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Monday, August 4, 2014

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-4-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

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Feds Turn Down NY’s Testing Accommodations for Students withDisabilities
New York proposed to exempt up to 2% of students with severe disabilities from federally required state tests. The U.S. Department of Education said no. Last year, 95% of students with disabilities failed the new Common Core tests in New York. Leaders of national organizations supposedly representing students with disabilities hailed the DOE’s de is ion to hold these students to the same standar

Peter Greene: What Happens When the Little People Push Back?
Why did Campbell Brown pretend to be frightened of the protestors outside Stephen Colbert’s studio? Why does she need to pretend that she is on the side of “the kids” when no one believes it? Peter Greene thinks he has the answers: “Campbell Brown’s appearance on the Colbert Report included one of the popular reformster mini-themes– the desire to be insulated from any manner of dialogue. “Grant

Ohio: Another Charter School in Trouble
Deregulation sounds like a swell idea. Get rid of all those government regulations and innovation will flourish. That’s the theory. But many regulations serve important purposes, especially where taxpayer dollars are concerned; they screen out unqualified people; they monitor how the money is spent; they prevent frauds and scams. Take away regulation, take away government oversight, and the door w

Sara Roos: Vote for George McKenna for the Los Angeles School Board District 1
Sara Roos is a biostatistician and the parents of two children in the public schools of Los Angeles.   In this post, she explains the difference between George McKenna and Alex Johnson, who are running against one another for the LAUSD seat in District 1.   Read the post for her numerous links to support her statements.   This is what Sara Roos says about Johnson, who works for County Supervisor M

Fact-Checking Campbell Brown: She Doesn’t Know Much about Research or Teaching
In Valerie Strauss’s blog “The Answer Sheet” in the “Washington Post,” Professor Alyssa Hadley Dunn subjected Campbell Brown’s statements on the Stephen Colbert show to a fact check. Dunn, who taught high school English, is now an assistant professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Dunn compares what Brown says to what research shows. She concludes: “Quite simply: there is no


Mercedes Schneider Transcribes Stephen Colbert’s Interview of Campbell Brown
Mercedes Schneider decided to do something unusual for her birthday. This is what a workaholic does. She transcribed Stephen Colbert’s interview of Campbell Brown, the former CNN anchor who is leading the battle to take the right to due process (aka a fair hearing) away from teachers. She thinks that doing so will produce a great teacher in every classroom. Here is the transcript.
Jersey Jazzman: Campbell Brown, Meet Mike Mignone
You know who Campbell Brown is: she is the former CNN anchor who wants to get rid of teacher tenure. She apparently thinks that teachers should be fired if someone in charge wants to fire them You may not know Mike Mignone. He is a veteran middle-school math teacher in Belleville, New Jersey, and also president of his union. When the school board awarded a contract for $2 million to install a su
Nicholas Meier: What Is Wrong with Vouchers?
After many years of being rebuffed at the polls, the pro-voucher forces seemed to have given up. Voucher supporters turned to charter schools as their best hope for wresting public dollars out of public schools and putting them into private hands. But in recent years, vouchers have made a comeback. The Wisconsin legislature approved vouchers for Milwaukee in 1990, and the Supreme Court refused to
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-3-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Network for PublicEducation Endorses Sherry Dagnogo in MichiganThe Network for Public Education endorses Sherry Gay-Dagnogo The Network for Public Education is proud to endorse Sherry Gay-Dagnogo for Michigan State Representative in House Distrtct 8. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo was a middle school science teacher for 7 years. She has worked