Action Alert This Thursday, the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee is voting on a voucher bill that would divert more than $1 billion tax dollars to fund private and religious education. Without strong public opposition, this bill is likely to become law by the end of February. The bill’s supporters are trying to sneak […]
Hey Tea Partiers: We’re Ready to Help You Take Our Country Back
January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
If the angry Tea-Partiers would turn off their hate radio and Faux News for a few days, they may begin to realize that the source of their anger is not that there is black Kenyan in their White House or that Nancy Pelosi is trying to turn Stillwater into San Francisco or that the socialist-fascist-communist […]
Christie’s Charter Miracles Turn Mirage Under Closer Inspection
January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
From Bob Braun at Star-Ledger: So — what’s the problem? Why can’t the state tell the truth about charter schools? Why does the governor have to be asked repeatedly to be fair about comparing charter schools with conventional schools? He’s such a fan of charters, you’d think — prosecutor that he was — he’d jump […]
Democracy Breaking Out in Land of the Oligarchs
January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yes, that’s right–the USofA. From AlterNet: January 31, 2011 | Note: The article below reprinted from FireDogLake by David Dayen recounts the events of Sunday’s protest against the Koch brothers in Rancho Mirage, CA. The demonstration signals a series of promising developments for progressive groups and activists. Notably, the event was marked by an […]
Duncan’s Plans: NCLB on Steroids
January 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Good Op-Ed on Christie’s Charter Scam
January 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Asbury Park Press: It is well known that many New Jersey schools are failing. They suffer high dropout rates and have many students who cannot read or do math at grade level. Criticizing our schools this way is far too easy, however; it is like taking candy from the young children of New Jersey. Yet […]
Wake County Gang of Five and AFP Push Forward to Corral Poor Children in Charters
January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As the Tea Partiers in Wake County celebrate the return to segregated high-poverty and low achievement schools, the local Republican Women’s Club is spreading the word on the corporate solution–charter testing camps–for the “failing schools” that will doubtlessly result from this new policy of containment and segregation of the poor. So besides the social preference […]
Just wanted to #brag
January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I can toot my own horn from time to time. I want to point out that a recent article I wrote on HuffPo is getting a lot of play. Check out the share information below. Kind of crazy, for an education article. [Sorry Daniel if your name is there].
Weekend Reading
January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
New: Adding Up the Spending: Fiscal Disparities and Philanthropy Among New York City Charter Schools by Bruce Baker and Richard Ferris is a must-read. The Department of Ed launched an education dashboard earlier this week. The DOE will soon be unveiling another tool to track school improvement grants. Russo makes a few interesting points about […]
KIPP Has Always Abandoned the Neediest Children
January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The master of soft pretzel logic, Jay Mathews, uses his national stage at the Washington Post to promote the testing industry, the online diploma mill, Kaplan U., (whose profits keep WaPo afloat), and KIPP, Inc. Ever since Cheney’s boys rolled the KIPPsters onto the stage of the 2000 GOP Convention for the world to see […]
#lastinfirstout kinds of #teachers
January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Relevant #education stuff from #Sunday #NYtimes
Oh, by the way, do you know why I’m using hashtags in my titles now? To increase Twitter traffic. I think it’s helped, a little bit. All right, so a couple of things that got me thinking. One, an interesting analogy from a Kristof column, making parallels about regulation of motor vehicles and gun control. […]