The Supreme Court may be poised to erode the Separation of Church and State further when it comes to public education, with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. This involves Oklahoma’s St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School’s attempt to become the nation’s first publicly funded religious virtual charter school. St. Isidore is […]
RFK Jr., Autism, and Education: The Wrong Person for Progress
Never underestimate the abilities of those with disabilities. ~Eunice Kennedy Shriver Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent comments about autism, including describing it as a “disease,” created an uproar. Kennedy seems to be on a fishing expedition for a cure; one gets the feeling he still wants to blame vaccines, and his stigmatizing comments that autism […]
Dismantling Public Education: No Laughing Matter!
Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone… ~Joni Mitchell Many educators and parents found it painful watching Donald Trump sign off on dismantling the US Department of Education (USDOE). For those who taught and continue to teach and parent activists fighting for public education, observing billionaires and state […]
Republican Kids in Public Schools Also Lack Mittens
A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or food. If you say to that person, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you do not give what that person needs, your words are worth nothing. In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead. […]
Education: The Democratic Party’s Working-Class Issue
If the Statue of Liberty opened the gateway to this country, public education opened the door to attainment here. Schools like my sister’s Buffalo State Teachers College and CCNY have served as the Harvards and Princetons of the poor. And they served us well. I am, consequently, a champion of public secondary and higher education. […]
Ending School Vouchers: Finding Hope for Public Schools
Searching for hope after this election, it seems many people see through the deceptive promise of school choice. There’s danger that the new administration may ignore this, but let’s hope not. Public schools were hardly discussed this election, and that’s a shame, because saving them is essential for our democracy. America needs a strong public […]
Children and the Presidency: X-Rated or Fine for Prime Time?
As the election approaches, the stakes of how and what children learn, what they see and hear from both Presidential candidates, couldn’t be more different and critical for the future of America’s children. Breaking it down for kids, one candidate is X-rated, and the other is fine for prime time! For years, former President Trump’s […]
Project 2025: Ending Public Education for Students with Disabilities
The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expense of it. ~John Adams, President and Statesman, 1758 The Fourth of July always makes me think of freedom and free public schools for all America’s children, including students with disabilities. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 […]
The Public Ed Threat Behind the Knowledge Building Curriculum
Knowledge Building is used to market curriculum programs, many of which are online, but what does it mean? It seems that Knowledge Building highlights technology and moves children to a place where they won’t need teachers or public schools, at least not the kind we are familiar with. Knowledge Building makes some sense, making it deceptive. […]
America’s Need for Immeasurable Outcomes: Valuing the Humanities
In Immeasurable Outcomes: Teaching Shakespeare in the Age of the Algorithm, Gayle Greene, professor emerita at Scripps College, raises serious questions about the loss of the humanities. The problems she tells us begin in K12, with a cold focus on accountability, reducing students to test scores and algorithms with students facing screens instead of teachers. […]