Finally, proof there is a problem with American education

Did this jerk even attend school? http://www.policymic.com/articles/13189/the-ultimate-pocketbook-to-pregnancy-rape-and-the-female-body-for-all-the-todd-akins-out-there He needs to extract his head from his medieval ass.
Remember, people like him are making policy decisions about your schools...

What mission?

Stephanie Simon thinks that Teach for America has betrayed its mission. I think TFA has ABANDONED its mission. Corporate sellout, anyone?

Parents and Choice

Last week, Diane Ravitch posted a reader comment on the subject of 'Do parents know best?' This article sort of follows the same theme, asserting that parents who have a choice of school for their children don't know how to choose a 'good' school. I would argue the opposite, that theyknow what they are choosing, but base that choice on something other than test scores. That does not make them wrong. It simply means that their priorities lie elsewhere. I don't disagree with their decision. I would simply say to them, as to all parents, that a school is as good or bad as you make it, and you (and your kids) will get whatever educational experience you work for. If you put in the effort, you can get a great education at a 'bad school'; you can also get a lousy education at a 'great school' if you treat the opportunity carelessly.

Holy big-bucks stadium, Batman!

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/07/everythings-bigger-in-texas-especially-this-60-million-high-school-football-stadium/?hpt=hp_t3&utm_source=twitterf

Wonder what kind of EDUCATION they coulf have paid for with 60 MILLION dollars? But we couldn't possibly raise (sshh) taxes for something so frivolous as education...

Yay, teachers of Rio!

They hit the pavement in June to boycott the SAEJ exam, which I take to be the quivalent of our annual standardized tests.
From the article: "Like the New Schools program of Anthony and Rosinha Garotinho (who governed the state of Rio from 1998 to 2007), it seeks to bribe teachers with promises of a few reais in addition to their wretched salaries. In exchange it demands acceptance of a system of evaluation based largely on students’ scores on high-stakes tests (“provões”). In this way, the bourgeois politicians seek to link the wages of educators to the “product,” as if education were a commodity purchased on the market rather than a fundamental democratic right of working people and the entire population."

Full article here: http://internationalist.org/rioteachersboycotttest1206.html

It's not about the kids

Not my words, but I agree completely.
https://sites.google.com/site/philwpjournal/springsummer2012/reforming

And another account showing the same:
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/10/my_public_school_beat_down/

If ANY of this were truly about the children, no one would do this to them. Come on, people! Wake up and smell the chalk dust.