“An Education System Flush with Cash [and] Students Deprived of All Knowledge” In President Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address, these were his first official words about American public education. While it’s all too easy to jest that President Trump could have been possibly referring to his Education Secretary choice Betsy DeVos (who has donated $5.3 million to campaigns […]
public education
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 inFrom the Front Lines
How “Big Ed” Could Ruin America
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 […]
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 […]