public schools with the kind of punch we saw with veteran journalist Lesley Stahl. It was refreshing to say the least. Stahl has a book out about being a grandmother, so maybe she’s got the children of America on her mind more intensely these days. […]
6 Concerns: Are “Community Schools” Paving the Way for School Choice and Digital Instruction?
Here is how the Coalition of Community Schools defines their concept of community schools. A community school is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger […]
The Sad Impact of Corporate School Reform on Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities
We have a lot of troubled kids. As of 2016, approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. HERE. Schools should be on the front line to assist children and adolescents with mental health difficulties. But […]
Elephant in the Room: It’s the Tech Takeover, NOT Common Core
We are in danger of losing public schools and it’s all about “disruption” and technology. The federal government is leading the way. Common Core State Standards were unproven and costly. I hate what Common Core did to children. Common Core and other school problems are still worth discussing. But technology and its overwhelming impact on […]