Latest News and Comment from Education
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What Country Has The Longest School Day? A Comprehensive Guide - In today’s fast-paced world, education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of individuals and nations...3 hours ago
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Israel's Starvation Campaign - *...*Al Jazerra reports that as of March 27th, “27 people – 23 of them children – have starved to death as a result of what international bodies say i...10 hours ago
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Who’s Running This Grift? - I laughed in your face and said, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith” This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel We’re modern idiots Who’s going to hold you li...11 hours ago
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Defend the People’s Schools - By Thomas Ultican 4/19/2024 I am sure you’ll be shocked to your core but there are some really bad people out there trying to end publicly-financed free ed...12 hours ago
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Free the Columbia 100. Keep cops off campus. - The movement protesting U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza War shows no sign of going away. In fact, it grows larger every day.Fred Klonsky in Retirement is a ...15 hours ago
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Florida: DeSantis Signs Bill to Limit Book Bans and Adds a Sugarplum for Charter Schools - Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill limiting the ability of non-parents to initiate book bans. That’s a step forward since any crank was free to challenge ...15 hours ago
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The strategy behind never-ending war - US could have backed peace talks in Ukraine. Yesterday it was the only NO vote in UN on recognizing Palestinian statehood.16 hours ago
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PA: Far Right Law Group Comes To Meadville - Crawford Central School District has joined the ranks of school districts in Pennsylvania considering anti-LGBTQ policies. And while their name didn't come...16 hours ago
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How to Raise Ethical, Caring Children - Most of us want to raise children who are ethical and caring. Indeed, when surveyed 96 percent of us say that this is a "very important, if not essentia...16 hours ago
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Forced birth is local, pt. 1: what is the rape exception protocol, Sheriff Judd? - Individual local police officers are the new real-time gatekeepers of the "rape, incest, and human trafficking" exceptions to 6-week forced birth in a stat...20 hours ago
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Teaching Is a Grind Peppered with Joyful Moments (Bill Ferriter) - This post appeared in Bill Ferriter’s blog, “The Tempered Radical.” In his blog, he describes himself as follows: “Bill Ferriter has about a dozen titles—S...22 hours ago
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Adolescents: almost 17% experience weight-related bullying online, almost 70 percent of Twitter users reporting being bullied - The freely available article in *PLOS ONE*: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299830 *Each additional hour of social...1 day ago
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Memorial Stadium Open House - Done on the Downlow? - I am going to sit in on the brief Board "special meeting" today on the process of curriculum adoption in Washington State. I did ask about any attached ...1 day ago
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The Super 20 - What follows are thumbnail sketches of the 20 applicants who want to be the next Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools. Before beginning, I want to...1 day ago
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SPI Hosts California Apprenticeship Summit - State Superintendent Thurmond hosts California Apprenticeship Summit to connect California’s youth to high-wage opportunities.1 day ago
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Hear about how you can protect your child from having their data sold by College Board & ACT - Online Forum: No More Student Data Sales! *WHEN* May 06, 2024 at 7:00pm - 8pm *WHERE* Online via Zoom: register here: bit.ly/5_6_24_webinar Test companies...1 day ago
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What is White Christian Nationalism and How Is It Affecting Public Education Today? - Our politics and our national ethos seem to have gone awry, and a lot of people blame it on something called Christian nationalism or white Christian natio...1 day ago
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Bibliography for History Posts on This Blog - I remember when school reformers insisted the biggest problem in education was that teachers didn't come from the best colleges. Bibliography VER...1 day ago
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Episode # 97—Please repost and spread the word - Episode #97: Again, Winter with Mark Nowak2 days ago
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The Unintended Multiverse of Black Widow’s Origin - [Header Panel from Tales of Suspense (v1) 57; Don Heck, artist] After writing a blog series on Black Widow, I searched for an opportunity to turn that work...2 days ago
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Where’s the “Evidence” in State-Mandated Science of Reading Programs? - Last I looked, thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have signed reading laws (Schwartz 2024). Parents, educators, school administrators, and ...2 days ago
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Urgent! send a message to your legislators now – no backdoor deal on mayoral control! - April 15, 2024 Last week the State Education Department released an excellent report, summarizing the public testimony at the borough hearings and in writi...3 days ago
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Earth Day Is On April 22nd – Here Are Teaching & Learning Resources - Earth Day is on April 22nd. You might be interested in The Best Earth Day Sites.5 days ago
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TN Taliban Votes to Arm Teachers - As parents, students, and teachers lined the gallery with signs calling for gun regulations in a state where are none, a bill sailed through the State Se...1 week ago
