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Want Real Innovation? Disrupt Inequity!

          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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Mutual Obligation Makes Us Human

        “No, I don’t want to be obligated,” my father replied without hesitation. The occasion was a 1973 visit with my father to help with some yard work. The task required prolonged digging. The old short spade in the garage meant bending and inevitable back pain.  That would not do. A long […]

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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 […]

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Care is What Matters. Assessment is the Tell

            Speaking glibly against high-stakes testing is easy but their effects are like residual pesticides.  They linger in systems long after their application. The ideas that prompted their widespread use persist even among those who might disavow over-testing. Sometimes detection of toxic testing residuals can be tricky. Standing in front […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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