When hanging the flag, please stop and think about public education, freedom, and what schools could be like. So much has been done to privatize schools that they may be a shell of their potential. Corporate reformers have changed how America’s students are educated, and politicians from both parties have, for years, evaded, ignored, or facilitated […]
Fighting for a Public School for Students with Autism and Neurodiversity: Choices Parents Want
For years, parents of children with special needs have demanded classroom inclusion. They want a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in general classes, the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). But in Philadelphia, parents want a public school for students with autism and neurodiversity. They recognize that their students are not getting the resources or teachers they […]
Who’s Behind PBS News Hour’s Gloomy Reporting About Student Learning?
Arne Duncan (Obama) and Margaret Spellings (G. W. Bush), noneducators and former education secretaries, recently appeared on PBS News Hour, Study shows parents overestimate their student’s academic progress to dash any hope parents might have that their children are doing well in school. Who’s behind such gloomy reporting? Here’s how PBS begins, and here’s the survey: […]
How Stressing Preschoolers and Kindergarteners Could Lead to Mental Health Problems
There has been a pushdown of academic expectations for years, and Americans should be asking how much stress this causes all students, especially our youngest learners. If a child struggles in preschool or kindergarten, it might be due to pressure. Why force children to rush through preschool and kindergarten to learn skills that never would […]
The Murky World of i-Ready, Grading, and Online Data
Many school districts use Curriculum Associates i-Ready in their classrooms for reading and math, but there appears to be program murkiness. There’s concern that teachers might rely on iReady data for grading rather than their professional expertise. I-Ready provides teachers with data reports of student results, but teachers never see the child’s online responses. They […]
Charters and Vouchers to Destroy Virginia’s Public Schools Will Involve Questionable Data Collected on Children
Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin is wasting no time setting the wheels in motion to destroy public education in Virginia, considered the fourth-best public school system in the country. If he manages to do this, it will add to America’s already ominous future of free public schooling, school ownership shifted to big business instead of constituents. Most […]
Democrats the Education Party? Stop Promoting that Message
I’m sorry Democrats didn’t do better last night because they might be somewhat better for public education. Maybe they will regroup and come back stronger for real public education and teacher support. Last night during the election results, the media portrayed Democrats as the education party, but for years Democratic policymakers have turned on teachers […]
The Pictures Children Take of Their World
History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children. ~Nelson Mandela What kind of pictures of the world are children taking as they get ready to return to school? We cannot control all the news, but we should be mindful of how children observe us and how we fit […]
Independence Day and the Loss of America’s Democratic Public Schools
Politicians talk a lot about democracy, especially while referring to threats from other countries. What about the destruction of what should be the most democratic institution in this country—America’s public schools? Many Americans of both parties seem unworried about handing public education over to the wealthy who want to privatize those schools and use them […]
Green Schools: Are they Child and Teacher Friendly and Public?
Environmentally friendly school facilities are critical. Teaching students environmental awareness and how to be good stewards of the earth is imperative. But are new green school buildings encompassing a whole curriculum? Are they practical, focused on the environment and the students, supportive of real teachers, designed to be democratic and public, or are they about […]