Mike Klonsky notes that education was barely mentioned in the convention speeches of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But he points out that the platform contains some strong language in the right direction on charters, vouchers, for-profit businesses, and testing.
On testing, for example, it says:
The evidence from nearly two decades of education reforms that hinge on standardized test scores shows clearly that high-stakes testing has not led to enough improvement in outcomes for students or for schools, and can lead to discrimination against students, particularly students with disabilities, students of color, low-income students, and English language learners. Democrats will work to end the use of such high-stakes tests and encourage states to develop reliable, continuous, evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement. Those measures will be supported by data collection and analysis disaggregated by race, gender, disability status, and other important variables, to identify disparities in educational equity, access, and outcomes.
We have to keep the party to its promises to avoid a reversion to the failed Bush-Obama era.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Bush-Obama era? They never served together, nor could they. 🤔
That, of course, would be Bush (2000-2008) through Obama (2009-20016). Nearly two decade when the only agreed-upon principle of government seemed to be that teachers were a combination of incompetent and dishonest.
and sadly, Obama’s RttT was even harsher about our nation’s flood of “bad” teachers than Bush’s original plan
Both presidents embraced test and punish policies and data driven accountability. Both men supported market based education which was supposed make schools improve, but that was a false assumption. If we add the sixteen years from Bush and Obama and the four Trump years, we have had twenty years of bad public education policy.
I haven’t been thrilled with my son’s public school’s efforts to provide schooling during the pandemic- there have been mistakes and some of it just plain doesn’t work, but I have been struck by how they haven’t received any assistance, at all, from anyone in government.
I’m more forgiving of the missteps because it’s clear they are on their own and no assistance is coming, or even considered a priority.
My tax dollars support the school and the state and federal government, and if you asked me which of those three entities I wanted to continue funding it isn’t even close- the school. They’re the only people who seem to be working. I’m not comparing “good” to “better”. I’m comparing ” a real good faith effort” to “expending no effort or even interest at all”.
Remarkable. Every public school in the country shut down and no one in government seems to care. Clearly our schools are no one’s priority.
Joe Biden will do fine if he just hires people who value our schools and students. They don’t need to be transformative geniuses. They just need to put public schools somewhere in the top 50 priorities and actually perform some work. Not a high bar! I think we can meet it!
I guess one good thing has come out of it. I now know that literally any catastrophe can occur and public schools will carry on, with or without assistance. They just did.
I am not impressed with my grandson’s remote program either. The teachers are little more than game show hosts for the technology. In my opinion teachers should be doing more explaining and demonstrating before the students do the online work. It is a bunch of fragmented mumbo jumbo.
Teachers are using too many apps. The apps are mostly Competency-Based teaching out of a can. Put your child in my public school class out here on the Left Coast. I use Zoom and email/messaging only. Crisis distance learning or in-person, my students read paper books, and discuss ideas and themes. They write creatively — with pens. Blue or black ink, please. No apps.
What you describe is the correct way to use technology. You are driving the instruction, not the algorithm. Computers are tools, and as such someone with skill should decide how and when they can be used.
As Diane says, use the tech, don’t let the tech use you.
Thanks for clarifying, Roy and retired. 🙂
Biden’s education platform is the most progressive education platform of the past twenty years. We must support it and hold him accountable when he is in office.https://joebiden.com/education/
I hope he just does one or two things WELL instead of chasing the ed reform wish list.
Just accomplish something worthwhile and solid that lasts for public schools. 90% of kids attend them. If they’re looking for “scale” that’s where is is.
Let the ed reform orgs finance the experiments. God knows the billionaires are swimming in cash. The pandemic was GREAT for their bottom line.
Fewer “idea” people and more, um, WORK people 🙂
I agree the federal government should not offer money to privatizers so they can undermine the public schools that serve the most and the neediest students. There is zero evidence that privatization is providing better education. It is wrong for the federal government to support schools that enhance segregation which we know that privatization does.
For sure, we can count on the charter school and testing company lobbies to be spending big bucks to influence what Democrats actually do, should they gain power.
Randi was on the platform committee and I’m sure she played a major role in the drafting, the AFT has had a long relationship with the Bidens, Joe and Jill, having a union teacher in the White House will change the course of education policy, for the first time in decades – let’s leave the “who should be the US Secty of Education” talk until after 11/3 …..
“. . . will change the course. . .”
Being from the Show Me State, I’ll believe it when I see it.
The Biden-Harris education platform is a good start. At the Current White House Occupant National Convention last night, Current White House Occupant Jr said school choice is the civil rights issue of all time. Ha! The electorate will relate more to the Biden-Harris platform. Everyone in public school is sick and tired of the NCLB, Common Core, and all the testing nonsense. Everyone in public school wants fully funded neighborhood public schools. Very few want more testing. Very few want to have to send their kids across town to school. The “reform” “movement” is tired and ready for bed. The electorate is ready to give Current White House Occupant a tacky, gold plated bottle and tuck him away in his tacky, gold plated crib.
And maybe “the platform” could say something and DO something about this nightmare. Straight out of good old Indiana.
“Eight teachers from Meadowlawn Elementary School had undertaken what’s called ALICE training from the White County Indiana Sheriff’s Office in January last year
They say they were left bruised, bloodied and traumatized by the supervising officers after being shot by officers from ‘point-blank range’ with airsoft guns
One of the ‘shootings’ was conducted ‘execution style’, with the teachers kneeling facing a wall, and officers shooting them with pellets in the back
Two of the teachers, Abby Hare and Darcy Slade, said they were left so traumatized by the incident they decided to quit teaching
Jeanne Franks, who had taught for 27 years, said the incident prompted her to retire several years earlier than planned
First-grade teacher Talaina Pinkerton, meanwhile, was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and continues to take medication.”