Category Archives: Education

The Deeper Issue That Could Kill the Teaching Profession

teens jumping off a bridge
Jump off of a bridge into shallow water? Hey, why not? Photo Credit: zJMac via Compfight cc

Especially for those of us who have taught high school for many years, this is true: If you shake us awake at 2 AM we can immediately recite a list of reasons why one should not be too reckless in this life.  It’s because we witness the recklessness of teens daily and in very large numbers. Continue reading The Deeper Issue That Could Kill the Teaching Profession

Possibility of Nation-Wide Test Opt-Out Grows

teachers, resistance,
Teachers Karen Hendren and Nikki Jones have refused to give excessive tests to their students. They are teachers at Skelly Elementary, Tulsa Public Schools. Credit: STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World

The growing movement for parents, teachers, and students to opt out of overbearing testing regimens is challenging corporate education reformers and public officials who are favorable to their efforts.

Tests have been the key false “evidence” that school profiteers have used to “prove” that public schools are not doing the job and that private charters are once those schools are in place.

But their clever plans aren’t going very well for them right now.   Continue reading Possibility of Nation-Wide Test Opt-Out Grows

Real Teaching Goes Far Beyond the Technology

bill gates, technology, education
Bill Gates, billionaire and education “reformer”, Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk via Compfight cc

We are at one of those intersections again. Public school teachers, principals, and superintendents often are.

Billionaire so-called philanthropists like Bill Gates, who actually use their money to buy big leverage, have made a push to take over public education and standardize it so that large-scale money can be made easily nation-wide by technocrats who know little about actual education.

Educators can either look the other way, or we can resist, remind society of the truth, and recover true education process for our students. Continue reading Real Teaching Goes Far Beyond the Technology

Investors Ready to Liquidate Public Schools

investors, public schools, stocks, charter schools,
A busy day on the NYSE. Investors in this arena have their eyes on public schools conversions to private schools. Photo by Ben Hider/NYSE Euronext

Plans are under way for investment corporations to execute the biggest conversion – some call it theft – of public schools property in U.S. history.

That is not hyperbole. Investment bankers themselves estimate that their taking over public schools is going to result in hundreds of billions of dollars in profit, if they can pull it off. Continue reading Investors Ready to Liquidate Public Schools

Why We Will Need to Defend the Office of State Superintendent

Cox, Hofmeister, Norman, October, Superintendent,
John Cox (D) & Joy Hofmeister (R) at a debate on Oct 19th

After the election on November 4th, will we then need to defend the independently-elected position of Superintendent of Public Instruction? No matter who wins the race to fill it, the answer is most likely, yes. Continue reading Why We Will Need to Defend the Office of State Superintendent

Training Our Way to a New Oligarchy? Not Yet!

students protest
Students in Jefferson County, Colo protest forced changes in U.S. History standards by local school board. Credit: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images

In Texas and now in Colorado conservatives on the far right have been in a panic about history students actually learning history. Whether being earnest in their own beliefs or being duped by corporate propaganda efforts, these conservatives want desperately to put a lid on history study at the high school level that might explore all of American history.

Continue reading Training Our Way to a New Oligarchy? Not Yet!