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School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

December 16, 2018 By Nancy Bailey 7 Comments

Florida is a bellwether state. What happens to schools there will move to other states in one form or another. I would like to share a personal story of how I met school choice as a teacher in Florida and how it helped cement in me the desire to advocate for a public school system […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Betsy DeVos, charter schools, Florida, Governor-elect DeSantis, Jeb Bush, Lake Highland Preparatory School, learning disabilities, private schools, public schools, School Choice, School Privatization, vouchers

Quit Saying Special Ed. Costs Too Much! 8 Cost-Cutting Signs to Watch Out For

October 12, 2018 By Nancy Bailey 12 Comments

In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-142. The law guaranteed every child a free appropriate public education. This positively impacted millions of children across the country. The law was later reauthorized and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many politicians never wanted to fund special education. From the start, there was no […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: charter schools, corporate school reform, Funding Special Education, redefining special education, special education, special education paperwork, Special Education Privatization, vouchers

My Blogging Anniversary: How Has School Reform Changed in Five Years?

August 21, 2018 By Nancy Bailey 17 Comments

I recently passed the five-year anniversary of when I started writing my blog. What has changed? In this post, I analyze some of the issues I’ve written about over the years. Then, I thank you for your support. Change or lack of change in education can seem dark and foreboding, but there’s a great deal […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 5th year anniversary, charter schoos, class size, Common Core, data, early childhood education, reading, recess, retention, Social Emotional Learning, special education, standardized testing, Technology, the arts, vouchers

How Do We Stop Bullying? Florida’s New Voucher Scam Doesn’t Ask that Question

March 12, 2018 By Nancy Bailey 9 Comments

Behind bullying behavior we usually find a depressed individual who needs help. We need to understand why a child bullies and get them that help so they will stop bullying. Most people understand how serious the issue of bullying is to children and the country, and how schools should be on the forefront of addressing […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: #Rethink Schools, Bullying, Bullying Behavior, Florida's New Voucher Scam, Gov. Jeb Bush, Patricia Levesque, private schools, Retention of 3rd graders, School Choice, vouchers

Betsy DeVos Goes Trick or Treating for Dyslexia

October 31, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 9 Comments

US Senator Bill Cassidy MD (R-LA) and his wife Dr. Laura Cassidy recently met with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and dyslexia and learning disability organizations to discuss serving children with dyslexia. It’s important to remember five things. Public schools used to do more for students with learning disabilities. Resource classes, general education support, and certified […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Choice, dyslexia, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, learning disabilities, public schools, Sen. Bill Cassidy MD (R-LA), vouchers

Alternative Ed., or Personalized Learning? And Susan Sarandon’s Ad

October 7, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 11 Comments

During this serious time when public schools are under siege and threatened by a tech, anti-teacher, anti-brick-and-mortar schools, and an anything goes takeover, it’s important to define public schools. It goes without saying that public schools should be creative places for learning. Some children, especially those who are at-risk, require different learning environments. The alternative […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: AERO, Alternative Education Resource Organization, charter schools, Choice, Dual Enrollment, Hackerspaces, Homeschooling, Makerspaces, Pay for Success, Personalized Learning, Susan Sarandon, Unschooling, vouchers

IEPs are a Public School Thing: Let’s Not Forget That!

June 16, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 12 Comments

The Governor of Florida and other education reformers seem to have forgotten where Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) started. In this post, I’d like to remind them. The other night I watched the movie Danny Collins. It’s a loosely based true story about a burned out rock star who learns that years earlier he received a […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Danny Collins Movie, disabilities, Florida, Governor Rick Scott, inclusion, Individual Educational Plans (IEPs), Parochial Schools, private schools, privatization, Public Law 94-142, Separation of Church and State, special education, vouchers

Trip Down Memory Lane with Florida’s McKay Vouchers

May 21, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 13 Comments

One more awful bill in Florida is being used to push public schools towards privatization and poor schooling for students. Said to be 55 bills in one, HB 7069 use words like “starvation” to reference funding for public schools. Charters are called “Schools of Hope” even though Florida’s charter school record is dismal. Many Floridians […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: charter schools, Florida, HB 7069, McKay Scholarship Program for Students With disabilities, vouchers

Tennessee Legislators Cry, “Thank God for Memphis!”

April 5, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 3 Comments

Many voucher plans are popping up in state legislatures across the country. Here’s what’s happening in Tennessee. By Jim Gifford No matter what, many Tennessee legislators know a good deal when they see it. If a proposed new bill or untested program concerning public education is considered too risky or is unpopular with the constituents […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Achievement School District (ASD), Betsy DeVos, Memphis, Public School Privatization, Tennessee, Tennessee Legislature, TN Rep. Harry Brooks, TN Sen. Brian Kelsey, Voucher Plans, vouchers

Endrew F., Special Education, and Charter Schools: What’s the Connection?

March 26, 2017 By Nancy Bailey 2 Comments

It requires an educational program reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. In light of the current administration’s push for school choice in the form of vouchers and charter schools, and the selection of Betsy DeVos to be education secretary, […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: charter schools, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (NCSECS), New Orleans, vouchers

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An education glossary with an attitude.

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Do we really want an America where we no longer own our public schools?

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This book says “no” to the reforms that fail, and challenges Americans to address the real student needs that will fix public schools and make America strong.

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