ICYMI: Eye On The Ball Edition (3/22)
This was the week that Trump indicated he was serious about axing the Department of Education, but I want to point out that what the executive order said, what people (including Trump) say he's doing, and what the law allows him to do are all wildly different things, so now is an excellent time to tune out the noise and pay attention to what is actually happening.
Stephen Dyer with some astonishing numbers on how Ohio's private school students are sucking up a disproportionate amount of the taxpayer's money.
Akil Bello takes a look at the many ways this question is answered and suggests maybe there is bunk involved.
In Red States, Rural Voters Are Leading the Resistance to School Vouchers
Jennifer Berkshire in Barn Raiser again highlights the opposition to school vouchers in rural red areas.
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy breaks down some of the effects of the proposed federal school voucher bill. Surprise-- it helps out rich people with their taxes.
Trump Cannot Sharpie-kill the Department of Ed, and He Knows It.
The indispensable Mercedes Schneider looks at the executive order and notes what it doesn't say.
Florida at the White House, Applauding Disaster
Along with children, Trump also used some governors as props for the signing. Sue Kingery Woltanski takes a look at the sad scene.
White House says test scores haven’t improved since 1979. That’s not true.
Sarah Mervosh at the New York Times provides the answers for when your MAGA uncle starts talking about how Dear Leader said that US schools just keep getting worse/
Is Academic Achievement Improving or Deteriorating?
Everybody knows that text scores just keep dropping, right? Well, no.
Texas lawmaker proposes bill targeting furries; measure seeks to ban 'non-human behavior' in schools
I include this report from Fox News so that you will understand that there is still idiocy loose in the world.
How Oklahoma’s Right-Wing Superintendent Set Off a Holy War in Classrooms
Linda Wertheimer at Vanity Fair takes a look at the career of Oklahoma's Head Education Doofus, Ryan Walters. Thorough. If you've been wondering what the big deal is about this guy, this is a good entry into the discussion of his various policies--and how even religious folks wish he'd knock it off.
Three Pillars for Decimating Public Education
Jose Luis Vilson breaks down the three foundational parts of breaking public education and making the country a worse place.
Ohio's Private School Vouchers
Quick fact sheet reminding us that vouchers are a nice benefit for wealthy folks, but that's about it.
Jill Barshay at Hechinger looks at what may be one of the most devastating education cuts.
Questioning the Mississippi Miracle Again
Thomas Ultican explains why there is no Mississippi miracle, no matter how many people keep proclaiming it.
Trump and his “Aptitude for Music”
Trump wants to pretend he can hang with the band or theater kids. Nancy Flanagan knows better.
Audrey Watters reflects on the many crappy gifts that Bill Gates has given us, plus the usual assortment of valuable links.
"Everyone Is Welcome Here" and The Politics of Hate
Paul Thomas talks about that teacher in Idaho and the long political history of other-ing.
McTeaching: Online Instruction
Larry Cuban explains what there is to not love about online instruction, for both teachers and students.
Journalists and Advocates Share Key Resources to Address Public School Funding in Ohio Budget Debate
Jan Resseger provides a guide to some of the resources that have been published as part of Ohio's ongoing debates about education and whether or not Ohio can out-Florida Florida.
On Tyranny: Lessons for Educators 3
Speaking of Florida, Gregory Sampson uses Florida to demonstrate why a one-party state is a big problem.
For half of forever, Big Education Ape has amplified all the voices supporting public education, but occasionally Mike Simpson writes a little something himself. Here he looks at how Trump, Musk and the DOGE boys are playing Monopoly with our schools.
The Erasure of Black History in the Name of an Assault on DEI
Julian Vasquez Heilig looks at the alarming erasure of US history because diversity is too scary for some folks.
Mystified magicians of the mind
Ben Riley talks to Paul Cisek about the nature of AI and human thinking and which parts are not magic at all.
The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem
AI has depended on stealing a whole lot of work from writers for "training" purposes. Now you can see what Meta stole to train their own AI bot. It's a Mount Everest of larceny.
Apparently I was busy at Forbes.com this week. I wrote about Idaho's attempt to jam the Bible into classrooms (just don't show there were brown people in it), the charter group that opposes the Catholic Charter in Oklahoma, and of course the executive order that says... something.
For years, I have maintained a small piece of internet sanity by making a deal with myself-- no matter how much I'm stewing over stuff when I get up, I cannot post anything anywhere until I have first posted some piece of music. Music captures and expresses everything admirable and beautiful and deeply human about us, and so I remind myself of all of that first thing. I guess it's my version of a daily meditation/prayer. At any rate, I've decided to start including something with every one of these weekly digest posts. Because even though some humans have completely lost the plot and spend too much of their day being awful (and that is sad for them because good lord what is the point of being super-rich and/or super-powerful if you are still miserable and can only think to ease your gnawing emptiness by making others miserable)-- anyway, our humanity is meant as God's great gift to us and those around us and for me, at least, music is a major way to get in touch with that.
Which is a long way of saying that I'm going to start tacking music on this list every week now.
As always, you're encouraged to join me on my newsletter, free today and always.
Thank you for Linda Ronstat; she's an example of living the American dream while staying firmly attached to her Mexican roots.