Education splits gubernatorial races in California, New York

June 4, 2018, 9:25 AM A subterranean divide among Democrats between backers of teachers unions and those of charter schools and other education innovations is helping shape key gubernatorial primaries, even as red-meat issues like guns, inequality and President Donald Trump have dominated the races. In California, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa‘s campaign has been…

Students have their own ideas about standardized tests

Highschoolers weigh in on controversy about tests and teacher evaluations By Rick Karlin Updated 5:28 pm, Thursday, May 31, 2018 Albany Lawmakers, activists and teachers have been fighting for years over the role that student test scores should play when it comes to evaluating teacher performance. The fight continues this month as legislators wrangle over a bill…

State teachers union calls 2018 standardized testing “abusive”

Josh Bazan 6:43 PM, May 23, 2018 BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – Computer glitches. Lost answers. Tests extending into three class days. Stressed and concerned students. These frustrations from public school teachers across New York State are outlined in a new, eye-opening report from New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). The report, called The Tyranny of Testing,…

Are public schools the enemy, or the answer, to the challenges before us now?

Franklin Graham speaks during his “Decision America” California tour stop at the Fresno Fairgrounds on Monday, May 28, 2018. CRAIG KOHLRUSS Fresno Bee file BY ANDREW FIALA   June 01, 2018 10:00 AM Updated June 01, 2018 10:00 AM When the Rev. Franklin Graham was in Fresno last week, he said “the enemy has gotten control of our schools,…

Detroit’s far-reaching strategy to fill its schools

Lori Higgins, May 29, 2018 Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the report outlining the Detroit school district’s enrollment plan incorrectly states that the Berkley School District enrolled 1,000 Detroit students during the 2016-17 school year. The Berkley district does not enroll any Detroit students. After enrollment declines that saw the…

Mapping the Movement to Dismantle Public Education

BY MOLLY GOTT  DEREK SEIDMAN It’s not just the Koch brothers: a state by state look at the forces driving school privatization. he ongoing wave of teacher strikes across the US is changing the conversation about public education in this country. From West Virginia to Arizona, Kentucky to Oklahoma, Colorado to North Carolina, tens of thousands of teachers have taken to the streets…

Baltimore school board considering six new charter schools

Talia Richman June 4, 2018 The Baltimore International Academy begins each morning with roughly 720 students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in all five of the United Nations’ official languages. For the rest of their day, children in kindergarten through eighth grade can be heard chattering, learning and singing almost entirely in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian…

Public vs private schools: The Great Ed funding debate continues

Among the conferees signing off on last year’s omnibus education bill are David Sharpe, D-Bristol, second from left, and Sen. Philip Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, both sharp critics of the Scott adminstration’s approach to education funding in 2018. File photo by Tiffany Danitz Pache/VTDigger By Tiffany Danitz Pache Jun 3 2018, 9:56 PM The Scott administration has declared…