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Author Diane Ravitch to Speak Dec. 1 at BC Law School

November 2, 2010 by

Diane Ravitch

Citizens for Public Schools is proud to welcome Diane Ravitch, author of the heralded book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, to the Boston area on Wednesday, December 1, to share her trenchant analysis of how our political leaders are pushing an education reform agenda that is wrong.  Ravitch will speak on “Taking Back School Reform: What kind of reform do we want and how are we going to get it?”

As a former Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of George H. W. Bush, Ravitch once embraced charter schools and high stakes testing, but became convinced by the evidence that they are not the solution and are in fact part of the problem. “Why give away public schools to the private sector?” Ravitch writes. “The private sector does not get better results on average than the public sector, not (according to NAEP) for black students or Hispanic students or urban students or low-income students.

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Filed Under: Education

Don’t Wait for Superman: Speak Up for Public Schools Now

September 28, 2010 by

There’s been a tremendous wave of hype leading to the opening of the new film “Waiting for Superman,” a documentary that focuses on the plight of urban families who see charter schools as their only opportunity for quality education.

The film portrays public education in general as failing, teachers unions as the villains and charter school leaders as the heroes. Progressive as well as conservative commentators (such as Frederick Hess) have written that the film takes the complicated issue of how to improve education for poor families and oversimplifies it beyond belief.

One thing is undeniable: The film’s release and its attendant hype have put the problems of urban schools front and center and created opportunities to make the case for supporting and improving public education.  Now is the time for supporters of public schools to push back against simplistic arguments, remind people about many successful public schools and public school teachers and demand policies that support instead of attack our public schools.   → Read More

Filed Under: Education-Other

Judge: Parents Have Right to Challenge Gloucester Charter

August 25, 2010 by

Sheila Decter, CPS board member and Executive Director of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, posted this about Judge Richard Welch III’s decision in the Gloucester Charter School case:

Where the Board and Commissioner of Education awarded a charter after the Department’s Charter School Office concluded that the school did not meet the legally required educational criteria; after a memo from the Secretary of Education urged that the Commissioner and Board award the charter for political reasons; and the Inspector General concluded that it had never validly been awarded and should be deemed void ad initio.

JALSA does not believe that privatization of education is the way to improve the quality of schools for the full body of students who are due quality education from the Commonwealth.  This particular case has shown a blatant disregard for the requirements of state law.

Parents of Gloucester school children asked for an injunction to prevent the school from opening this month. 

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Filed Under: Charter Schools

A Ray of Hope: On Tipping Points and Pushing Back

August 18, 2010 by

Anthony Cody taught science in Oakland, CA, for 18 years and now blogs regularly on teaching and education in Education Week. I wanted to share his Aug. 15 post, “This is How a Tipping Point Feels,” for its note of optimism and thoughtful analysis of the opportunities we face as we try to push the education policy pendulum back toward something reasonable and helpful for our children.

It’s worth reading the whole thing, which mentions a recent oped by influential Washington Post writer Dana Milbank, which calls out President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for expanding “the importance of standardized testing to determine how much teachers will be paid, which educators will be fired and which schools will be closed — despite evidence that such practices are harmful. In the process, he’s offended just about all the liberals involved in or advocating for education without gaining much support from conservatives.”   → Read More

Filed Under: Education

Thanks for a successful conference!

August 6, 2010 by

The Citizens for Public Schools Annual Fall Issues Conference exceeded our high expectations for the quality of the speakers, attendees and ideas generated for change. Thanks to all whose hard work and great ideas made it such a success.

Stay tuned for a special Fall Issues Conference edition of the Backpack, coming soon to an email address and web site near you!   → Read More

Filed Under: Conference, Education
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