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 […]
Learning Management Software: Necessary Tool, or Wasteful Cash Cow in the Time of Covid-19?
By Darren Victory One thing is clear: Teaching in the age of COVID is no picnic. Teachers, students, and caregivers are struggling to navigate the ongoing crisis in ways that preserve their emotional and physical health. It all feels so chaotic, so disorganized, and at times so… impossible. No wonder wine sales have shot through […]
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 […]
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 […]
Technology or Books? The Right Book for Christmas and the Holidays
When I was a child, my aunt and uncle, who lived in Chicago, would always send me a cool present for Christmas. I would eagerly run home from school looking for that package attached to the mailbox. It would be wrapped in brown paper and string. The packaging paper would be removed on Christmas Eve, […]
Missing an S for Science in the STEM Frenzy
In the midst of the hype about STEM, what happened to science in public schools? Two recent reports in Education Week bemoan the stunning loss of both chemistry and physics in high schools across the country. Three out of five secondary schools don’t offer chemistry! When they do, there’s disparity. Poor African Americans and Hispanic […]
Require Ed. Secretary Betsy DeVos to Teach in a Public School
Betsy DeVos and any corporate reformer who impacts school policy should be required to spend at least a month each year teaching in a public school classroom. DeVos just attended Gov. Jeb Bush’s ExcelinEd meeting in Nashville. Let Jeb Bush and his corporate friends and politicians who drive corporate reform also teach for a month. […]
Learning and Happiness: The Problem with Social-Emotional Learning
Happiness is a real factor when it comes to learning. It’s important to a child’s identity formation and how they relate to their environment (see study below). But can you teach happiness? There’s a push for social-emotional learning (SEL) which leads some to think that happiness can be taught. But SEL is not what it […]
Educating Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVos does not understand what it is like to teach in any school let alone poor public schools. She does not understand what the lives of real teachers and students are like. She does not understand the problems facing many of America’s children. These problems won’t be solved with a voucher. They also won’t […]
Warped Message: Avoid the Classroom
US News and World Report just printed an article that will do absolutely nothing to motivate anyone to go into teaching. Why? The title is “Pursue an Education Career but Stay Out of the Classroom.” Listen, US News and World Report: The most important job in schooling is classroom teaching. Everything else is periphery. Ask […]