My website is dianeravitch.com.
I am a historian of education and Research Professor of Education at New York University.
I was born in Houston, Texas, attended the Houston public schools from kindergarten through high school, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1960. I received my Ph.D. in the history of American education in 1975.
I am the mother of two sons. They went to private schools in New York City. I have three grandsons: two went to religious schools and the third goes to public school in New York City.
I live in Brooklyn, New York.
Diane Ravitch's Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Diane, In this article ( http://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/the-lingering-bill-gates-problem-in-school-reform/ ) , the last line asks if Bill Gates had no money, who would listen to him? I’m wondering if you already have (and I missed it), or if you would write a blog about NOT just Gates but all of the billionaires… that asks that question… when money is taken out of the equation, would ANY of them continue to make any sense at all to people? Perhaps you’ve already addressed this, but this is a new question to me, and one that everyone should be asking themselves.
Always remember the Golden Rule — “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
Which is why we have to pay attention and deliberately rebel against those rules… EVEN IN KINDERGARTEN… I tell my students that we shouldn’t break the rules… UNLESS they are bad rules… every January, when studying MLK Jr., the kids have a hard time wrapping their brains around the fact that he was a good man, but he went to jail… so I explain that HE wasn’t bad, but the RULE was bad…. we HAVE to analyze the rules put in place by those who have the “gold,” because they often do NOT have the best interests of the rest of us at heart.
Diane: according to the book she wrote entitled “Spoken From the Heart,” Laura Bush received a print of daffodils from Ted Kennedy just after NCLB was signed and it read”To the First Lady of Education, whose impressive leadership is enabling millions of Anerican children to dance with the daffodils.” I hope people can begin to consider what dancing with the daffodils means in light of all we have learned and are still struggling to learn since NCLB. I get tired of contentious one way or the other type banter. Where is the synergy? Surely the daffodils, a type of flower that willingly spreads itself, can bloom in many types of gardens. What did Kennedy mean by that?
Joanna, very few high level officials write anything above their signatures. Assume it was written by a college intern and meant nothing.
good to know. I’m glad I asked and didn’t spend too much time wondering the significance.
thanks.
Diane
I am writing out of anxiety and fear .. I have been a bit down for a year, I realize I may have to switch careers or move to another state.
I could be wrong but I feel the greatest school reformation in the US is occurring in Miami-Dade county public schools.
Miami-Dade is the 4th largest district in the country (392 schools, 345,000 students and over 40,000 employees). Miami-Dade has a WEAK union (right to work state)… The union is so weak, it feels as if the union is part of the school system.
Miami insights
- teachers contribute 3% of our salary for retirement
- salary tied to Testing
- VAM
- weak union
- Eli Broad award
- Common Core
- $1.2 new technology bond (My fear, Bill Gates’ cameras will soon be in the classroom.)
- charter schools/ virtual schools
- 11,000 new immigrant students a year, 68,000 esol .
– financially, it is difficult for teachers to make ends meet … Miami is an expensive city, I wonder if some teachers are on Food Stamps and or have lost their homes — our salary scale is shocking
http://salary.dadeschools.net/Schd_Teachers/
***( I have been teaching 14 years but I am on step 11 due to frozen salaries ($42,128) , I just advanced a step, $300, which the school system considered a raise ( it was a step)….. No cost of living expense was factored in)
students
- the school system pays for teachers health insurance but high out of pocket expenses (Dr visits, prescriptions are VERY high, I pay an additional $2,400 a year with dental & vision) .
???What do you see happening in Miami Dade County public schools??
Are my fears a reality???
I don’t want to get left in the dark
Is there a workshop that teaches the craft of teaching online ?? A degree from a top tier College/University – will travel, and will find funding.
Lol – I don’t want to take an online class that teaches how to teach online.
Thanks
Here are links sent by Achieve this week propping up CC. Would love to know what people think:
http://whnt.com/2013/05/16/madison-educators-to-quell-common-core-curriculum-concerns/
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/05/15/legislators-try-to-combat-school-standards-rumors.html
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_23243368/core-standards-are-educations-best-hope
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1968336.html
Check out this speech: Uri Treisman’s Magnificent Speech On Equity, Race, And The Opportunity To Learn http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=17047
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=17047 Check out this speech by Uri Treisman. Magnificent!
Diane, you have to see this! PA delays Common Core implementation.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/corbett_orders_delay_in_common.html#incart_river_default