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Where I Agree with Katherine Westerhold - In February 2023, former Louisiana state superintendent John White’s wife, Katherine Westerhold, was in the news because their home security system capture...1 week ago
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Guess Who’s NOT Coming to School! - American students are skipping school in record numbers, a crisis that is so acute that it became the lead story in The New York Times recently, as well as...1 week ago
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THE EVOLUTION OF OUR SPECIES - As I considered writing this blog, I did not want to write a piece that painted a dystopian future for humanity. I felt that the blog should, first and for...1 week ago
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Why Do My Groceries Cost So Much? - Giant corporations and billionaires want to keep their taxes low and the prices we pay high. That’s why they want Trump back in office. In 2004, I was a si...1 week ago
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Billionaires, like the (labor union hating WalMart) Walton Foundation are creating their OWN unions to support publicly funded, private sector, secretive, for profit, autocratic, often cheating, Charter Schools with a goal to destroy public school teachers’ unions and OUR (all the people) transparent, democratic, K-12 Public Schools. I think they want to control what OUR children learn or don’t learn. - Maurice Cunningham: Reporters Should Raise These Questions With the “National Parents Union”1 week ago
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Critical Race Theory Is About You, and All of Us - Recently, Christina Cross, a Black woman sociologist at Harvard, found her work at the crosshairs of the same person who brought us the bastardization of...2 weeks ago
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THE UNSETTLING INFLUENCE OF TRUMP AND MAGA ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE - *THE UNSETTLING INFLUENCE OF TRUMP AND MAGA ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE* *TRUMP RHETORIC IS LITERALLY CAUSING HIS FOLLOWERS TO LOSE THEIR MINDS AND THEIR FR...2 weeks ago
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Grow Your Own Teachers? A BustED: Pencils Podcast - Julian Vasquez Heilig and Laura Dinehart join Dr. Tim to discuss how Western Michigan University is ‘Growing Their Own’ teachers, without test tubes or sci...2 weeks ago
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Grassroots Education Network- March 2024 Newsletter - The NPE Grassroots Education Network is a nationwide network of over 195 grassroots organizations that have joined together to preserve, promote, improve...2 weeks ago
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UFT Welfare Fund nest egg – bigger than most nests - A nest egg. A rainy day fund. A reserve. Back up. We all have some, or would like some. In case things go sideways, a way to pay some bills in the meantime...3 weeks ago
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March (2024) Useful Parent Engagement Resources - “Gentle parenting” seems to be based on sound child psychology principles, but these techniques may not be as effective for more serious challenging behavi...3 weeks ago
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PCSP comments on how the privacy protections in the proposed COPPA regs should be improved - See below comments that PCSP and attorney Zephyr Teachout submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, urging them to strengthen their proposed student priva...4 weeks ago
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Focused: Understanding, Negotiating, and Maximizing Your Influence as a School Leader - INTRODUCTION Focus, focus, and focus! Focus is what this book is about. Here we aim to help school leaders understand what they should focus on and why. We...4 weeks ago
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Let’s recall just how bad a president Trump was! - For the record, concerning Covid:, this is from Quora: ———- President Trump tweeted that 17,000 people died from Swine Flu under Obama. How does this compa...1 month ago
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March 5, 2024: The time for delay has passed - It is time to open the ballot sitting on my kitchen counter. Only, the more I learn of politics, the… The post March 5, 2024: The time for delay has pass...1 month ago
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More Allegations Of Sexual Abuse From The Early Days Of KIPP NYC - [Note: This post draws from an interview I conducted with an anonymous source who identifies as a KIPP alum from the late 1990s. I consider this person cre...1 month ago
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A Change of Plans - Last September, in a piece titled Where We Expect To Retire, I informed folks that we were planning to move to Kendal Crosslands Communities, the Crossla...1 month ago
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Dr. Kriznar explains why birthday parties and so much more are now on the chopping block. - I am kind of grosseed out at her explanation so I am not going to comment now, but I wanted anyone interested to see it. This is her responce after I wr...1 month ago
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Wisdom from the Sage of Mount Vernon - Words of wisdom appropriate to our time. …from George Washington, America’s first President, on President’s Day. (Edited and updated from a previous post) ...2 months ago
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Book Review: “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire” - By Anthony Cody What impact has Bill Gates had on the world since he launched the most wealthy tax-exempt foundation in the world? We finally have a book t...2 months ago
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We are making a CPESS documentary! - In 2020, I was approached by Deborah Meier and Jane Andrais and I decided we should document the story of Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS). This ...2 months ago
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Radical Eyes for Equity: Media Misreads Reading Science (Again) - Radical Eyes for Equity: Media Misreads Reading Science (Again) For more than five years, mainstream media has been obsessed with two false but compelling...2 months ago
