Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Not All Charter Schools Are The Same

Not all charter schools are evil, corporate, for-profit monstrosities. Again: not all charter schools are the same. Some modern charter schools are operated by for-profit corporations or non-profits who pay their leadership exorbitant salaries. Almost all the common arguments against charter schools are rooted in those corporate models. They are the loudest, but not the […]

Posted inCharter Schools

OPINION: What if Betsy DeVos is not wrong about everything? The case for more choices in K-12 education.

The U.S. Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, and I do not see the world the same way.  She is interested in privatizing education to support an agenda where parents can use public monies to attend private (mostly religious, mostly Christian) schools.  DeVos and her allies have supported charter schools, which have diverted much-needed resources from public […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Cory Booker Is No Friend Of Public Education

The field of Democratic presidential candidates is wide open. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Cory Booker, and Senator Kamala Harris have all dipped their toes in the chilly water that is the 2020 election. Choices are usually positive in most things, except when it comes to school choice.  Of all the politicians mentioned above, Cory […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

What “School Choice” Means for Students, Teachers, and Everyone In-Between

The words school choice have been heard a lot in 2017. Specifically, “school choice” is a phrase most often associated with controversial Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. As an educator with experience in virtual education, higher education, and in brick-and-mortar secondary education, many friends and family members have been asking my thoughts on DeVos and on the Trump […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

Can Public Schools Survive the Era of School Choice?

Last week Betsy DeVos was tapped as the Secretary of Education by the incoming Trump administration. Now many educators in traditional public schools are cringing and bracing for the worst because DeVos is known in Michigan for her support of school vouchers and charter schools, often called “school choice.” The charter school topic can be a very […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education

No Right to an Education: Detroit Schools and the Secretary of Education Nominee

In September 2016, seven students in the Detroit school system filed a lawsuit against Michigan governor Rick Snyder and other state education officials. In their complaint, the students allege that over the last several decades, there has been systematic disinvestment in and “deliberate indifference” to the Detroit schools, which has fundamentally denied Detroit school children […]