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 […]
Liking Those We Don’t Like: The Dissonance Involved with Supporting Public Schools
Most teachers see the good in everyone. They go into teaching because they care about children, and they take what happens in life personally. They are usually defiantly protective of their turf. Many years ago, I started out disliking the late Benjamin O. Canada, who was superintendent of Atlanta and one of the first school leaders […]
President Obama’s “Bubble” and Our Fear of Losing America’s Democratic Public Schools
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr. We become so secure in our bubbles, that we start only accepting information, whether it’s true or not, that fits our opinions. President Obama’s Farewell Address, January 10, 2017 On Martin Luther King, […]
New Leaders—The Pretend Principals
Most people know about Teach for America (TFA), but who are New Leaders (NL)? New Leaders is to principals what Teach for America is to teachers. Jonathan (Jon) Schnur is the main creator of NL. Like TFA’s Wendy Kopp, Schnur has no education degree. He never was a teacher or a principal. A 2004 braggadocio […]
The Duncan/King Robots and the Revolving Door
Much rejoicing took place Friday when it was first announced that Arne Duncan was leaving the Obama administration early. Social media was a-buzz poking fun at the Secretary of Education who will now ride into the sunset to make money likely in the private sector, probably with something having to do with children. When you […]
Can You Hate Tenure and Love Your Teachers?
The Los Angeles Superior Court has struck down teacher tenure and protections in Vergara v. California. This, by the looks of venomous comments in newspapers, seems to delight some people. Arne Duncan, who represents the Obama administration’s viewpoint, apparently loves it too. See here. Great isn’t it? That the President of the U.S. thinks so […]
Brown v. Board of Education—Still Further Apart than Ever Before On Its Anniversary
On the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education I don’t believe we are working on the issue of school integration in the least when it comes to public schools. Here are the two biggest examples: 1. In 2010, the UCLA Civil Rights Project determined that charter schools “isolate students by race and class” yet charter […]
What President Obama Got Right—Warning—It’s Wild and There Was No Drill!
OK. You don’t like Race to the Top or the corporate education agenda that all presidents subscribe to. Me neither. Maybe you don’t like a lot of President Obama’s policies and can’t wait for a new guy…or gal! I get it. But how can you not appreciate the way President Obama has been practicing his […]