School Reform: From Crusade to Sales Pitch

“… since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (which directed federal funds to low-income schools), the nation has made progress toward access and excellence. Too slowly, of course, but progress nonetheless (see Richard Rothstein’s March 8, 2011 analysis for the Economic Policy Institute). Ed reformers ignore the data, claiming that poor and minority children are no better educated now than thirty or forty years ago. In fact, progress has slowed only in the last decade, since No Child Left Behind was implemented and the reform agenda gained traction. Other factors may play a role, but the ed reformers certainly haven’t improved progress.”

— “Hired Guns on Astroturf: How to Buy and Sell School Reform,” Joanne Barkan, Dissent

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Ai Weiwei Website Attacked by Hackers

Change.org, the website hosting an online petition to free dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, has been experiencing denial-of-service (DNS) attacks from hackers. While the source of the attacks has not been determined, they are believed to originate in China.

The petition, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, is addressed to Cai Wu, Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China. As of this writing, over 119,000 people have signed.

 

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‘Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education’

“Teacher evaluation is a red herring, a diversion. A diversion intended to take our glance away from the poverty and racial isolation in which these students live. It salves the conscience of the billionaire boys club and enables them to blame hard-working teachers for the poverty and inequality that mars our society and hurts children.”

— Dr. Diane Ravitch, September 24, 2010

” … the CREDO study … evaluated student progress on math tests in half the nation’s five thousand charter schools and concluded that 17 percent were superior to a matched traditional public school; 37 percent were worse than the public school; and the remaining 46 percent had academic gains no different from that of a similar public school. The proportion of charters that get amazing results is far smaller than 17 percent.

–“The Myth of Charter Schools,” Diane Ravitch, New York Review of Books

Banned Books Week

Celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 25−October 2, 2010, the twenty-ninth annual celebration of free access to thought through the printed word. Many libraries and  bookstores sponsor readings of frequently challenged books (last year’s include To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier). Find an event near you

 

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Patriotic Poster

Uncle Sam doesn’t like scaredy-cats. Salon’s Andrew Leonard found this patriotic poster floating around the Web.

 Update: Now a Tee Shirt. Is this a great country, or what?

 

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Free Cars in DC?

Free Cars in DC? Of all the environmentally irresponsible, wasteful, profligate actions, at a time when so many people can’t even afford the gas to . . . .

Oh. Wait.

It’s Car Free Day in Metro DC. September 22, 2010. Everyone is biking, walking, skating, taking Metro rail and bus, and riding the Circulator. Skateboards? Scooters? That’s the spirit. Details here. 

Sounds like a good time to join Capital Bikeshare.

And take the Car Free Pledge — it’s just for one day. Free poster from Commuter Connections.

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Gettysburg Gambling?

A new monument to America’s Civil War history is proposed for Gettysburg: a gambling casino. The Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino would be located a half mile from Gettysburg National Military Park on what was known as South Cavalry Field, scene of fighting on July 3, 1863.

Historians are not pleased. On the 147th anniversary of the bloody Civil War battle, 276 American historians sent a letter to the state gaming control board, protesting the project. “This ground is as hallowed as any other part of the Gettysburg battlefield, and the idea of a casino near the fields and woods where men of both North and South gave the last full measure of devotion is simply outrageous,” said Pulitzer Prize winner James M. McPherson. 

Oil Spill Slimes Environmentalists

The catastrophic BP oil spill has destroyed the Gulf of Mexico marine and coastal ecosystems and the energy, fishing, and tourism industries of five states. It has also destroyed the credibility of The Nature Conservancy, a major nonprofit environmental organization.

The Conservancy accepted $10 million in cash and land from BP, and the oil company sits on the organization’s International Leadership Council (ILC). The ILC usually meets in June at the Conservatory headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, but the 2010 meeting schedule is unavailable (demonstrators are standing by).

The Nature Conservancy is trying to defend its involvement with BP on its blog. It is failing. Big time. Just like BP.

  

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Veteran’s Day 2009

This is Veterans Day in the United States. It was once called Armistice Day, marking the time the guns stopped in The Great War, at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. When that failed to be The War to End All Wars, the observance was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

This year the holiday is marked by the launch of a new web site for vets, Today’s G.I. Bill, a guide to education benefits for post-9/11 veterans that is more user-friendly than the Department of Veterans Affairs or active-duty military sites. The project is supported by the Lumina Foundation and the American Council on Education.

While implementation of the education benefit is not without problems, it has been more successful than other vet programs. 131,000 U.S. veterans will be homeless tonight. 5.5 million vets are living with a disability. Up to 35% of Iraq veterans experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). You can help. Look here to find out how.

 

Hat tip: Inside Higher Ed

Hear and read the stories of veterans in their own words at the website of Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center.

Image: Lumina Foundation.

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Weekend Demonstrations in DC

It was a typical 3-day weekend in Washington, DC. Thousands gathered to march, run, and demonstrate for an end to breast cancer, the Knights of Columbus got out the feathered hats and laid a wreath at the foot of a statue no one notices in front of Union Station, Metrorail celebrated Columbus Day by closing stations for track work, local protesters demanded a better NFL team, and thousands of gays and lesbians marched on the Capitol to demand marriage equality and the right to serve in the military.