Many Oklahoma educators seem to believe that we will just never see our public schools chief Janet Barresi ever again after January 12th. Not so fast.
Continue reading I’m Not Counting Barresi Out Yet
I’m Not Counting Barresi Out Yet
Category Archives: Issues Blogs (2011-2014)
Investors Resist Idea of Society as Stakeholder in Public Education
Parents are key stakeholders in any child’s education. Does that mean that they are the only stakeholders? One upon a time in America most people would say “no”. They would say that it’s all of society. But not anymore. Investors are what has changed that equation. Continue reading Investors Resist Idea of Society as Stakeholder in Public Education
Why Teachers Union Leaders Have to be Tougher
Now, more than in the last 50 years, teachers have to be tougher in fighting for our profession. It’s time to overcome our desire to elect model teachers as our union leaders. Instead, for that particular role, we need model advocates. Continue reading Why Teachers Union Leaders Have to be Tougher
Charter’s Don’t Do It Better or Cheaper
The hard spin that investors put on their own charter corporations is that they do education better, and for cheaper than those bad public schools. But, with some years of experience behind us now, it is clear that charters do neither.
Continue reading Charter’s Don’t Do It Better or Cheaper
The Deeper Issue That Could Kill the Teaching Profession
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
Thankful for the Amazing People in My Life!
I really don’t measure my life from one January 1st to the next. Somehow, it’s easier for me to measure what has happened since last Thanksgiving. And there have been some pretty amazing people who have entered my life since then, in one case someone from the past, but in a new identity. And so, since last Thanksgiving… Continue reading Thankful for the Amazing People in My Life!
Possibility of Nation-Wide Test Opt-Out Grows
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
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
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
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