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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Special Diane in DC 4-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Diane Ravitch
3h
In DC with Ceresta Smith of Florida and Karran Harper Royal of Néw Orleans







More: Texas Legislature Turns Down Vouchers

Read here for first summary.
Will post again when new stories available.


Breaking News: Vouchers Fail in Texas!

Wayne Slater, senior political writer for the Dallas Morning News, tweeted this:
@WayneSlater Put a fork in school vouchers in Texas — ban on taxpayer money for private schools passes overwhelming in conservative TX House
I bet the rural Republicans balked at destroying their communities’ public schools

Kevin Welner Responds (Again!) to Patrick Wolf

Patrick Wolf, the “independent” evaluator of the Milwaukee voucher program remains incensed that the National Education Policy Center did not notice that he dropped the attrition rate of students in the Milwaukee voucher program from 75% to 56%.
I, the humble historian, still wonder what is so impressive about Milwaukee, one of the lowest-performing cities on NAEP. If the voucher students get the same test scores as kids in public schools, and Milwaukee is low-performing, what does that say about the efficacy of vouchers? And, I dunno, but 56% still looks like a huge attrition rate. If all those students dropped out from the voucher schools, what does it say about vouchers? But what do I know? I am far, far below Dr. Wolf.
Kevin Welner, the director of the National Education Policy Center, responds here, including a comment by

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-4-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Newspeak and Education Reform: What Would Orwell Say? by dianerav A reader sent these late-night reflections to me: “I drifted off to sleep last night, the phrase “No Child Left Behind” kept ringing in my ears. It sounds so noble… No – Child – Left – Behind – surely that is good for our country. Yet, at the same time my eyes were closing, the disturbing aparthied maps that Jersey Jazzman posted were flashing before my eyes. In the corners of my mind, memories of ... more »