Let’s all answer what teachers call an essential question. The answer reveals core moral values and political judgments. Should every child in the United States have access to the same level of high-quality education resources? “Yes,” means bringing every public school up to the standards of class size, teaching effectiveness, curriculum […]
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The Strange and Bitter Fruit of Education Policy
In New York City, one of the most diverse yet segregated school systems in America, privileged parents routinely object to, resist, manipulate, and scheme to avoid sending their children to school with others whom they deem undesirable. It is easy to condemn these white, upper-middle-class resistors to school integration and de-tracking […]
We Are All Values Voters
We are all values voters. As George Lakoff has consistently argued, people vote their values first, not policy positions. What, then brought the United States to the point when, according to recent polls, a significant majority of Americans think the country “is going in the wrong direction.” Let’s start by discarding […]
Privatization: Education Eggs in the Wrong Basket
Don’t let the government take away your democracy. It’s at risk, especially in education. Two developments caught my attention this week. In both cases, policy makers acted to promote the idea that parents should shop for schools just like when they go to the market to buy eggs. Democracy […]
Privatize Schools? Look for Evidence, But Not at First.
Want to know whether charter schools and education vouchers are good ideas? Don’t look for evidence– at least not at first. I am a science educator. Evidence is at the core of the practice of science. Science educators teach their students that a claim about how the natural world […]
Trump’s Education Budget: Cruel And Unusual Punishment
President Trump’s budget proposal violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The crime it punishes is not being wealthy, healthy and deserving of tax cuts. Budgets are values statements. Trump’s first full education budget proposal is no exception. Its $9.2 Billion or 13.6% cut in the spending level approved by the already spendthrift […]
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