I’ve noticed an uptick lately in the number of folks talking about school choice, charter schools, and competition. I’m guessing this is a by-product of the recent swing in public opinion against charter schools, and the attendant backlash against 2020 presidential candidate and big charter school cheerleader, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. The conversation around charters and choice, however, like […]

Trump and his Republican enablers, like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, are beginning to realize that they have approximately zero chance of ever winning another election–if held and run fairly–on the issues, so they are scrambling frantically to redefine these issues in a clumsy and desperate effort to confuse and distract voters. Here are just 2 examples; one from national […]

A recent story in the Washington Post’s “Answer Sheet” focused on the fates of the 4 finalists for 2016 National Teacher of the Year… Nate Bowling was the 2016 Washington state Teacher of the Year and one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year. There were three other finalists who were the winners in their states that […]

In what may be the least surprising political development of the past 2 years, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker recently announced his candidacy for President of the United States. Mr. Booker has been running for president seemingly forever. He’s been planning for this moment since he was a kid, and everything he’s ever done has been designed for just this moment. […]

Aaaaand, the gaslighting around the Covington Catholic High School controversy has begun. “He wasn’t smirking…he was nervous.” “He was frightened…that man was right in his face!” “There were black Muslims saying awful things to those boys!” “The press is distorting the narrative because of their hatred for Trump!” “Just because those boys were wearing MAGA hats doesn’t mean they were […]

If he was just a high school kid who had come face-to-face with an elderly man chanting and banging on a drum, maybe I see confusion, nervousness, and teen awkwardness. As a member of an all-male, overwhelmingly-white group of teenaged boys on a school-sanctioned field trip to protest women’s right to choose, I start seeing a mix of testosterone, adolescent […]

So, I may not have thought this out… I promised my wife that I’d build a wall around our vegetable garden. She didn’t seem as happy as I thought she’d be. “We don’t need a wall,” she said. “A wall won’t keep the critters out–they’ll just tunnel underneath and still eat my lettuce! And the birds will still swoop down […]

I’m not here for the impending barrage of heartfelt stories about Trump voters who have now “seen the light,” and suddenly realize that his tax cuts, and tariffs, and gutting of regulations, and pulling out of trade deals around the globe, and manipulation of the SEC and stock market, and threats against judges, and attacks on the press, and government […]

Here are just a few of the most troubling excerpts from a very disturbing recent article on arming teachers, presented without comment: “When she started her career, Pam’s salary was $23,000. (“If I ever see $55,000, I’ll be 105 years old,” she says, laughing.) The district is covering her hotel and ammunition for training, but she paid for her new […]

I have to say that it’s pretty amusing to see an–allegedly–education-focused website like the Fordham Institute print this “sky is falling” forecast of new Wisconsin governor Tony Evers’ predicted influence on schooling in the state, but it’s illustrative of Fordham’s deep hatred for public education, and their support for the corporate ed reform agenda. Between the twisting of facts and […]

The Daily Kos has a new piece out today suggesting that–surprise!–the Trump Tower meeting that EVERYONE attending it claimed, insisted, and swore was “no big deal,” was actually–hold on, here’s the twist–a really big deal. Shocker, eh? Now, how absolutely delicious would it be if this whole dumpster fire could be traced back to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and […]