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From Asa to A. Phillip: Nothing But a ‘Sigma’ Man by Mark Anthony Neal - Richard Avedon, *A. Philip Randolph, Founder, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, New York City, April 8, 1976* *From Asa to A. Phillip: Nothing But a...3 months ago
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2023 In Review And What’s To Come In 2024 - 2023 is almost complete and it was a busy, challenging, rewarding, and fun year. The news of the world was sometimes too much to watch. Countries were dest...3 months ago
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Could This Be Gadfly’s End? Top 12 Articles From 2023 Read By Fewer Than Ever - After 9 years of pounding my head against the wall - well, it seems like the wall is winning.3 months ago
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Volunteer in 2024 - Be the change, volunteer and make the difference! Let’s face it, the world is in turmoil, and divisive politics in our country is threatening our democracy...3 months ago
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Israel’s War on Gaza Is Also a War on History and Education - Israel's war on Gaza is also a war on children--and just like the attempts to ban discussion of race and gender in U.S. classrooms, Israel aims to censor h...4 months ago
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The Sky is Falling, or is it? - Well, this is the first anniversary of the introduction of Generative AI in the form of ChatGPT to the world of education. Before it was a week old, over o...4 months ago
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Redesigning School Governance: Beyond Mayoral Control - From time to time the legislature passes a bill with a sunset provision, unless the law is reauthorized by a specific date the law reverts to the law it re...5 months ago
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20 Best Mph Programs In New York, NY (2023 Updated) - 20 Best Mph Programs In New York, NY 1. Pace University Rating: (4.2 ) Address: One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038... The post 20 Best Mph Programs In...6 months ago
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POSTPONED: Florida’s Impact on Social Studies - POSTPONED: discussion with Florida and DC educators and advocates on the impact of Florida's new laws Continue reading7 months ago
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Lying Liars of the NYC DOE - The APPR travails continue. When last I blogged I shared how my principal, XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX did an end run around me. I was refused to be obser...9 months ago
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Vote NO on the UFT Contract. Here is Why: - The best reason to vote no on this contract is this: UFT Unity* lied* to us in 2018. They misrepresented that contract. It was predicated on deals we wer...10 months ago
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Metaphors in ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech - In this article, we will explore the powerful use of metaphors in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” ... Read more1 year ago
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What ever happend to John Deasy, the Man From Gates? - * Here's an update on Deasy from 2020* By Thomas Ultican 7/29/2020 April 21, the Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) board accepted John Deasy’s let...1 year ago
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Testimony to the CPS Truancy Task Force - I prepared testimony for one of two public hearings held by the Chicago Public Schools Truancy Task Force, a body mandated by state legislation. The meetin...1 year ago
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Skin Deep - She spends so much time on her outward appearance. There is never a hair out of place. Her makeup is perfect and her clothes are stylish and match to ...1 year ago
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Tennis Memories from a Time When Racism and Anti-Semitism Still Prevailed - I learned tennis at a public park in Brooklyn- Lincoln Terrace- where the teaching pro was a mailman named Phil Rubell. Almost all the kids who took lesson...1 year ago
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There Is A Teacher Shortage.Not. - THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. And just to be sure you understand, it’s not that teachers don’t want to teach. It’s not that there aren’t enough teachers cer...1 year ago
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Reason #1 to pick Dr. Grace over Mr. Walters: The future we’ve already seen - In 2014, Oklahoma voters corrected the mistake we made in 2010. In 2022, let’s not make the mistake in the first place. Elect Dr. April Grace instead. She ...1 year ago
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THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. NOT! - There is a teacher shortage.And just to be sure you understand, it's not that teachers don't want to teach.It's not that there aren't enough teachers certi...1 year ago
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Abortion: Only For Those Who Need It! - NOTE: This post contains my opinions on Catholicism based on my experiences as a child in the 1960's and 70's. Take what you like and leave the rest. I m...1 year ago
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Want to know the condition of a Philly school building? New map to help. - [image: Two students walk by a Philadelphia school building.] Aging infrastructure has been an issue for Philadelphia schools for years. A new interactive...1 year ago
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Hello world! - Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! The post Hello world! first appeared on Just another WordPress site.1 year ago
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What can we learn by modeling existing variations in school spending and outcomes? (Reprise) - There are those in the ed reform world who would tell us that existing public schools and districts are simply inefficient in their use of existing funding...2 years ago
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STREET LIFE - My mom told me, “You should treat all people equally, but don’t bring a “colored” into the house.” I believed … Continue reading →2 years ago
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Schools Matter: Reflecting on Green Dot’s Disastrous Locke Takeover - *“Green Dot came and made it into more of a jail.” — Chris* My history of opposing the Green Dot Charter School Corporation back when I was an activist i...2 years ago
