Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I knew that I wanted to be a high school English teacher from the time I was a freshman in high school. But as the child of a SAHM, I had also convinced myself that I was destined for […]
policy
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Vote for the Voteless: Off-Year Elections Do Matter
When I was in fourth grade, my class participated in the Center for Civic Education’s Project Citizen Program. Groups of students “identify a public policy problem in their community. They then research the problem, evaluate alternative solutions, develop their own solution in the form of a public policy, and create a political action plan to […]
Posted inCollege and Career
Activists Are Needed in Education
The year: 1980 Activists in education are needed now more than ever. I was thirteen years old when I saw this coming. A smug ex-actor with Brylcreemed hair dropped a condescending line in a presidential debate. That isn’t a big deal by itself, especially when you consider how low the presidential decency bar currently is. […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
NY Assembly Seeking Better Education Policy
Contact your N.Y. Assembly representative! Recently, four bills were sponsored in our N.Y. State Assembly, and I have no idea how the legislative process works in great detail, but the spirit behind and purpose of these bills is encouraging. It certainly could be part of what has some of the lobbyist/wealth-funded school privatizers running around […]
Posted inFeatured, From the Front Lines, Special Education, Uncategorized
Why I Fled Special Ed (and How to Fix It)
At the end of last year, I had had enough of my job. After eight years as an expert Special Education teacher, I felt that I could no longer do my job and stay sane. I wanted out! I knew from previous experiences that, despite my certifications and work history, I would not easily get […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Opinion
The Magical Solution Illusion: How Everyone Has “The Answer” to Education
A new week, a new theory about what ails America’s educational system. America’s education system is broken. Haven’t you heard? If you haven’t, it was on the cover of Time Magazine a few weeks back. It seems teachers win tenure too fast in this country, and the unions are more interested in protecting its membership […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum, Principals' Corner, Uncategorized
Put Administrators in the Classroom!
When anyone thinks of the job of a high school principal one may think of one who’s always in the patrolling the school’s hallway to catch students misbehaving, congratulating student athletes or assisting a teacher with a difficult students. We watch these images of administrators are all over classic movies such as cult classic, Ferris […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Kindergarten, Opinion, Uncategorized
"White Hat" and "Black Hat" Reformers
This is a cross-post from EdGator.com. In one of the articles linked today, Alexander Russo tells of a “former reformer” who is now, as a parent, on the receiving end of a harsh reform measure: the forced consolidation of his child’s school. I’m sympathetic. I’m also reminded that, despite the eager cruelty of some, all […]