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Wisdom from a mom in North Carolina

Wisdom from a mom in North Carolina, where legislators adopted several aspects of the ALEC education agenda last session and cut education funding leading to decreased pay for teachers. “There is so much more to do. We have to let our teachers know we have their backs. Although parents divide along so many lines—religious or secular, liberal or conservative, vegetarian or meat-eating, working in or outside the home—most of us deeply value our public schools. Together, we will test Margaret Mead’s belief ‘that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.’ Our children face a...
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Real agenda of school choice advocates

This piece states our concerns. “Perhaps the most debated notion in elementary and secondary education these days is school choice. It is invoked constantly by so-called educational reformers and politicians (an overlapping pair), who arouse the public by asking, ‘Why shouldn’t everyone have the same choices the rich folks have?’ Of course that’s a red herring and is neither the intent nor the result of school choice.” http://www.vnews.com/home/10055345-95/steve-nelson-real-agenda-of-school-choice-advocates...
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Warnings about market-choice and charter school proliferation from New York City

The following is an excerpt from,  “Bring This City To A Place Where Our Children Really Are Put First:” Implementing Mayor-elect de Blasio’s Education Platform in New York City, written by an insider at the New York City Department of Education, and appeared on Diane Ravitch’s blog in December, 2013. Has the portfolio strategy based on market-choice and charter schools improved student outcomes? The DOE’s portfolio/choice strategy has not addressed extreme divergence in school outcomes and the lack of diversity in schools. The DOE’s data sets show that schools in NYC are not providing students with equal opportunity. SAT scores- in only...
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