Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Here’s a beginning roster of who favors it: Lamar, Arne, Pearson, Apollo Inc, the National Governors Association, ALEC, and the Brookings Institute). Congress today voted whether or not to “fast track” a decision about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is free trade on steroids.  According to Robert Reich: “It would be the largest tradeContinue reading ““Fast Tracking” the Privatization of Public Education: Who’s in Favor?”

  “Freddie Gray was about education.” “We teach our kids how to add, but they need to learn social skills…and life skills” “They want to close our school down and send our kids into a drug infested neighorhood…why?” “So here we go” These statements were spoken at a school-closing meeting about Langston Hughes Elementary School.Continue reading “The Push to Close Langston Hughes Elementary School in Park Heights Baltimore Leaves Community Skeptical of the Motives”

There’s a saying in certain addiction recovery circles that “One drink is too many and a million is not enough”—this phrase suggests that once an alcoholic takes the first drink there’s no guarantee they can control how many more they will take after that, or what will happen. I suggest that one of the reasonsContinue reading “One Test is Too Many, a Million is Not Enough”

Baltimore City is on the nation’s radar right now. Yet beside the media such as CNN running 24-7 news casts, who you don’t see working behind the scenes are the charter school privatizers. They were here before Freddie Grey was a national headline for police brutality. With Governor Hogan taking the lead, charter school proponentsContinue reading “Baltimore is Not a “Crisis”-It’s a Community!”

Standardized testing is like “fun house” mirrors. Sure, they cast a “reflection” of the learner being tested, but it’s a grossly distorted reflection of who that student is as a learner or what they know or are capable of learning. (“Is that what I really what I look like?”) Now imagine what it does toContinue reading “Standardized Testing: “Fun” House Mirrors and Distorted Realities”

Hogan recently stated, “We’re going to do everything we can to expand the use of charter schools. It’s a great idea.”  Currently, local school systems bear the cost of charter schools, so approving them means increasing spending or cutting funds for existing schools. “I don’t see new schools being able to open,” said Kara Kerwin,Continue reading “HOGAN, CHARTERS and PRIVATIZATION OF BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS”

Yes, we all know that corporations “own” politicians and sway legislation. ALEC has gamed that system for decades. But what if that corporate-driven system of manipulating public governance “behind closed doors” to serve corporate interests could take it …one…step…further? What if there was an international TRIBUNAL of corporations that was able to TRUMP national governance,Continue reading “Can Pearson SUE for Damages to its Profits if We Eliminate Standardized Testing from Public Education? It Just Might Have a Claim…”

JUST IN TIME FOR TESTING RESISTANCE SEASON! An Activist’s Handbook for the Education Revolution United Opt Out has crafted a book accessible to parents, teachers, and activists. What can you expect? An “Education Reform 101” for those looking for a comprehensive history of how public education got here, a personal narrative from our organizers describing ourContinue reading “A Handbook for the Education Revolution ….It’s Here”

A guest post by Don Bunger of Washington BATS: Corporations Have Struck Gold at Your Local Public School! Welcome to the new gold rush, a rigorous U.S. and international corporate sprint for educational gold (in the form of your kid’s data) at all public schools. Authors David Spring and Elizabeth Hansen tour clever, stealthy, political,Continue reading “Corporations Have Struck Gold at Your Local Public School!”

(thanks to Ken Derstine for alerting me to this study via Bloggers Network) My, my… the charter spin doctors are working overtime. It was CREDO who in 2008 provided a study that is widely cited because it documented that, “Thirty‐seven percent of the charters in this study produce learning gains that are significantly worse thanContinue reading “Who Wrote the New CREDO Study? And What Do They Really Want?”