By Anthony Cody. The Education Writers Association has decided that, although I was awarded a first prize for my writing just last year, I am no longer permitted to submit my work for consideration for future awards. Leaders of the organization have decided that I do not meet their definition of a journalist. …
By Mary Porter. Diane Ravitch puts it this way: The American Federation of Teachers and the Center for American Progress issued a joint statement expressing their agreement on what should be contained in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB). The key point is that the AFT agreed …
By Paul Horton. Why have those defending public education had such an uphill fight in crafting a compelling counter to the mainstream message that “public education is broken”? How can we break through this monotonous monopoly of thinking with an alternative message? As Noam Chomsky points out, the mainstream …
By Anthony Cody. A newly independent Living in Dialogue, and my first book on the shelves made this an eventful year for me. The challenge of organizing the first annual conference for the Network for Public Education filled the first few months, and the Public Education Nation event in Brooklyn was another …
By Sarah Lahm. In the past year, from Baltimore to Philadelphia, Newark to Chicago, and California to Colorado, high school students have led the way in carrying out protests–about the intersection of education, injustice, racism, and power. This active organizing has built a foundation that could make this …
By Susan DuFresne. What will happen to us as teachers, parents, students, and democracy as we continue to struggle in our mandated race to the top of corporate education reform? Home for winter break from my work as a teacher, I find myself too exhausted the first several days to take care of anyone but myself. …
By Anthony Cody. There is growing evidence that the corporate-sponsored education reform project is on its last legs. The crazy patchwork of half-assed solutions on offer for the past decade have one by one failed to deliver, and one by one they are falling. Can the edifice survive once its pillars of support have …
By Anthony Cody. In the wake of the unindicted killing of Michael Brown, the roots and ramifications of racism in America have been brought to the surface once again. One of the constructive ways that educators can respond to this challenge is through Ethnic Studies courses. On November 19, the Los Angeles Unified …
By Anthony Cody. The following terms have taken on special meaning as the religion of test-worship has taken over our schools. Those not raised in the church of Father Coleman might benefit from a translation into plain English. This lexicon reflects a complete worldview. The enthusiastic embrace of these meanings …
By John Thompson. Valerie Strauss does a great service for students and schools by showcasing the “small but growing number of teachers who are refusing to administer standardized tests that they think are harmful to their students and publicly explaining why they are doing so, sometimes at the risk of being …
