Democrats Can Win With A Public Education Agenda – By Fighting To Fund It
Is it possible that education is the issue that will determine whether results of the upcoming election swing the United States Senate to Republican Party control? Will there be a dramatic change in party control of state governors’ offices because of how candidates stand on supporting pubic schools? As the November contests approach, these are […]
What’s The Matter With Kansas Education Policy?
Since the Wizard Oz, the term “we’re not in Kansas anymore” has been shorthand for saying we’ve changed the usual surroundings for a new, disorienting terrain. For school children who actually live in Kansas, that would likely be a relief. Since the nation’s Great Recession, public education in Kansas has seen state funding cut repeatedly […]
Recognizing Real Leadership For Education Progress: Mayor Bill de Blasio
What’s wrong with this picture? During the nation’s Back-to-School Season, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been touring states in a bus to “highlight the champions of reform.” At one stop, where he spoke to an audience of parents at a Nashville, Tennessee middle school, he challenged the National PTA, according to reporters for […]
The Education Conversation ‘Reformers’ Want Versus The One They Get
What will $12 million get you? How about a “conversation about education?” That’s what a new organization Education Post aims to get for its “initial grants,” courtesy of, according to education reporter Lindsay Layton of The Washington Post, ” the Broad Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Walton Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor.” In a debut […]
Charter Schools Don’t Need An Ad Campaign, They Need Regulation
This time of year, while classroom teachers and administrators in public schools are busy welcoming students back to a new school year and figuring out how they’re going to cope with devastating financial constraints, advocates in the charter schools industry are propping up their image with an extensive new public relations campaign, called “Truth About […]
Back To Schools White People Cannot See
As the season for new school openings rolls out, there are reasons for a new consciousness-raising about those schools – the kind of consciousness-raising that can be brought about when there’s a shock to the system like Ferguson, Missouri. Of the many heartfelt, well thought-out, and clearly written responses to the ongoing travesty happening in Ferguson, […]
Character Change In The ‘Education Reform’ Soap Opera
If you’ve ever spent much time watching soap operas, you’re familiar with this scenario: Two characters with furrowed brows, arms akimbo square off: “That’s not true,” says one. “Oh yes it is,” says the other. “If only Brock were here …” as the camera pans right. Music swells, tension builds … only, when the door […]
‘Better Than Republicans,’ Not Good Enough For Education
A common admonition progressives have gotten used to hearing over the years is to support more conservative Democratic candidates because “Republicans are worse.” This admonition makes some sense in electoral politics, when, in most cases, progressives face a ballot box decision where they have to choose the “lesser evil” instead of someone who wants to […]
The Truth About The New Orleans School Reform Model
Anyone who saw the remarkable HBO series The Wire remembers the scene in the fourth season focused on Baltimore public schools where the term “juking the stats” defined how corporate-driven reengineering of the public sphere has distorted institutions so they no longer serve ordinary people. An anniversary post for The Atlantic described that memorable moment […]
Education ‘Reform’ Loses The Netroots
Every year Netroots Nation is arguably the most important annual event in the progressive community and a telling barometer of what is on the minds of, as Howard Dean put it, “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.” Last week’s meeting was no exception. Mainstream coverage of that event has been focused exclusively on the […]
Education Opportunity Network:
Education Opportunity Network:
