Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It doesn’t have the hyperactivity of other holidays. And it isn’t dominated by one religion or another, although it certainly, for many, is religious. While there are certainly attempts to drag commercialism into the day, people, in general, seem to recognize it is a quiet time–simply to enjoy […]
Misusing Data in Regard to Public Schools
Data collection could be used positively and privately to lift students and teachers and create great public schools. But the fear is that data is currently misused in many ways. Data has also been used to misrepresent America’s schools. Parents have often been deceived, or data collection has been a waste of time because the […]
If Public Schools Fail, Why Do Prestigious Universities Admit Their Students?
Whenever you hear about public schools today people use the word failure, others go so far as to call them dropout factories. So if they are so bad, if we really have such a crisis, why are some of our most prestigious universities still admitting the majority of their students from public schools? Corporate reform […]
The Role of Public Schools in the NFL Scandal
The NFL is in a tight spot right now. They don’t want to lose their talent and the dollars that might come with a championship. But they are in danger of losing their image. Domestic and child abuse are ugly topics, when they surface. They provoke intense emotions. It’s been difficult to watch the different […]
Lessons From M. Mouse: Or, How I *BELIEVED* Disney Could Help Public Schools
A forest of thorns shall be his tomb! Borne through the skies on a fog of doom! Now go with the curse, and serve me well! ‘Round Stefan’s Castle, CAST MY SPELL! ―Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent casting her spell to stop Prince Phillip In 1991, I obtained credit for renewing my teaching certificate by attending an […]
Robin Williams and Lessons to Be Learned About Kids with Mental Illness in Public Schools
I have been reminded that Robin Williams died of a particularly severe neurological disease called Lewy Body Dementia. This is not a psychiatric disorder, so it is incorrect to associate Williams to mental illness. Unfortunately, this is an older post and the title is stuck. Still, the information about schools and mental illness I hope […]
New Website Entries
Back in August I passed the two year mark since I started this blog! Today I would like to draw your attention to many wonderful blogs, websites and books about education which I have been collecting like rare coins for the last year. I already listed many others when I first started this crusade. Check […]
Happy Father’s Day to Dads Who Speak Out: Keep Up the Great Work!
As a teacher, I once arrived at my classroom early in the morning to find a father of one of my students quite upset. I shakily ushered him into the classroom where he proceeded to lecture me about what his son had missed out on in school, up to that point, and what he believed […]
Au Revoir NOLA Public Schools
They can call charter schools public schools all they want. They will never be public until they accept ALL children and hire credentialed teachers, led by actual school administrators who understand children and how they learn. How sad for New Orleans. How sad for a country that was conned into thinking charters were going to […]
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 […]