Once upon a time, this country waited for Superman to save its schools. Teachers are today’s Superheroes. They face this crisis with strength and determination. The elite can write their blueprints. It’s the teachers who get the job done. The country should be hiring, not firing, its teachers. The Learning Policy Institute reports grim statistics about […]
Public School “Reimagine” and “Revolution” Hypocrisy: Put Them Out to Pasture!
Teachers and parents on the frontlines of this pandemic should be given control of how their schools are reimagined in the future. When this crisis ends, they should be given the voice on how to bring back democratic public schools and make them their own. Any revolution surrounding schools is theirs. Those who foisted unproven and […]
Who’s Behind America’s Superintendents and School Transformation?
The School Superintendents Association (AASA) recently met in San Diego. Superintendents from around the country gathered to discuss what they saw as important to school leadership and public education. The future of education was a prominent theme of the meeting, with the overall focus on one word, transformation. They saluted digital and futuristic learning, reflected […]
Pressuring Parents to Teach Their Kindergartners to Read: The New Norm?
Ahh. There’s no place like home, especially if you’re a kindergartner whose been sitting and working all day on phonics worksheets, or seated in front of a screen doing reading exercises. Once you get off that school bus it will be time to finally make a break for it. Play awaits! Looking at those pictures […]
Organizations with the Audacity to Blame Teachers for Poor NAEP Reading Scores!
The latest “criticize teachers for not teaching the ‘science’ of reading” can be found in “Schools Should Follow the ‘Science of Reading,’ say National Education Groups” in the Gates funded Education Week. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds most of the organizations in this report that criticize public schools and teachers for low NAEP […]
After the Confession: How Will They Fix the Damage Done to Public Schools?
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. […]