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Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane - Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer *Fun with...2 years ago
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On the Edge of Silence - “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamen...2 years ago
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The Howlers of History and How We Must Reclaim the Narrative - “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all judgments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignor...2 years ago
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Have You Heard Has a New Website - TweetHave You Heard has a new website. Visit us at www.haveyouheardpodcast.com to find our latest episodes and our entire archive. And be sure to check out...2 years ago
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Follow me at Substack - I've moved. Follow me at Substack I'm now posting regularly at Substack. You can subscribe for free to my new Edu/Pol blog at michaelklonsky.substack.com ...2 years ago
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On Remote Teaching and Learning In an Ongoing Pandemic - Some recent stories I've been thinking about (all emphases mine). Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is getting pushback in Memphis on new Tenness...2 years ago
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Milwaukee Bradley Foundation at Center of Attacks on U.S. Voting Rights - The Big Money Behind the Big Lie Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win...2 years ago
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Milwaukee Bradley Foundation at Center of Attacks on U.S. Voting Rights - The Big Money Behind the Big Lie Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win...2 years ago
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Aspiring Teachers Get New Help Paying For College - [image: colorful classroom pattern] *; Credit: shuoshu/Getty Images* Cory Turner | NPR New rules kick in today that will help aspiring teachers pay for c...2 years ago
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Major victory over a corporate charter school chain and their trade association - Original post at Robert’s page on Medium. On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, I got my second big win in court against a charter school corporation. It was also a ...3 years ago
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Tips Akses Situs Judi Qq Tanpa Perlu Takut Nawala - Kegiatan berjudi slot melalui situs judi qq online, sekarang sudah dilakukan oleh banyak penjudi Indonesia. Tentu, Kamu yang sedang membaca artikel ini a...3 years ago
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CEJ’s Virtual Mayoral Candidate Forum; Racial Justice in Public Schools - On Thursday, February 18th, over 1,000 students, parents, educators, community members, and activists alike, joined CEJ to hear the mayoral candidates’ vis...3 years ago
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GA run-offs need your help! - Extremely important. Volunteer if you can. Thank you if you are already doing so. Out of state opportunities here: Ralph … Continue reading →3 years ago
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Pandemic Teaching – What’s up? - Responding to the call from Pocketful of Primary to answer questions about how teaching during the pandemic is going.3 years ago
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The Threat of Integration - I have lived in the same house in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles for over 30 years, where up until now I have had little or no interaction with th...3 years ago
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New Teacher Evaluation Report Released by the Network for Public Education - A new report on current teacher evaluation systems throughout the US was just released by the Network for Public Education. The report is titled, “Teachers...3 years ago
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www.job-applications.com - https://www.job-applications.com/bed-bath-and-beyond-job-application/3 years ago
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Teacher Creates National Database Tracking COVID-19 Outbreaks in Schools - Kansas educator Alisha Morris's online coronavirus news-tracker goes viral, now hosted on a new NEA website.3 years ago
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School Year 2020-21: We Are Asking the Wrong Questions - It is perfectly understandable that many in our country want public school buildings to be open for in person instruction this year. Among the many hardshi...3 years ago
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Correction for July 10th Post on School District Audit - On July 10, 2020 we published a post “School District Caught Manipulating Attendance Records to Get More Money” which incorrectly cited Valley Park School ...3 years ago
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We fight for a democracy worthy of us all! - The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcÃa in her final keynote address to the 2020 NEA Representative Assembly and it’s up...3 years ago
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A Citizens’ Rebellion 2020 - The United States began to form after the rebellion against the King of England when the settlers in the colonies along the eastern coast reacted to the in...3 years ago
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Giving Private Schools Federal Emergency Funds Slated for Low-income Students Will Shortchange At-risk Kids - Low-income Seattle students began to pick up bagged lunches in March after their school closed. Karen Ducey/Getty Images Derek W. Black, University of Sout...3 years ago
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A Fundamental Redesign of Our Schools - I climbed the hill leading up to one of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle this morning to enjoy a coffee while taking in a phenomenal view of the city o...3 years ago
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The Passing Of Chaz 1951-2020 Age 69 - I am the son of Chaz and like to inform you that he passed away this afternoon from the COVID virus. My father passed in peace beside his loved ones. We ar...3 years ago
