Dear Ms. McConnell, Since you took the time to offer your advice, as a nurse, on how teachers should do their jobs, I thought I’d return the favor and share my thoughts on how nurses should do their jobs. Except the truth is that I don’t have the faintest idea how to advise you how to be a nurse. Because […]

Dear Teachers, As your school districts’ “return to school” plans are being released, remember that you are going to hear mostly from the folks in your communities who are angry–angry that classes are being offered online, angry at the lack of child care availability, angry at teachers for not putting themselves in danger. In fact, many of these persons may […]

Dear Teachers, As we prepare for the uncertainty and confusion regarding the return of school, one  piece of advice: Please keep the receipts for *anything* you purchase in order to teach online this fall… new office chairs tables computer monitors laptop stands headphones mics speakers cameras lights routers wifi extenders upgraded laptops, tablets, and smart phones enhanced internet service professional […]

Vice President Mike Pence visited a school in North Carolina today, ostensibly to show how the power of school choice is the key to reopening schools this fall… In an email sent Monday, school officials said Pence will visit Thales Academy K-5 to see how school choice works and to advocate for its further implementation. Pence also tweeted about how […]

You know how I know that the corporate education reformers, and their leader, Betsy DeVos, were never serious about actually improving public education? Because now, in the midst of a global pandemic, and a complete lack of national education policy guidance beyond “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!“, none of these education policy “experts” have come up with any “out […]

If you’ve seen your teacher friends warning about the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic providing an opportunity for unscrupulous education reformers, like US Secretary of Education and serial public school defunder, Betsy DeVos, to dismantle our system of public schools and wondered to yourself, “Now how would these people do that?”…here’s how. In the Utica (MI) Community Schools (UCS), the […]

If children are at more risk out of school than in school, then the problem isn’t school. If kids who aren’t in school are hungry, then increase funding to food pantries and community kitchens. (BTW–many public schools have been feeding kids all summer.) If kids who aren’t in school are in greater danger of abuse, then improve child protective services, […]

Like many of us, I’ve been paying close attention to the various plans and suggestions for “reopening schools” this fall. It’s been more than a tad confusing to track the various recommendations coming from partisan legislative groups, professional associations, school district task forces, and the governor’s advisory board on reopening schools.I wish more than anything that there was more clear […]

It’s difficult to overestimate how truly awful Sen. Tom Cotton’s op-ed in the NY Times yesterday was, but here’s the bit that made me stop reading and my mouth hang wide open… “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.” This is the sort of […]

As someone who visits a lot of schools each year to observe student teachers and work with my colleagues in the schools, a few thoughts on these newly-released CDC “back to school” guidelines… • kids can’t keep their shoes and socks on for a full school day…masks? • no shared items? everything in school is shared…pencils are shared, books are […]

Anyone else starting to think that it’s the “closet conservatives” that pose the most danger during our current constitutional and health crises? With the “out” Trump supporters, for example, you can see them coming from a mile away. Confederate flags waving, no face masks, stupid, misspelled signs, support for the border wall, and hatred for women and minorities–it’s all on […]