Monday, June 21, 2010

Another Group Speaks Out

After running a partial list Saturday of groups opposing the Race to the Top initiative and the Obama Administration's ESEA reauthorization proposals, Washington Post education writer and blogger Valerie Strauss today has reprinted a letter from the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA to the Obama Administration and Congress. In Christian churches oppose Race to the Top, Obama blueprint, Strauss relates that the organization that represents "a community of 36 communions with a combined membership of 45 million people" has expressed "deep concern about the education priorities of Race to the Top and of Obama's 'blueprint' for education reform." The letter (628 PDF document) correctly notes the narrow focus of Race to the Top and the Obama Blueprint for Reform and their misguided emphasis on trying to reform America's schools without addressing the underlying causes of school failure:

We ask you to partner with us to challenge the unfair and detrimental language of the current discourse in educational reform, to re-examine untested assumptions about public education policy, and to ensure that untested models of school reform are not imposed from above in our nation's most fragile school districts.

Too often criticism of the public schools fails to reflect our present societal complexity. At a moment when childhood poverty is shamefully widespread, when many families are under constant stress, and when schools are often limited by lack of funds or resources, we know that public schools cannot be improved by concentrating on public schools alone.

They alone can neither cause nor cure the problems we face. In this context, we must address with prayerful determination the issues of race and class, which threaten both public education and democracy in America.

I linked last week to Andy Cody's Does Duncan Really Believe Teachers Support Race to the Top posting on his Living in Dialogue blog. Actually, the entire Living in Dialogue blog is an excellent starting point for teachers concerned with the current direction of education "reform." Andy writes in his Time to Use our Outside Voices post about his Teachers' Letters to Obama Facebook page as a place where teachers may develop skills, hone arguments, and work together to influence public opinion and policy makers and proceeds to give a brief tutorial on getting ones views published.

Odds 'n' Ends

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels wants a law passed to require that school districts "transfer their empty buildings to charter schools seeking property." Daniels is primping with many anti-public school initiatives for a 2010 Presidential run. An Indy Star article today relates the sad results of one of Daniels's cost cutting measures.

The Boston Globe's James Vaznis relates that a tentative agreement between the Boston schools and the teachers’ union has been reached that may "resolve a divisive battle over compensating teachers for working extra hours" in turnaround schools. The teachers will receive some extra pay, but not their normal contract rate for the extra required hours worked.

Looking for a Big Hard Drive?

One of those annoying Amazon spams actually caught my interest today. Amazon is running a today-only sale on the Seagate Barracuda 7200 1.5 TB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 32MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive ST31500341AS-Bare Drive for $75.99 with free shipping. Along with being a really long link, it's also a really good deal.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

See Valerie

I think I've said it before on this page, but I often feel I should just post a link to The Answer Sheet blog and say, "See Valerie." That's because The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss has become one of the most prolific and respected voices writing about education and the current "reform" movement. In addition to her own pertinent posts on the blog, she carries a variety of guest bloggers whose insights add valuable perspective to the discussion.

Over the last two weeks, Valerie has posted an excellent interview with Diane Ravitch, the de facto leader of the voices of reason in education reform, an excellent treatise by Mark Phillips, Extremism in school reform is not a virtue, and George Woods's story about how community, teachers, and students have made Federal Hocking High School a success in How to REALLY turn around a school.

Have a great weekend!

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