And the winner is....
Thanks to all who voted!!!
I'll be bringing this to DC!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
what i'd really like my sign to say.....
With all due respect,
F@#k You, Arne Duncan!
...and I don't mean in a good way!
Ok. I'll go put myself in a timeout now.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
protest signs for the sos march
Teachers Are More Than a Test Score!
Arne Duncan is Far Below Basic!
NCLB Put Us on a Trajectory to Failure.
DON'T REAUTHORIZE!
Teachers Put Kids First Every Day!
$pend $$$ on Kid$, NOT Te$t$!
Tests are Harmful for Children and Other Living Things!
Fire Arne!
Bubble Tests Create Bubbleheads!
Fire Arne, NOT Teachers!
NCLB - Don't Reauthorize! EUTHANIZE!
Arne Duncan, Proudly Pushing Ideology Over Evidence, 24/7!
Failed Policies Coming to a School Near You!
Just Say No to Arne!
Teachers Vote!
Arne, STFU... Please!
It's Poverty, Stupid!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
weighing in on the brooks/alter/ravitch debate
A 150 word version of the following was submitted to the New York Times in response to "Invitation to a Dialogue: Fixing the Schools" where Diane Ravitch responds to David Brooks's article "Smells Like School Spirit" where he lies about misrepresents her views.
Pundits such as David Brooks and Jonathan Alter are long on hyperbole and criminally short on facts (the real kind, not the pretend or purchased kind). Does Dr. Ravtich cherry pick her facts? Absolutely! She draws her facts from high quality, peer-reviewed research. It is this proclivity that caused her to reverse her initial beliefs on the school reform strategies that she helped develop as one of the architects of NCLB.
It is this relentless pursuit of the truth, and a deep commitment to public education for all of our nation’s children, that inspires such a dedicated following. As a parent, educator and researcher, I have lived under NCLB mandates from its inception and now suffer the latest not-so-great-thing, Race to the Top. I have followed the research; that research has supported my findings in the classroom. These reforms have and continue to negatively impact our students, teachers and schools.
The blatant disregard of the professional voices from the trenches has been baffling. Our concerns have been ignored. We’ve been forced to watch our children burn out at young ages from being tested to death. We have seen our curricula narrow due to high-stakes testing. We have seen our most struggling students receive inadequate support, then be labeled as failures. We have been seriously demoralized.
Billionaires have funded the assault on public education, fueling it with misinformation and lies, and have effectively co-opted the media. Teacher voices have been silenced. The lone voice speaking on our behalf, speaking truth to power, has been that of Dr. Diane Ravitch. She’s our Little Engine That Could; she’s our David to the corporate education reformers, Goliath. That this mild mannered, 73 year old grandmother and much honored education historian has been under attack, both professionally and personally, by pundits whose education qualifications are sorely lacking, is abhorrent.
That these rich, white men, decades younger than Dr. Ravitch, find her such a threat is amusing. She has been able to do things her critics will never be able to do: admit when they’re wrong. THAT is what has earned her my undying respect and support.
In the 1950s, it was Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter. In 2011, it’s Diane Ravitch, a mild mannered education historian. And she doesn’t need no stinkin’ phone booth!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
breaking up is hard to do
Barry, baby, it's just so hard.... lemme sing it for you...
Vocals: Me
Piano: Philip Epstein
Saturday, July 2, 2011
a few suggestions for the corporate ed deformers
Dear Corporate Ed Deformers:
I'm concerned that you don't know what the hell you're doing how to determine what will totally screw up is best for helping our nation's schoolchildren. I know you're really busy, so I won't take a lot of your time but I feel that the following are worth considering:
- Facts (the real kind, not the pretend or purcha$ed kind) are your friends.
- Acquaint yourselves with them.
- Embrace them.
- Let them guide you.
Sincerely,
A Teacher Anon
p.s. Poverty is NOT an excuse!
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