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 […]
Investigating the Corporate Fingerprints in the Media Attacks on Teachers and Colleges of Education
A media rollout of criticism towards teachers and their COEs mostly over reading, has fueled debate about what teachers know about teaching. Are these reports what they seem, or is something else going on? None of these commentaries look at the effects of Common Core State Standards. Look closely and one finds corporate school reform fingerprints. If reformers […]
Diane Ravitch’s Education “Wisdom and Wit” is Critical at this Time
We will someday view this era as one in which the nation turned its back on its public schools, its children, and its educators. We will wonder why so many journalists and policymakers rejected the nation’s obligation to support public education as a social responsibility, and accepted the unrealistic, unsustainable promises of entrepreneurs and billionaires. […]
Teacher Age Discrimination Hurts Students!
Rejecting veteran teachers to keep them from moving up the ladder for pay increases means students miss out on getting to know and learn from elderly people. Teach for America is popular because they remain at the bottom rung of the funding ladder and leave after a few years. This creates a revolving door of […]
Love OUR Public Schools: Children & Their Teachers!
On this one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, I am remembering the students and their parents and teachers, especially those who lost loved ones. MSD represents a great public school. Beyond the sadness of that day, we saw what a good public school can be. We saw loving, supportive parents. […]
The Headband Obsession With Student Concentration
Headbands created to collect information about student attending behavior are the latest trend. Adults monitor and gather information from students’ brains to see if they stay focused on schoolwork. Here’s the Vulcan Post that discusses Neeuro, from just one company jumping on the headband bandwagon. This falls into the social-emotional “good behavior” and “self-regulation” learning […]
Social-Emotional Learning and Teachers Students Love? Teachers in Los Angeles!
Social-emotional learning (SEL) in schools makes many parents and teachers nervous. We worry there’s an ulterior motive to collect behavioral data on how children think and act, and that the ultimate goal is to privatize public schools and track students. Talk about transforming our public schools away from cognitive learning to SEL is everywhere! Those […]
Teach for America: Their Harmful Effect on Special Education
Since 1990, America has put many school children, usually poor, in classrooms with Teach for America Corps Members (CMs) who get five weeks of training. They’ve also placed novices in special education classrooms. Many corporations and individuals donate to this group, undermining professional teachers who commit to teaching as their choice of a career. There’s […]
How School Reform, Including Common Core, Has Devastated Children and Their Joy of Learning to Read
School reform has taken a toll on children starting in kindergarten (even preschool). There’s little doubt that children are being forced to learn to read earlier than ever before. The reading gap likely reflects the developmental differences found in children when they are forced to read too soon. Why are schools doing this? Forcing kindergarteners […]
Nineteen For 2019: Choose This, NOT That, to Save Public Education in the New Year!
1. Kindergarten NOT The New First Grade Kindergartners should be treated like the four and five-year-old students that they are and not pushed to be first graders. The activities and instruction for this age group are well established. Real educators should take charge and ensure that there’s much free play and age appropriate activities. 2. […]