At some point this evening, while I was out celebrating at the annual dinner of Leonie Haimson’s Class Size Matters, the blog passed the 27 million mark, meaning 27 million+ page views.

 

I am proud of the remarkable reach of the blog. When I write about an elected official, I usually get an email from him or her either thanking me or complaining about what I wrote within the next 24 hours. I was told that a particularly pernicious piece of legislation was withdrawn in the U.K. after I criticized it on the blog.

What I am most proud of is the post that I wrote about the beautiful, brilliant Vivian Connell, who has a blog (FinALS) where she confronts her death from ALS with great courage and dignity. After my post appeared, she got national attention and soon raised the funds she sought to take her class to the Holocaust Museum, where she and they were treated like royalty. I hope that some of my political endorsements have helped to raise money and win some votes for state and local candidates on the side of public education who are facing the big Corporate Reform Big Money Machine.

What I have tried to do with the blog is to nationalize the struggle to save public education from corporations, entrepreneurs, fly-by-night operators, and charter chains. I deeply believe in the principle of public education as a community asset, the heart of the community. The heart of the community should not be outsourced to foreign nationals (the Gulen Movement), to for-profit charters, or to national charter chains. It is sort of like hiring Walmart to run your neighborhood school. They won’t make it better but they will make money. I want everyone to understand that we are all connected, that what happens in Nevada or Connecticut will be happening soon in Maine or Florida. The pain you feel in your community is not unique. You are among many victims of an avaricious raid on public education.

I have tried to create a space for conversation about education and its future that is not dominated by me, but where I can post the work of teachers, parents, administrators, scholars, anyone who has something interesting to say. I decide what is interesting. I want people in Connecticut and Maine to feel connected to people in Arizona and Oregon. I want all of us to understand that there is a conspiracy that operates in the open and dares not speak its name. It is cloaked in deceptive rhetoric. It says it is “for the children,” but you won’t hear the privatizers complain about budget cuts; you won’t hear them complain about racial segregation; you won’t hear them complain about inexperienced TFA placed in classrooms of the children with the highest needs; you won’t hear a peep about the financial collapse of public school districts due to charters that suck away children and resources.

Wherever possible, I try to utilize my knowledge of the history of education to shed a long perspective on current events. I try to teach as I write.

Operating this blog has been nearly a full-time job for me. I post a lot. I share what I know. I share what I think you should know. I may cut back in the summer; I may even suspend the blog while I do some other writing.

I appreciate your loyalty and your comments. I appreciate the blog posts and newspaper articles that you share. I will keep speaking up and speaking out. I hope you will too.

Thank you!