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Thoughts on schooling in the era of COVID-19 - Well, a whole lot has changed since I returned to blogging a month and half ago. In case you didn't notice, and I'm sure everyone reading this did, there's...4 years ago
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What are You Going to Do when Disaster Capitalism Knocks on the Public-School Door? - “Schools will be closed until at least April 20, after the upcoming spring break, but could stay closed for significantly longer, Mr. de Blasio said.” Whe...4 years ago
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Let The Next Round Of Anti-Semitic Ads Begin - All four pro-public education candidates came in first in their LAUSD school board elections, but two will face run-offs in November.4 years ago
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NAEP scores and "the science of reading" - *Sent to US News. They just informed me that they no longer publish letters to the editor. * *Re: “National reading emergency” November 12* *[https://www...4 years ago
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2019 NAEP Scores: Achievement Gap or …? - Here you go: A ‘Disturbing’ Assessment: Sagging Reading Scores, Particularly for Eighth-Graders, Headline 2019’s Disappointing NAEP Results NAEP 2019: Re...4 years ago
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Cara Menang Bermain Judi Bola Online - Bermain judi bola online tentu saja memiliki kesenangannya tersendiri baik itu mendapatkan keuntungan maupun ketika menantikan hasil skor pada sebuah perta...4 years ago
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What Cory Booker isn’t telling us about the Newark water crisis. - BY GUY STERLING Guy Sterling, a longtime resident of Newark and a member of the Newark Water Group, spent almost 30 years as reporter with The Star-Ledger ...4 years ago
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A Storm is Coming! (…again) - A new Commissioner will have as much impact on our state ed system as a new meteorologist will have on … Continue reading →4 years ago
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JerseyCAN Can't Hide From Opioids Crisis Billionaire Founder - [image: Image result for jerseycan] NJ Spotlight needs to stop giving space to billionaire-backed corporate reform groups like JerseyCAN. JerseyCAN does n...4 years ago
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Déjà vu: 2019 ELA Assessment: Dear Board of Regents - Dear Board of Regents, I have copied below an email I sent to you almost a year ago, after the 2018 ELA assessment's computer-based testing failures and mo...5 years ago
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This Week in Education Organizing - February 15, 2019 - Coalition for Education Justice to Release Report on CRE Eighty-five percent of public school students in New York City are Black, Latinx, or Asian and y...5 years ago
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Black Lives Matter at Schools National week of Action: Feb 4 - Feb 8 - Join the National Week of Actions for Black Lives Matter at Schools. Starting Monday, February 4th educators in cities across the country will draw closer...5 years ago
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The World According to Michelle Rhee - The men behind the curtain fashioning the brave new world of corporate run education in America! Michelle Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, The New T...5 years ago
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13 Things I Learned While Blogging for Education Week - This is the 500th blog I've written as the Teacher in a Strange Land, for Education Week Teacher. As it turns out, it's also my final blog for EdWeek. Here...5 years ago
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Blockchain: Life on the Ledger - Originally posted on Wrench in the Gears: I created this video as a follow up to the one I prepared last year on Social Impact Bonds. It is time to examine...5 years ago
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New York Times piece on '68 Democratic Convention Protest - ‘The Whole World Is Watching’: The 1968 Democratic Convention, 50 Years Later On Aug. 28, 1968, violent clashes in Chicago between demonstrators and the ...5 years ago
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My Letter to the NYS Board of Regents and Commissioner Elia Regarding ESSA Opt Out Provisions - commissioner@nysed.gov Regent.cashin@nysed.gov ESSARegComment@nysed.gov Regent.Rosa@nysed.gov Regent.Reyes@nysed.gov Regent.Chin@nysed.gov Regent.Young@n...5 years ago
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Corruption on Top of Corruption: How Rahm’s Response to Sexual Abuse of Students Reveals His Core Function - Rahm Emanuel’s response to the Chicago Tribune investigation that found CPS failed to protect hundreds of students from sexual abuse is cowardly. It is co...5 years ago
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New Local Businesses in Sacramento - Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn the loc...5 years ago
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3rd Grade Reading: Who is Failing? - Education Trust Midwest has just released its study on third grade reading and, predictably, the results aren’t great. This study uniquely compares Michiga...6 years ago
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Why Poetry? Why Now? – a poem from Linda Christensen and an invitation - My dear friend Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. sent me a phenomenal book on poetry called Rhythm and Resistance – Teaching Poetry for Social Justice. Here is...6 years ago
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Opting out of the Dinosaur (end of year test) - Today I sent in a second letter to refuse PARCC/CMAS for my son, Luke. The first email I sent at the beginning of the year was not sufficient as they requi...6 years ago
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Resurrection - I realized it's Lent, but this blog, bless Jesus Christ, can't wait. Ok, so with that said, I plan to discuss Class Action suits in existence, as well as w...6 years ago
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Chicago Collegiate Charter School Must STOP Expansion Plans - So I did a little digging into Chicago Collegiate Charter Schools, the tiny school looking to expand into the empty Kohn Elementary School building. A sch...6 years ago
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IDEA Is Still The Law Of The Land - Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the US Department of Education (USDOE) rescinded 72 Dear Colleague and other letters of explanation to ...6 years ago
