I would like to put forth a proposal. What could the Lee County School Board do to make everyone happy or at least happier? I have an idea. Patricia Levesque, CEO of Tallahassee-based Foundation for Excellence in Education, Jeb Bush’s group, put out a long statement expressing “deep disappointment” in “abandoning” the tests. She mentioned […]
Who Owns Your Schools? In Lee County, Florida They Belong to Parents and Children
For years now, I’ve wondered who owns school boards. Venture philanthropists come into cash-strapped districts and suddenly parents and citizens find their voices no longer matter. Anyone with the right amount of money, well-meaning or not, can take over how schools in that district will be run and what students will learn. Is that about […]
Testing Kindergartners and a Rise in Disabilities: Is There A Connection?
Why are children, no matter rich or poor, showing up with more disabilities—especially ADHD? Here is USA Today telling about the report in Pediatrics. Could it be because they are being pushed harder than ever before, with less, if any, recess or breaks? Perhaps they’re tired of school, or all that Common Core stuff is […]
The Continuing Bizarre Message That We MUST Test Students with Severe Disabilities—Say NO!
I wish I were a judge and had some of these ed. reformers who believe tests are more important than children come before me. Honestly. I’d send them to jail. Mandates written to play Gottcha with children’s services, intentionally designed to get rid of services and teachers, are wrong. America shouldn’t be the place to […]
Why the Education Reformers Worry about Special Education
Posted on November 12, 2013 with updated changes by Nancy Bailey I heard someone, a parent or teacher, blurt out at an informal education meeting that education reformers are afraid of special education. I think that person is right. Many of those currently in charge of condemning public schools don’t understand anything about students with […]
The Soulless Practice of Using Students with Disabilities to Fire Teachers—Remembering a Better World
How’s this for compassion in the new public school accountability world? By now most people have read about the Ethan Rediske situation in Orlando. The 11 year old, blind, with brain damage and cerebral palsy, as he lay dying in a Hospice, was required to take an alternative version of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test […]