My new website covers Activism and School Curriculum and I still have the Blog. It is more manageable now. Point and clink on the title and the link should appear. The Activism site focuses on groups , organizations and people who are currently working to oppose the harmful reform taking place in our public schools. […]
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 […]
Common Core State Standards Don’t Rhyme With Individual Educational Plans
Originally Posted on October 3, 2013 by Nancy Bailey Think about it. Common Core State Standards do not rhyme with Individual Educational Plans. Say it slowly. Listen to the words. They don’t go together. The whole point of CCSS is for everyone to get to the same standard. It is the same goal. You can […]
The Lawsuits Students Really Deserve in New York City and the Rest of the Country!
Aren’t there some fine lawyers who would, preferably with pro-bono work, support families who have children with disabilities, all kinds of disabilities, or children who have second language hurdles, or the really really poor children, to sue the charter operators and their rich donors for denying these students a slot in their elite charter schools? […]
Could it End High-Stakes Testing?—The Bizarre Practice of Irrelevant Testing of Students with Severe Disabilities
Could the odd practice of using high-stakes testing to test students with severe disabilities put an end to America’s obsession with high-stakes testing overall? There is nothing that speaks to individual differences more than students like Ethan Rediske. America may have lost Ethan, but his mom, Andrea Rediske, and Orange County Public School board member […]
Florida Teachers Get VAMED Only a Week After the Death of Ethan Rediske
Floridians get to look up their teachers’ test scores now, courtesy of The Florida Times Union (they actually went to court for this), even though it is just a week after the death of Ethan Rediske. Tell me, Times Union Editor Frank Denton, how did his teacher do? If you aren’t one of the many […]
Do Americans Love Their Children?—Yes! Many of them DO!
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (New International Version) A while back I was talking with a friend about school problems, and she surprised me by saying “America doesn’t love its children!” I was taken aback. I’d never […]
It’s What President Obama Didn’t Say about Education in the State of the Union Address….
The president, of course, could not speak about all the following disputes in one State of the Union Address. But the problem is he rarely speaks about these issues with the American people. There is little, if any, discussion or debate. The president might be surprised to find not everyone approves of his education policies. […]
Misguided Education Reform
A nice thing that happened to me this past year was the publishing, back in July, of my book, Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students, by R & L Books (Rowman & Littlefield). It covers many of the same topics you will find on my blog. I discuss special education which might be […]
Huge Class Sizes and the Increase in Student Mental Health Problems—Connect the Dots!
The New York Times has an article having to do with large class sizes. It’s all about the push to put more kids in classrooms and schools with fewer teachers and specialists. This is happening around the country in every school. It is happening without any thought to the recent tragic events in our public […]