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Education Is a Civic Question - In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and hard w...6 years ago
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Education reform should come from within by Wendy Lecker - In her latest Stamford Advocate commentary piece, education advocate Wendy Lecker observes, Education reform should come from within. Wendy Lecker write...6 years ago
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Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary - Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over at The Gra...6 years ago
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An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers - An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am addressing you all ...6 years ago
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CANCER IS BACK AND THIS TIME IT HURTS RIGHT OFF THE BAT! - APRIL IS STILL POETRY MONTH AND LIBRARY MONTH. MANY WONDERFUL THINGS TO CELEBRATE. But in the middle of the month I received some bad news about my ca...6 years ago
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller) - The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The film p...7 years ago
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Farewell, Sleep - Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41 AM. Tom...7 years ago
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IBO REPORT: NYC Charter School Costs To Grow More Than Budgeted! - *New York City Charter School Costs To Grow More Than Budgeted!* Although the preliminary budget forecast of charter school enrollment is lower than project...7 years ago
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Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/2/2017 - Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/1/2017 Education Bloggers Daily Highlights Courtesy of Big Education Ape A special thank you to education blogger Mik...7 years ago
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Attitude Determines Altitude* (*conditions apply)… and the Importance of Humane District Themes - It has been a tumultuous few years in the South Brunswick community, specifically the South Brunswick School District. All you have to do is google the dis...7 years ago
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Capturing the Spark - It’s been a long time since InterACT was an active education blog, though I remain quite proud of what we did here. Those of us who wrote blog posts here h...7 years ago
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Prison Gerrymandering: Incarceration Weakens Vulnerable Voting Communities - One person equals one vote: seems simple enough. Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked out for many Americans throughout history, specifically women and peop...7 years ago
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Random Musings and Observations. . . . - I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for that. Sinc...7 years ago
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WTU Peterson Slate: Not a 1 Woman Dictatorship - Candi Peterson & GeLynn Thompson Candidates for WTU Prez & GVP 2016By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President *Statements or expressions of opinions herein...7 years ago
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WHY SCHOOL START TIMES PLAY A HUGE ROLE IN KIDS’ SUCCESS - Teens are severely sleep-deprived. This needs to change. Rebecca Klein Editor, HuffPost Education| https://t.co/zInVJoy29W evgenyatamanenko via Getty Image...7 years ago
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Feminism-in-Schools Featured at First International Girls’ Studies Association Conference - Leaders in the feminism-in-schools movement recently made history at the inaugural International Girls’ Studies Association (IGSA) conference when we were ...7 years ago
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MY NEW BLOG - My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has simila...7 years ago
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Thank you - Dear Readers, Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...8 years ago
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GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat - *GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat* *SAVE-THE-DATEMarch 8-10, 2019 • Provincetown, MA* The GLSEN Massachusetts Educator Retreat in Provincetown is a s...8 years ago
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I am Retiring - I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other conte...8 years ago
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Flaws at the Heart of Current Education Reforms - Originally posted on Creative by Nature: “Teaching is an art form rooted in the wise and careful use of educational research and assessment tools. When gove...9 years ago
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Joanne Barkan: One of my favorite writers on #EdReform… - I’ve been going through some of my Twitter “favorites” and retweeting them. I thought I would pass on to you some information about one of my favorite writ...9 years ago
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Pay Teachers Less to Improve School Efficiency - hmmm! - As I was reading through education news on several of the news sites I regularly visit, I came...9 years ago
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Kimberly Olson, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005 - Kimberly D. Olson, Colonel, USAF (retired), is currently the Executive Director of *Grace After Fire*, an online social support network for women veteran...13 years ago
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sacramento Press / Local API Coalition Works for a Complete Count
Obama’s No Child Left Behind: New Name, Same Sketchy Policies | RaceWire
JULIANNE HING
Obama’s No Child Left Behind: New Name, Same Sketchy Policies
This past Saturday the Obama administration released its plan for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, which is hereafter to be referred to by its new—well, make that old—name as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ESEA was originally passed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and has had several face lifts over the years till it became what we know it as today.
