HomeTag: education policy

Tag: education policy

A special invitation from Diane Ravitch

October 6, 2012

Diane Ravitch has a blog post about a special action taking place on October 17th. The basic premise is requesting that teachers, parents and community members concerned about the attacks on public education send letters to the White House.

From Ravitch’s blog:

Let’s raise our voices NOW against privatization, against high-stakes testing, against teacher bashing, against profiteering.

Let’s advocate for policies that are good for students, that truly improve education, that respect the education profession, and that strengthen our democratic system of public education

If you send a letter, let VEA know. You can include in your letter in the comments below, on our closed or open Facebook page, or send them to Christal Watts at [email protected].

Let’s send a message to the White House that enough damage has been done to public education. The so-called reforms are now the status-quo and we must start doing things differently.

Our flawed national policy on education

August 14, 2012

Diane Ravitch posted to a story in Education Week. This is what she had to say about the story she had linked to:

Every once in a while, I read something that rings as true as a perfectly pitched bell or a fine piece of crystal.

Every once in a while, a clear-headed thinker assembles all the pieces of what is happening around us and puts it all together into a sensible and compelling analysis.

Go over and read the article and then, share it with everyone you know. The easy answer to the crisis in education is to blame the teachers. It will take much more hard work and a willingness to examine our society to make a long-lasting impact to the challenges we face in public education.

There is a reason that we lose 50% of teachers in their first five years of teaching and money is very rarely listed as the reason for leaving. Rather, the top reasons for leaving are due to poor working conditions and lack of respect or support from administrators.

To do today: Sign this online petition

July 16, 2012

To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama

Education should be left to educators. Please work to ensure that education policy is created by educators, and not by corporations or politicians.

Public education policy in the United States is under attack from a variety of directions. Corporate influences want to push for a for-profit model to tap into what they see as an untapped source of income. Misguided “reformers” want to push to end basic due-process protections for teachers in a quest to root out the insignificant numbers of “bad teachers.” Politicians continue to push for “teacher accountability” while ignoring the accountability of the parties that control student achievement the most; parents and students. Meanwhile, our education system, our dedicated teachers, and our students all suffer further degradation of their morale.

Go and sign the online petition and then share it with your friends, family, and colleagues!