Here at the Institute, it has also been a week. My parents needed a hospital visit for a variety of challenges, and the cherry on top was a positive COVID test. They are vaccinated and so doing well, but my sister has been quarantining with them, which means heaven will have to build an annex for her crown in order to fit all the stars that belong in it. I have two siblings who are both absolute bricks, so we tag team our way through these things. Meanwhile the Chief Marital Officer of the Institute is away at a library convention, and as you read this, I'm off helping my oldest son, his wife, and my granddaughter move into new digs. So we are just roaring our way into spring here. Also, power outages.
It is just a time, and the readings for the week tell us that many people are having a time all over the country. Let us all just keep keeping on.
Sandra Jones writing for Our Schools with a report on how the defeat of one voucher bill shows what's wrong with education savings accounts, and why even some conservatives oppose them.
Conor Friedersdorf misses a lot of the fundamental issues involved in this piece, but it still provides a pretty vivid picture of what the takeover of New College looks like on the ground. It's in the Atlantic, so beware the paywall.
Amanda Marcotte, writing for Salon, has harnessed an awful lot of anger about right wing culture war stuff lately. Here she focuses on policies that have given individuals the ability to dictate to everyone.
At Hechinger, Javeria Salman looks at two new organizations aimed at helping recruit and defend teachers in the current climate.
The indispensable Mercedes Schneider lays out some of the double-faced legislating going on in states.
Claire Thornton reports on the story of the district that banned a Disney movie about Ruby Bridges because one parent was sad about it.
The GOP Embraces the Kyle Rittenhouse Approach to Kindergarten
Dahlia Lithwick looks at the apparent disconnect between the far right's interest in defending students from books, but not from guns. It's important to remember, she points out, that they don't believe in public education in the first place.
Valerie Stauss at The Answer Sheet (Washington Post) hosts Cassie Criswell and Diane Horwitz to talk about the many reasons that Paul Vallas is the wrong choice for Chicago's mayoral election.
Jim Daley at The Tribe looks at the trail of destruction that Vallas has left behind him. Share with a Chicago voter you love.
The Absolute Folly of Standardization
Why Republicans Are Embracing Vouchers Even Though They Don’t Work
Nancy Flanagan with a reminder that standardization and education make a problematic pairing.
Jonathan Chait at the New Yorker is absolutely wrong about charter schools (but then, his wife works in the charter industry), but that means he's more than willing to point out the problems with voucher support. That makes this article both a good critique of the politics of vouchers and an interesting peek inside the charter-voucher rivalry.
Okay, so to read this you have to navigate one of the most annoying paywalls on the internet at The Nation, but Jennifer Berkshire is there with the tale of the Claremont Institute.
From US News-- the school shootings are not the worst of it. But we already know some things that help because (spoiler alert) it's not equally bad everywhere.
Does it seem like the parental rights movement is a bit hostile to children? Philip Bump at the Washington Post picks on a new Trump thread that may be part of the same narrative.
Hayes Brown at MSNBC looks at parental rights law, and who doesn't get to be part of it.
For one legislator, an amendment to target some children was just too much to bear.
Schools forced to divert staff amid historic flood of records requests
Public Education Is Vital for Democracy. But It’s Not the Solution to Poverty or Inequality.
One of the effects of parental rights laws is turning the three R's into reading, 'riting, and records requests. It's the perfect tool for harassing the heck out of districts. The Washington Post has this story.
Allie Wong with an in depth look at the battle in Florida over whether or not to talk to students about being nice.
In The Jacobin, Jennfer Berkshire reviews The Education Myth and the persistence of certain neo-liberal fairy tales.
Three minutes and the truth
Paul Bowers went to the South Carolina capital to speak out against censorship. What he said and heard.
Oklahoma's education dudebro-in-chief is a special guy.
Over at Forbes.com, I looked at a survey that says many Floridian students have had enough, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman's proposal to put an end to Big Standardized Testing.
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