CPS Presents Pasi Sahlberg, May 14 in Harvard Square

April 8, 2014 by

We are excited to present a talk by Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? and now a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Pasi has been a teacher, a teacher educator and educational coach and advisor for many years. He has become a global ambassador for Finland’s successful approach to school reform, one that is radically different from the test-driven, top-down reforms many of us have been resisting here in Massachusetts and across the United States.

You won’t want to miss this important event. Click here to register online today. Spread the word to your friends and colleagues. Click here for a downloadable flyer to post and share.    → Read More

Filed Under: Charter Schools, Education, Education-Other

Charter Cap Battle Boils Over

March 21, 2014 by

Tempers flared and fingers stabbed out vitriolic editorials at the news that the Joint Education Committee wanted time to hear from voters and think about proposed charter cap and school turnaround legislation.

First, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz released a statement announcing the one-week extension. The statement was posted at the Blue Mass Group blog, prompting an interesting series of comments, including an excellent post by CPS member Shirley Kressel.
The Boston Herald then printed a vicious editorial attack on Senators Chang-Diaz and Jehlen, saying there should be “a special place in hell reserved for those who would deprive children of a way out of a failing school.”
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Filed Under: Charter Schools

The Real Impact of Charters on Education Equity, Accountability

February 12, 2014 by

The crowd that filled Madison Park High School’s Cardinal Hall on January 25 heard a wide-ranging, rich presentation on the impact of charter schools in Massachusetts. Parents, educators and advocates provided a multifaceted presentation on the charter schools, with several unifying themes.

 

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Charters Foster Inequity – Winners and Losers

Keynote speaker Dr. Daniella Ann Cook, Assistant Professor in the Department of Instruction at the University of South Carolina, reported on her research into the transforming of the New Orleans Public Schools into, as of next year, the nation’s first all-charter system.

Cook said school reform is far more than a technical discussion of curriculum and instruction; it is always political, social and racial. She noted that charter proponents saw New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina as a “green field of opportunity,” a way to wipe away the existing system and put in place something entirely new. She noted that among those wiped away from this mostly black school system were black teachers (an issue that resonates in Boston).   → Read More

Filed Under: Charter Schools, Conference Tagged With: , ,

Save Saturday, Jan. 25, for a CPS Charter School Forum

January 3, 2014 by
Have Charter Schools Broken Their Promises
to Parents, Students and the Community?
Come join us on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Madison Park High School, Cardinal Hall, for a forum and community discussion on charter schools in Massachusetts. (Click here to register now.) Massachusetts was the second state to authorize charter schools, under the Education Reform Act of 1993. Charter proponents made many promises: that all children would be welcome and would achieve at unprecedented levels; that charters would innovate and this would lead to improvements in traditional public schools as well. Eighty-one non-district charter schools are now open in Massachusetts, 25 of those in Boston. More than 31,000 students are enrolled.
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Filed Under: Charter Schools, Conference, Education, Education-Other

Hear Diane Ravitch, TONIGHT, Oct. 24 in Cambridge

September 30, 2013 by

Citizens for Public Schools is proud to present Diane Ravitch, speaking on her new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Reign of Error picks up where Diane left off with her ground-breaking book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

When: Thursday, October 24, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Memorial Church,
Harvard Yard, Cambridge
Tickets: $12

NOTE: ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED, BUT YOU CAN GET TICKETS AT THE DOOR BEGINNING AT 7 P.M.   → Read More

Filed Under: Charter Schools, Education, Education-Other
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