Search
Education
Meet the enemy
| Lois Weiner | April 15, 2012 |
One of the most amazing aspects of the current political landscape is the brazenness with which elites destroying public education, while claiming they are saving children, announce their strategy to the world. They have no fear of being stopped.
The True Story of Pascale Mauclair
| Michael Hirsch | March 1, 2012 |
Here is an extraordinary piece about Digger Murdoch's New York Post harassing a teacher who was rated poorly on the city's bogus teacher evaluation. When the Los Angeles Times printed the same slanderous tripe a year ago, based on the same crap methodology, the Los Angeles United School District teacher involved committed suicide. It was a big story then. This one is no different, except that no one's taken their own life, yet. Wish I'd written it.
Chicago and NYC school reform: Creating possibilities versus surrendering without a struggle
| Lois Weiner | February 19, 2012 |
As I write, the Brian Piccolo Specialty School in Humboldt Park, Chicago is occupied by parents, teachers, and students, with Occupy Chicago and others camped outside the schol in solidarity. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is building this movement, with a wonderful wholeheartedness and passion. Bravo!
Why the Korean School System Is Not Superior
| by Se Hoon Park | Winter 2012 |
In trying to assemble my thoughts on comparing Korean and American schools, I have to start with my personal experience. In fact, please keep the following in mind: I am not better than you in evaluating education systems; I am just a middle-aged man who lives next door and has 9- and 11-year-old kids. This article does not aim to define the Korean school system or rigidly evaluate its pros and cons. My own analysis of some of the ideology behind the Korean school system is entirely based on experience, rather than any formal knowledge.
A WPA for History: Occupy the American Historical Association
| Jesse Lemisch | January 24, 2012 |
[Partly in response to my calls to the American Historical Association to deal with the jobs crisis in the field, AHA President Tony Grafton organized on short notice a special session at the 126th Annual Meeting of the organization in Chicago on January 6, 2012. The session, entitled "Jobs for Historians: Approaching the Crisis from the Demand Side," was well-attended, with about 250 people in the Sheraton Chicago’s Ballroom VI. Grafton chaired, and I was one of four speakers.
Teacher Unionism Reborn
| by Lois Weiner | Winter 2012 |
In the past five years, we have witnessed a demonization of teachers unions that is close to achieving its goal: destruction of the most stable and potentially powerful defender of mass public education. Teacher unionism’s continued existence is imperiled — if what we define as "existence" is organizations having the legal capacity to bargain over any meaningful economic benefits and defend teachers’ rights to exercise professional judgment about what to teach and how to do it.
Bonus pay for teachers: An ideology, not a solution
| Lois Weiner | January 2, 2012 |
The New York Times front-page story extolling bonuses for "highly effective teachers" repeats claims about teacher quality and retention that are both highly inaccurate and widely-promoted, especially by those advancing "free market" policies in education. This piece marks a low in the NYT's journalistic standards in reporting on education.
How school reform gets hijacked by the Billionaire Boys Club: A cautionary tale for the Left
| Lois Weiner | December 20, 2011 |
A powerful new video, "The truth behind Stand for Children," tells a cautionary tale for the Left. Even if you already understand how charter schools have become a vehicle for destruction of public education, take five minutes to watch this concise analysis of how "Stand for Children," which began as a grassroots organization of parents fighting for increased school funding and reform, was taken over by the most powerful educational lobby in the world, the Billionaire Boys Club.
Occupy the American Historical Association: Demand a WPA Federal Writers' Project
| Jesse Lemisch | November 27, 2011 |
As part of his program to deal with America's economic catastrophe, economist Robert Reich has proposed a revival of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps.
Welcome to the Occupation
| Scott McLemee | October 12, 2011 |
[reprinted by permission from Inside Higher Ed]
“Bill O’Reilly has connected the dots to identify me as being behind the occupation,” said Frances Fox Piven. “I’m sorry to say that’s not true.”