“Chances are the greatest threat to urban schools isn’t a flaw in the design or execution of urban education. Instead, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy—one in which privileged families presume city schools to be failing and, in taking flight from them, bring about a real decline.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/the-urban-school-stigma/537966/
Latino parents in Holyoke sue re. the district’s failure to translate docs and provide translation, especially in Special Ed meetings.
Read about Mass. Parents United. Who are they? The state director was former state director for Families for Excellent Schools. Funders? The Walton Foundation and the Longfield Foundation, which also funded Great Schools. Members? They say 7000, but what exactly does “member” mean? Might just mean signing a questionnaire outside the Stop and Shop, where paid staff were canvassing on election day. Lots of questions.
http://blogs.wgbh.org/masspoliticsprofs/2017/7/12/massachusetts-parents-united-old-wine-new-bottle/
The Nov. Mayoral race and education: nice run down here.
http://baystatebanner.com/news/2017/jul/12/education-focal-point-boston-mayoral-race/?page=1
Interview with new BTU President Jessica Tang, where Unified Enrollment is brought up. Thought this was a forbidden subject until after the election?!?
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/changing-of-the-guard/
A spot on reflection on the deeply flawed Build BPS meetings. “I want improved school buildings for my children (and for all children). But I also want to know that the process is one built not on the mere appearance of consensus – in which five strangers ‘agree’ on abstract recommendations – but rather on the deep institutional knowledge embedded in school communities.”
https://scholar.harvard.edu/jmnoonan/blog/seeing-good-my-mea-culpa-mason-school
Couldn’t make the Rally for Public Education earlier this month? Recap here.
https://www.facebook.com/massedjustice/videos/1105044866261932/
Great testimony by students and teachers re. schools who are designated level 4 and 5. Worth a watch!
Link to parts 1-4:
https://youtu.be/k6tYGa03ugA?list=PLpXMOC0SHCzlDBTtQSCAexPse1vSKSbbZ
The oversized influence of philanthropy in public life. So true in education. “But make no mistake: Their influence is growing in tandem with their largess, shifting power away from democratic institutions.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/opinion/jeff-bezos-bill-gates-philanthropy.html?_r=0
Students from Leominster staged a walkout today to protest the $5.6 million budget deficit their schools are facing. Next year maybe a statewide student walkout day?!?