But the Obama administration is giving up the No Child Left Behind moniker, ostensibly to distance itself from the Bush version of the law. If only education reform were as simple as giving up a tainted name.
This is what we know right now: the new ESEA proposal is a 41-page blueprint. Much of it is remarkably uncontroversial: Obama wants new academic standards that are more comprehensive. The goal is to have all high school students college-ready by 2020. The new plan would take students’ rate of academic growth and improvement into consideration when measuring school achievement, regardless of the level the student started at. The state will stop offering vouchers to parents to send their children to private schools if their local public school is failing. Hard to argue over, no?
While the new ESEA is still just a proposal, education advocates are voicing concern over already-implemented initiatives that really show Obama’s ideological stance on ed policy and how ESEA will shake out for communities of color. Race to The Top, a national competition for $4.35 billion worth of federal money dangles up to $700 million in front of states that adopt Secretary of Eduation Arne Duncan’s dramatic
Education magic bullets are often blanks - latimes.com
Education magic bullets are often blanks
Empowering parents, giving administrators more control over teacher assignments and other reform proposals sound good. But when teachers ask for details, they usually come away empty.
Take, for example, The Times' assertion that "district administrators, not union contracts," should determine teacher assignments in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Really? If you were a teacher, would you completely trust administrators to always make good assignment decisions? The same people who inspired the term "dance of the lemons" as incompetent (and sometimes criminal) administrators were transferred from one school to another by their downtown buddies? Would you want to be forced to an overcrowded school terrorized by crime and violence, hobbled by a lack of supplies and a crumbling infrastructure, in a neighborhood beset by a multitude of social ills, with only a district administrator to count on for support and security? Most administrators are talented, committed and fair, but too many are none of those things.
Even district administrators don't have full confidence in district administrators. Here's a passage from the administrators' union newsletter from January: "Lost in the shuffle is the apparent lack of appreciation by district leaders for the role of the men and women who run [schools] on a daily basis. In some cases, when central and local district administrators receive a complaint from a parent or community member, they challenge the principal to respond in writing, exhibiting a 'gotcha' attitude." And they have, like United Teachers Los Angeles, a no-reprisal clause in their contract -- in other words, no real punishments for people who don't follow the agreed-upon rules. Where are the specifics of such a policy would protect all employees from decisions based on politics, personalities or propaganda?
The same goes for questions on teacher evaluation and merit pay. It's easy to say we need better procedures for firing bad teachers as well as retaining and rewarding good ones. I agree. So show me a plan to do so -- a plan that, again, protects teachers from capricious decisions by district administrators. A plan that rewards teachers fairly and that encourages collaboration and teamwork. A plan that takes into account all that teachers have to deal with in order to foster student success. True student success, by the way, is more than just test scores, despite what the educational research eggheads (too many of whom have no teaching experience) would have you believe.
And then there's the "parent trigger" option, by which a majority of a school's parents can initiate change by signing a petition. On the surface, this sounds like a good idea. Anything that gets parents involved in their children's education has merit. But turning staffing over to what is bound to be a popularity contest has its drawbacks as well. Often, parents get mad when they hear things they don't want to hear. "You're picking on my kid!" when you mention there has been no homework for a while
Sacramento Community Youth Forum
Remainders: Celebrities take up the teacher quality debate | GothamSchools
Remainders: Celebrities take up the teacher quality debate
- “From one man without children to another,” John Legend tells Bill Maher, “you’re off base.”
- Arne Duncan is taking two rounds of questions tomorrow on his blueprint of ESEA.
- Eric Nadelstern makes the case for having the first week of school next year be only one day.
- Democracy Now interviews former Khalil Gibran Academy principal Debbie Almontaser.
- Accountable Talk says the union should tie any rubber room deal to four percent raises.
- Hopeful that Michael Mulgrew would be fresh blood, a UFT member says he’s disappointed.
- Norm enters Grady High School to distribute election fliers and encounters the opposition.
