Those who favor the current wave of education "reform" like to dress themselves in the robes of the Civil Rights Movement. In a previous article, I questioned the validity of their logic. Now they've taken to the struggle underway in Egypt. Unfortunately, it seems that no freedom movement...
Posted February 3, 2011 | 18:06:47 (EST)
Former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein recently compared teacher pensions to a Ponzi scheme, siphoning precious money from students. "Children currently in our schools," Klein wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "as well as future students, will be high among those paying the price."
And yet,...
Posted January 10, 2011 | 12:08:13 (EST)
The approach of a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King provides an opportunity to reflect on one of the hot topics in education reform today: the racial achievement gap. Everyone wants to close the gap. Or so it would seem.
Despite the hope many invested in...
Posted November 8, 2010 | 13:06:48 (EST)
A version of this speech was presented at the United National Anti-War Committee Conference in New York City, on November 6, 2010.
If we took the trillions of dollars wasted on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent it on education, we could work miracles. We could make sure every...
Posted October 27, 2010 | 02:27:29 (EST)
William Danzy, Sandra Thomas and thousands of their neighbors in Harlem are about to lose their green space to the construction of yet another charter school.
Smack in the middle of 14 buildings known as the St. Nicholas Houses -- a sprawling complex between 127th and 131st Street and 7th...
Posted October 15, 2010 | 02:15:27 (EST)
Perhaps the most important element of the progressive élan surrounding the charter school "movement" is its claim to be nothing less than the "Second Coming" of the Civil Rights Movement. Arne Duncan referred to the opening of the film, Waiting for 'Superman' as a "Rosa Parks moment". A group of...
Posted October 4, 2010 | 14:13:15 (EST)
Last week I participated in a panel discussion at NBC's Education Nation summit.
For those who missed it, Education Nation was effectively a two and a half day-long meeting of the minds for those who see privatization as the last word in fixing America's public schools. They are known...
Posted February 21, 2011 | 09:32:52 (EST)