There’s been much-to-do with EpiPens in the news these past few weeks. As the company Mylan has raised the price of the life-saving, anti-allergen medicine from $100 to $600, there have been more than 1,700 articles claiming everything it costs $30 to manufacture to denouncing the teachers’ union for being complicit in the calamity. Seriously. This […]
public education
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
7 Hidden Reasons Teachers Deserve a Pay Raise
Across the country, teachers are fighting for their rights to a fair salary, and for good reason. If you think teachers don’t deserve better pay because you truly believe that they only work from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, you’ve clearly never met a teacher. Teachers today do so much more […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Fine Arts, From the Front Lines, High School, Opinion, Social Justice
Why NYC Students Seeing 'Hamilton' Is a Big Deal
On October 27th, a joint collaboration of The Rockefeller Foundation, The Gilder Lehrman Foundation, producer Jeffrey Seller, creator (and star) Lin-Manuel Miranda, and New York City public schools announced that they will provide a means for more than 20,000 eleventh graders to not just watch Hamilton, the hottest, most ground-breaking musical in decades – but to actually go […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, Uncategorized
The Conspiracy Against Public Education
It began innocently enough. I read a headline…just a headline…about Texas governor Greg Abbott appointing Republican State Board of Education member Donna Bahorich as President of the Board. Bahorich is a Christian extremist who home-schooled her children, and despite the fact that 94% of Texas children go to public school, apparently Abbott feels that this […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, How to Fix Education, Uncategorized
Charter Schools Have Lost Their Way
Charter schools were first conceived in 1988 by then American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker. Shanker hoped to open up schools that would be led by teachers who would use innovative methods to help children learn. The idea was to allow students to come to a charter school even if it was not in […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, High School, How to Fix Education
Who in the Hell Would Want to Become a Teacher?
“Who in the hell would want to become a teacher?” I said these words as I debated with some colleagues about the fairness of twelve former Atlanta Public School teachers sentenced to prison time for their roles in a well-calculated cheating scandal that spanned the city. As we debated on all of the social ills […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Featured, High School, Instructional Strategies, Middle School, Uncategorized
The Baltimore – Education Reform Connection
The Baltimore neighborhood that was the focus of protests after Freddie Gray’s death exists in every major city in this country. Too often such neighborhoods were once places where families could graduate from high school and get decent jobs. Schools had decent funding and could find ways to help struggling students like Freddie Gray. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Parent Tips: Teaching Money, Money, Money – Strategies for 2nd Graders
Parents are often surprised when their academically bright students struggle with learning money. There is really only one way to master money. It is to use it. Counting money is the math skill we all use every day. Money practice and knowledge help build numerous math skills. Calculating ways to pay for something builds additional […]