Public Education
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School Choice is Not a Solution
The Milwaukee voucher schools have never outperformed the public schools on state tests: See here and here. The only dispute about test scores is whether voucher students are doing the same or worse than their peers in public schools. Accountability? Read here about some very low-performing schools in Milwaukee that have never been held accountable. One of them opened in 2001. Over
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The Common Core State Standards
I remember when I first heard about the movement to develop a national common core for K-12 public school curricula, I thought, "Why not?" Why not set standards that will give a high school diploma some meaning? Why not set up a national curriculum that insures that every kid has a solid grounding in history,
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America’s “Education Crisis”
Linda Darling Hammond in a recent interview: Well, there are a couple of things to know before we talk about the scores. First of all, the United States has more children living in poverty, by a long shot, than any other industrialized nation. Right now about one in four children are living in poverty. In most
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Why Groupthink Works
In politics (and social life) what one person thinks doesn't matter as much as what the group thinks. If you understand the thinking of the group, you almost always understand the thinking of the individual. The higher the stakes, the more intense the groupthink. The more ambiguous the issue, the greater the individual's reliance on
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Technocratic v. Humanistic Education 1
The growing rush and the disappearance of contemplation and simplicity from modern life [are] the symptoms of a complete uprooting of culture. The waters of religion retreat and leave behind pools and bogs. The sciences . . . atomize old beliefs. The civilized classes and nations are swept away by the grand rush for contemptible
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Refocusing
I've been refocusing my energy on local issues, and so haven't been thinking about the things that I usually think about here. This ridiculous incident with Anthony Weiner is the most recent absurdity. I'm tired of pulling my hair out in disgust or dismay. It's just so pointless and so it's better to refocus one's