ICYMI: Concert Season Edition (4/23)

Yes, it's that special time of year when every performing group trots out its spring program, starting with the community chorus with which my wife sings. So that's where I'll be today. Hope you're enjoying something pleasant as well. Here's some reading from the week.

Dr. Greene: A Reflection

Gregory Sampson's reflection on his current superintendent is really a valuable reflection on the toxins that have entered public school systems.

Arizona charter teachers vote to unionize

BASIS gets a teachers' union, because when you're an opaque oppressive for-profit company, your employees don't always trust you to do the right thing.

Parents, educators in Pa. and beyond organize against Moms for Liberty

Turns out other kinds of moms can organize, too. From the Penn-Capital Star.

News 9 owes Clinton teacher an apology…

Out in Oklahoma, someone tried to smear a teacher, and one news outlet ran with the story. Now we know what really happened. Courtesy of The Lost Ogle.

Fixing the child care crisis starts with understanding it

At Vox, Rachel Cohen tries to break down the child care crisis--only it turns out that nobody really knows exactly what the problem is.

Why GOP culture warriors lost big in school board races this month

At Politico, Juan Perez looks at why slamming books and LGBTQ persons and other culture war stances turned out to be a losing stance for school board elections. 

Would you buy a used car from Dan Patrick? His desperate sales job on taxes, vouchers

Bud Kennedy in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looking at the Texas Lt. Governor's flailing attempts to sell some unpopular policies. Spoiler alert: his plans don't include leaning on democratic processes.

Michigan’s 3rd Grade Retention Law Held Back More Black and Low-Income Students

At EdWeek, Sarah Schwartz looks at the results of Michigans 3rd grade reading retention law. Turns out it may have less to do with who can read, and more to do with who is able to work the system.

An Eastern Oregon district does the math and finds way to give teachers ‘life changing’ raises

Well, how about that. It can be done. 

Why Teachers Are Turning Down Lucrative Offers to Stay at This Texas School

And look-- Denisa Superville at EdWeek has the story of a school district that teachers love so much they turn down raises just so they can stay there.

Kids Aren’t Being Fed Propaganda, You Are (the real story behind the Indiana CRT scandal)

Indiana conservative media are all over a story about catching schools secretly CRT-ing kids. Shane Phipps explains what the real story actually is.

Sarasota County Schools rejects controversial plan to hire outside consulting firm

In the surprise story of the week, Sarasota's school board decided not to hire the months-old consulting firm run by the Hillsdale College guy. A whole lot of folks showed up to say it was a bad idea, and in the end, even a longtime reporter was surprised.

Teaching Civics in an Age of Book Bans

Jacob Goodwin at the Progressive. He's New Hampshire's 2021 history teacher of the year, and he has some thoughts abouty civics in the age of gag laws.

Company that makes millions spying on students will get to sue a whistleblower

You may remember Ian Linkletter, the Canadian who got in trouble with Proctorio, the cyber-proctoring company, for posting things that they had left lying around in public. Now they get to sue him. Cory Doctorow has the story and the background and the tech-savvy analysis (and the rage) that you need.

How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students

Josh Cowen describes, again, what he's learned about vouchers and voucher research in the twenty years he's been in the voucher research field. This time he's in Time magazine!

The Cruel Dystopia of Success Academy

Here's a look from the inside of New York's marquee charter school system, from a former teacher who was fired (and who never signed an NDA). It's not pretty.

Florida at Center of Debate as School Book Bans Surge Nationally

It took three New York Times reporters to assemble this tale of reading repression in Florida, including the Mom For Liberty who warns that, without these rules, a child could accidentally pick up a book about a penguin with two dads.

Public schools would have to display Ten Commandments under bill passed by Texas Senate

Texas is determined not to be out-Florida-ed by Florida, so here's this stupid idea.

Empowering Rogue School Boards Will Allow For More M4L Mayhem

Of course, you can't out-Florida Florida, where a Representative has filed an amendment to give school boards the power to hire and fire any staff member in a school district. Accountabaloney for the details.

Switzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership — here's why it doesn't have mass shootings

The secrets include emphasis on training and keeping guns out of the hands of problem people.

Over at Forbes.com this week, I took a look at Gayle Greene's new book (you should read it) about teaching and the humanities, and looked at a new study buttressing the argument that content knowledge matters for reading.

We do this reading digest every Sunday here at the Curmudgucation Institute, and you can stay caught up with what I keep putting out into the world by signing up for my absolutely free substack.