ICYMI: May Mart Edition (5/5)
The first weekend in May in my small town is a big festival of growing things, with both parks filled with vendors selling plant and plant-related stuff. My own interactions with plants are limited to A) appreciating them and B) killing them. But this is still a cool thing. And it takes some of the sting off the sadness of the closing of our theater production today.
But this week it's a large reading list, so enjoy and share and I hope it's pretty where you are.
Remember Betsy? Michigan education leaders blast Trump for ‘abandoning’ public schools
From The 'Gander, Kyle Kaminski interviews some education leaders who point out the obvious--if you care about public education, Trump is probably not your guy. Includes an appearance by Friend of the Institute Mitch Robinson.
Does ‘Grading for Equity’ Result in Lower Standards?
At EdWeek, Risk Hess interviews Joe Feldman, who proceeds to gently explain how a recent Fordham critique of equitable grading was pretty much wrong.
Press Reports Ranking American High Schools Mislead the Public
Yes, the US News rankings are junk. Jan Resseger explains.
Pennsylvania Taxpayers Are Funding Discriminatory Religious Schools
Catherine Caruso covers a report that I reported on as while back, but she does it in The New Republic, so hooray for more people getting the message about Pennsylvania's crazy discriminatory voucher program.
NC school voucher dollars are funding Christian Nationalist indoctrination
It's not just PA. Justin Parmenter has been running down all of the religious indoctrination and discrimination being funded by taxpayers in North Carolina, and it's a lot.
Speaking of North Carolina, they've got a woman running for state superintendent who is Ryan Walters-level right wing. Carli Brosseau at The Assembly has produced the best deep dive into Michele Morrow seen so far.
Iowa legislator opening his own private school, to be funded by vouchers he voted for
Yes, really, Help pass a law to help people get rich, then go cash in. Also, put your wife on the board. You'd think it would all be illegal, but no... Ty Rushing covers story for Iowa Starting Line.
Reynolds’ voucher program is about destroying public education
A former Iowa superintendent doesn't think much of Governor Reynolds' plans for public schools in Iowa.
Ohio’s *School Vouchers for All*: Expanded, Expensive, but Not Audited
The indispensable Mercedes Schneider details some of the shenanigans surrounding Ohio's voucher program (a program that is currently being dragged into court).
Florida is the petri dish in which a thousand school choice bacteria bloom. For instance, would you like some of the tax you pay for your new car to go to fund home schoolers? Sue Kingery Woltanski will guide you through this bizarro voucher grift.
A San Diego charter school may shut down its high school by the end of this school year
The San Diego Union-Tribune reminds us that charter schools are routinely unstable. Turns out amateurs have trouble making them work.
A controversial group looks to join school chaplain program under proposed OK legislation
Yet another state decides that allowing faux chaplains into schools might be another way to get Christianity in there, and so another states gets to say Howdy to the Satanic Temple. Welcome to the club, Oklahoma.
Do Schools Really Need To Give Parents Live Updates on Students' Performance?
Lenore Skenazy at Reason, of all places, points out that maybe the ever-available grade portals are doing at least as much harm as good.
Ultra-conservative lawmakers target Louisiana libraries as culture war rages on
Piper Hutchinson at Louisiana Illuminator runs down the many ways that some lawmakers are trying to stomp down libraries.
The PA mother who’s standing up against book bans—and the Dems standing with her
Ashley Adams at The Keystone looks at one mom fighting for reading rights in Chester County.
NEPC Review: The Reality of Switchers (EdChoice, March 2024)
EdChoice created a "report" claiming to show that vouchers are a money-saver for taxpayers. Voucher scholar Josh Cowen explains why the report is pure bunk and hackery.
A new lost generation: Disengaged, aimless, and adrift
Robert Pondiscio at the Fordham Institute blog attempts to put school absences in a larger context.
Since it was Star Wars Day yesterday, let's go back to that time that Mr. Finkle managed to spoof Star Wars and school testing all at once.
At Forbes.com this week I looked at vouchers and their transparency problem.
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That Hess Q&A is interesting in how willingly he tee'd up the expert to tell him how full of shit his side of the argument was. It's almost like he wanted the Fordham study to get kicked in the teeth.