- Flypaper has 10 questions for Race to the Top finalists giving presentations this week.
- A teacher says the flip side of blaming teachers for everything is not giving students enough credit.
- Diane Ravitch calls Newsweek’s education story a “parody of a right-wing rant.”
- For every good idea the Obama admin has on education, they have a bad one, writes Jay Greene.
- American Spectator wonders whether unions running charter schools will end up hating their contracts.
- Parents don’t love a PA state senator’s idea to punish parents if their children commit multiple crimes.
- And learning from Chicago, Cleveland is worried about mixing students from closing schools.
Editorials | Schools' extreme makeover | Seattle Times Newspaper
Schools' extreme makeover
One Day to Prevent Homelessness
The economic crisis has produced a new face of the homeless: families and individuals displaced by job losses and the rise in foreclosures. These are people that have never been homeless before and are new to the social services system. In this economic climate, these new homeless are not just the chronically homeless, they are our former co-workers who were laid off and our former neighbors that couldn’t make the rent or the mortgage. The new face of homelessness in Sacramento looks like you or me and they need a helping hand.
Please join hundreds of Sacramentans engaged in a region-wide initiative to end homelessness. This campaign—Sacramento Steps Forward—is a call to join together to ensure that all Sacramentans have a place to call home. Sacramento Steps Forward is a united effort to find solutions to the complex and long-standing issues of homelessness. Other cities and counties across the country have tackled this problem. We have studied their lessons and know that Sacramento can become an example of how a region can end homelessness. You can help by contributing just one days rent or mortgage payment to the Sacramento Region Community Foundation for One Day to Prevent Homelessness.
80 Sacramento houses of worship trying to raise $400,000 for homeless housing - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee
80 Sacramento houses of worship trying to raise $400,000 for homeless housing
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/16/2611683/80-sacramento-houses-of-worship.html#ixzz0iNvEKa8t
Can local genealogists link school lunch burgers and chicken sandwiches to middle-school obesity?
Can local genealogists link school lunch burgers and chicken sandwiches to middle-school obesity?
262 school council members come on board | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
262 school council members come on board
by Paul Socolar on Mar 16 2010 Posted in Breaking news
Associated Baptist Press - Baptists decry Texas board’s votes on textbook standards
Baptists decry Texas board’s votes on textbook standards |
By Robert Marus | |||
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | |||
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) -- A Texas board that sets curriculum standards for the nation’s second-largest textbook market has voted, along party lines, to leave a conservative imprint on history, social studies and economics courses. And the effects won't be felt in the Lone Star State alone. The Texas State Board of Education voted 10-5 March 12 to approve a set of social-studies standards that many textbook publishers use to guide their publication standards. All of the board’s Republican members voted in favor of the guidelines, and all of its Democratic members voted against them. A Religious Right voting bloc on the board had, over the previous two months, won scores of contentious votes inserting more than 100 amendments into a set of standards that a group of professional educators had recommended. Among the amendments was the move to excise Thomas Jefferson from a section on how Enlightenment philosophy influenced the founders, replacing him with 13th-century theologian Thomas Aquinas and 16th-century Reformer John Calvin. And the board’s conservative majority rejected -- again along party lines -- an amendment that would have required textbooks to “examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.” Several of the board’s conservative members have argued -- both during board meetings and in other public statements -- that church-state separation is a myth or an incorrect interpretation of the First Amendment. The first 15 words of that amendment -- “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” -- are generally divided by legal scholars into two halves known as the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Thinkers, politicians and judges dating back to Jefferson have interpreted the two clauses, when taken together, as requiring an institutional separation of religion and government. “I think what we’d like to say in reaction to that is that it’s unfortunate that such a basic understanding of the First Amendment was victim to the hyper-politicization on the State Board of Education,” said Stephen Reeves, the CLC’s legislative counsel. “But it just reinforces the need for churches -- Baptists and others -- to educate their students about how the First Amendment protects religion in this country.” Reeves emphasized “that the First Amendment -- both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise [Clause] -- protect religion, and do so even when the government tries to favor religion.” Other critics were less measured in their reaction to the board’s decisions on the First Amendment as well as other changes to educators’ original recommendation for the standards. “What I’ve been telling people is the Texas State Board of Education obviously can’t remove the First Amendment to the Constitution, but they can do something equally frightening -- they can erase it from kids’ history classes. And that’s what they voted to do last week,” said Ryan Valentine, deputy director of the progressive group Texas Freedom Network and a member of University Baptist Church in Austin. Other changes to the curriculum include:
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