I don’t know how to speak with a president … but I can speak well enough with any father. So, let us speak as fathers … and of the dreams we dream for our own children. And we should also speak of patience … and promises. My own children are grown and flown … like … Continue reading Dear Mr. President
Guest Post from Melissa Cortright Newmaster, Pennsylvania. Here's her story... One Mother's Journey. "Oh...I’ve been a busy bee. My work is almost done here in my school district. This past Tuesday was School board election night. This is the second and the last time I will help clean out the board room. Clean sweep. No incumbents … Continue reading One Mother’s Journey
Check your child for neck bolts … the educational Frankensteins are at it again. Forget geography, composition, and math … school is now all about feelings. And emotions. And attitudes. It’s the hot-rage in education … the creepy premise that schools can instill acceptable human emotions and reactions in your child because … I guess … Continue reading Cardboard Children
Bad decisions make bad stories. Is anyone floored that schools are the new mother-lode for slobbering hedge-funders and tech magnates? Big Banks, Big Pharma, Big Oil … move on ... it’s Big Ed Tech's turn. "Silicon Valley is going all out to own America’s school computer-and-software market, projected to reach $21 billion in sales by … Continue reading Bad Decisions Make Bad Stories
Stand back! Exploding heads! For public education, there are two certainties: Seismic changes are underway … and Betsy DeVos will be blamed for all of it. The anti-DeVos psychotics are relentless. Their opposition is now more reflexive than anything else. They've been pavloved into rage ... howling at any mention of DeVos. It's become a … Continue reading The Archfiend DeVos
Please make it stop. Has everyone in education gone mad? “Academic kindergarten”? It’s worse than it sounds. Is anyone else stunned-numb at this? This edu-speak? This academic newspeak that oozes out of these clinical dissections of how children learn? It never stops. Another day, another brain-bruising study … and another tried-and-true bit of educational common … Continue reading “Academic Kindergarten”
Common Core is pure hemlock. However it’s rebranded, this reform has poisoned public education … and the profession has almost died off. No one wants to teach anymore. Master-teachers are rushing to retirement … and rookies are fleeing in mid-year. Teacher prep programs are starving for would-be teachers. And now we’re hearing from “lifers” … … Continue reading Common Core is Pure Hemlock
"After 32 years ... I couldn't take it any more. I vowed to fight CC ... It was killing me to do the ridiculous and stupid things that the supervisor and principal thought were necessary. They were able to brainwash the young teachers... [and] if teachers talked negatively about CC, they could be easily replaced. … Continue reading The End of Wisdom
Perhaps we should all resolve to take back our schools. To reclaim our parental rights. To demand that schools focus on OUR CHILDREN ... and that those unwilling to put OUR CHILDREN first should ... perhaps ... stake out other careers. It is time to acknowledge the mistakes of the last decade ... and the … Continue reading Ten Commandments of Public Education
“Making that peanut butter and jelly sandwich was not going to be an opportunity for praise. It was expected of me. It was my first task of the day, and doing it right was important. It demonstrated my discipline … attention to detail … a reminder that I had done something well … no matter … Continue reading Lessons of a Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich
Missives Worth Reading 