Big Media hates Lessig’s campaign message (get Big Money out of elections)
So, it makes sense that Big Media is blacking out news and views about the candidate running on a platform to completely cut Big Money out of political campaigns. Harvard Constitutional Law Professor Lawrence Lessig’s platform is barebones simple: let’s reform US politics, beginning with getting Big Money out of political elections. This will make voting more egalitarian and Congress more accountable. From Lessig’s campaign website:
Who is Chris Cerf and why do the Feds want him kept away from Newark students?
Chris Cerf planned to replace Cami Anderson as Newark Public Schools’ state-appointed superintendent, but following his attempted return to New Jersey schools the Feds are scrutinizing his record, and they aren’t pleased with him. Let’s take a look at who this man is:
In many ways, Cerf is the prototypical education “reformer”: he never taught in a public school, never earned a degree in education, and never ran a school building. More accurately, perhaps, Cerf is the prototype of a new sort of reformer, one who leaves a groundswell of resistance in his wake.
Can the Jewish approach to education benefit public schools?
I don’t agree with the Orthodox Jewish practice of choking public schools of money in order to fund transportation to, and expenses for, their own community’s schools. But, I do understand why the Orthodox community does feel that the taxes they pay should be funding their children’s education as well as other students’. And I understand why the Orthodox want their children to have yeshiva educations.
Yeshivas are better academically than public schools; they have dual language (Hebrew and English) curricula; midot (values) are taught; and a completely different approach to learning is part of the Torah (biblical) studies component, where students challenge the knowledge and positions of the study mates they partner up with and school days stretch from 7am until almost midnight. The learning culture at traditional yeshivas is fantastic and exceeds anything else I’ve encountered in a school environment.
New report shows ed reform is failing our kids
The report Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality issued this month (April 2013) by the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education concludes that so-called education reforms have led to bigger gaps and lost ground, “for the students they were supposed to support” – low-income, low achieving and Abbot District students. Outcomes were measured in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Market-driven education is a concept introduced by Milton Friedman in his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom.
5 articles on why charters are bad for Paterson
Mother Crusader is a new voice in education reform – on the good guy side. This lady didn’t intend to become an advocate for public education. But, she followed the thread of a bit of “education reform” injustice she stumbled across one day which led her to a huge ball of intentional attacks on public education by privatizers who want the money it represents for themselves, and are out to destroy students’ minds, happiness and their communities while they’re at it, in order to get that money. Mother Crusader was disturbed, put aside all of her other tasks for the week and wrote a series of articles explaining in very clear English, why charter schools are bad and exactly why the Paterson Collegiate Charter School in particular, is bad for Paterson.