ICYMI: Applefest 24 Edition (10/6)

This weekend is the major weekend of the year in my small town. We hang a festival on the small peg of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) having lived in the neighborhood briefly before he hit the road. There's an early breakfast, a big car show today, and yesterday the 5K race, which the Board of Directors ran yesterday (after they ran the 1 mile kids race), with the CMO. I play with our 168 year old town band, there are hundreds or craft and tchotchke booths, lots of food, we close the main street through the center of my very picturesque town, and you run into an endless string of people you haven't seen in ages, along with plenty of strangers, because when the weather is perfect as it is this weekend, well over 100,000 people come to town. I will have logged about 50,000 steps by tonight.

There's also a community theater production every year, and this year I was taking a break, but the trombone player took ill so I got to go in and sight read the part for three performances of Annie. Also, to round out the weekend, all four of us have colds. But the up side is that I've been almost completely off line and, golly bob howdy, you don't realize how toxic it is out there until you take your head out of it and spend time with live humans and sunshine.

All of which is a very longwinded way of saying that I don't have a lot for you this week, and you should probably go get some fresh air if it's available where you are. Soon as I post this, we're headed back out.

Only One True God

Thom Hartmann at the Milwaukee Independent on the movement to taxpayers to foot the bill for one flavor of religious fundamentalism.

Kim Reynolds wants to privatize education. Iowa supports public schools.

Former teacher Cheris Mortice gives us a look at the struggle to preserve public education in Iowa.

Ryan Walters' school Bible mandate undermines freedom and faith

Clay Lightfoot at The Oklahoman makes the religious case against Ryan Walters Bible mandate.

'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms

Yup. Turns out only a couple of Bibles being published meet the dude-bro-in-chief's definition of an appropriate Bible for schools.

Benson optimistic about repeal of school voucher law

A reminder that in Nebraska, there's a chance to roll back vouchers on the ballot.

Cynical Politicians Try to Frighten Us with Inaccurate Stories about Teachers and Public Schools

Jan Resseger reminds us that teachers are not the monsters certain politicians claim they are.

The Barr Foundation and the Boston Globe “Rig the Discourse”

Maurice Cunningham continues to unravel Massachusetts's example of how owning the press helps you rig the conversation.

Something Bigger Than Me

Jose Vilson talks about recruiting teachers with students and teachers. 

“Union Mouth”

Nancy Flanagan on the nastiness that certain privatizers have grown on line.

Bathrooms with a view: Cutting windows into student restrooms is a new level of weird

Indeed. The York Dispatch editors comment on the latest Inde[endence Law Center-aided attempt to shame LGBTQ students.

Peggy Jones and the Importance of Public Schools

Occasionally voters in Florida get it right. Accountabaloney highlights one such victory in the heart of Moms for Liberty country.

The AI-in-education conference circuit – what are the vibes?

Benjamin Riley brings word back from the world of the AI-education hustle.

Over at Forbes, I looked at a report about trouble filling teacher positions, and a reminder of the problems caused by centering The Big Standardized Test. 

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