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Sunday, January 21, 2024

ICYMI: Seriously Winter Edition (1/21)

Okay, that's plenty of cold weather. Not that we got the promised blizzard (the one that tricked my old district into calling an unnecessary Flexible Instruction Day) but still, the season is landing with both feet right now. 

But even if the weather outside is frightful, there are still some pieces to read from the week (and share). So here we go.

Time to End Tax Breaks for Charter Schools and The Ultra-Rich

Jake Jacobs reminds us that charter schools provide a sweet, sweet financial deal for investors and a great way to cash in on some tax breaks. Maybe we don't need to be doing that any more. 

A woman hired to investigate racial harassment in a Utah school district says she experienced it herself

NBC News reports on the story of Joscelin Thomas, who was supposed to help a Utah school district deal with its racism issues. Instead, she was on the receiving end of the behavior.

Most Georgians oppose school ‘vouchers,’ support Medicaid expansion

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did some polling and found, once again, that the popular support for vouchers that voucher supporters keep insisting is out there--it's not out there.

“My Research is Better than Your Research” Wars

Nancy Flanagan is always worth a read, but this week's is particularly good. A look at the disconnect between education research and actual teachers.

What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation

Tik Root at the Guardian joins the ongoing cell phone fray.

American education has all the downsides of standardization, none of the upsides

Technology author Cory Doctorow takes a look at how badly standardization serves schools (looking at you, Common Core).

Moms for Liberty activists starting taxpayer-funded charter school

This story has been bouncing around the interwebs, but the original reporting is right here at Popular Information, courtesy of Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby. 

Protesters gather as Charleston Co. Board Chair attends Moms for Liberty meeting

And here's the sequel, courtesy of Molly McBride at WCSC, who visited with the protestors who showed up at the board meeting.

'Unjust' survey for Arkansas deaf and blind schools stirs concern over hidden state agenda

Arkansas has schools for the deaf and for the blind, and they haven't been very well cared for, but now the supporters are getting nervous about what the state intends to do next.

As Private School Choice Grows, Critics Push for More Guardrails

Mark Lieberman at Education Week notices the growing complaints about how vouchers are much like dumping taxpayer dollars down a dark, discriminatory hole.


Jose Luis Vilson reflects on the noise folks make about teacher professionalism. 


Cool history lesson from Thomas Ultican, about a 19th century figure who furthered the cause of public education.

What to Do About the Surge in Student Absenteeism?

Jan Resseger looks at some of the ideas out there, both the good and the not so much. 

Tax dollars are wasted in states with school vouchers

Kentucky's choicers are warming up to try again, and John Schaaf at Florida Phoenix says it's a lousy and costly idea.

Two pieces at Forbes.com this week-- one about a new report looking at the parents' rights movement and the other about the new set of recommendations to fix PA school funding

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