ICYMI: Pumpkin Cutting Edition (10/25)

Better get on the stick-- it's time to start chopping those big orange gourds into something scary or at least amusing because the clock is ticking on the sugariest of holidays. The board of directors already has their costumes, and we'll be continuing to select the best in candy-distribution events in the area. There will be, of course, profit sharing arrangements with upper management. May you have fun in your neighborhood.

In the meantime, here's the reading from a week in which people really did write about something other than Alpha schools and the new season of Sold a Story.

Don’t Be Fooled by Claims That Tax-Credit Scholarships Can Help Public Education

At EdWeek, former Ed Secretary Miguel Cardona has an actual strong opinion about something (and Robert Kim of Education Law Center helps him write it up). Pretty good explanation of why the federal vouchers are a bad idea.

New Federal School Vouchers Are Likely to Exacerbate Inequity and Injustice

Jan Resseger has been reading up on the federal vouchers, and she is also unconvinced that they are going to lead to good things. 

5 ‘Good’ AI Use Cases That Are Actually Bad for Students

At EduTopia, Paige Tutt and Stephen Merrill talk us through five supposedly good uses for AI that are, in fact, damaging and just generally not a great idea. Just ask yourself which skill students were supposed to be developing before you handed the job to AI.

Experimenting With Our Children: Who Answers to the 18-Year-Old the Voucher Failed?

Bruce Baker has been on a tear lately, and this piece from the school finance expert asks an important question--where does an 18 year old whose education was sacrificed to vouchers turn for "accountability"?

These Parents are Taking on Big Tech (and Winning)

Jennifer Berkshire shares seven tales of parental victory over ed tech incursions into classrooms.

Her 6-year-old brought home an AI-generated photo from school. This mom isn’t having it

Speaking of parents and AI, this South Carolina mother was not happy that AI was used to tell her daughter what her future would look like.

Scripted Curriculum (Direct Instruction): Research Contradicts the Story Being Sold

Paul Thomas has noticed that Sold a Story 2 is continuing the revival of the myth of the bad teacher. He would rather talk about bad faux scholarly journalism.

Selling a story that’s lost the plot

Ben Riley is not listening to the new Sold a Story, but he is thinking about direct instruction and what it is and is not.

Updating My Grading Policy Because You're All Using AI All The Time

Dan Meyer takes a new approach to grading. Listen up, students.

AI Will Never Care About Me

Adrian Neibauer considers a scary question-- should you let AI observe your teaching and offer feedback?

In the age of AI, I'm teaching my students how much of writing is not writing

So much this. Johnathan Fitzgerald let AI handle the parts of writing that aren't writing-- and then decided those parts really are parts of writing and should be handled by humans. 

Are Florida’s Proposed Science Standards Another Step Toward Classical Education for All?

Sue Kingery Woltanski brings us up to date on the latest round of shenanigans in the Free-ish State of Florida.

State spends more than $35,000 of your tax dollars for each new Ohio private school student since 2018

Meanwhile, in the Florida of the Midwest, Stephen Dyer explains how voucher costs have gotten really out of control.

‘We should not have to choose’: Alaska Native education specialists say culture and academics go together

Arguing for both quality and culture in Alaska.

He Tried to Set Limits on His State’s School Vouchers. Billionaires Helped Bankroll a Campaign to Unseat Him.

Vernon Criss helped create the voucher program, and he wanted to put some basic guardrails on it. The West Virginia Republican soon found himself in a battle against his own party.

Bruce Springsteen makes surprise appearance at Steven Van Zandt’s inaugural Teachers Hall of Fame Gala, Pete Davidson emcees

Little Steven continues to be a huge teacher booster.

Ramaswamy’s ad exposes MAGA’s obsession with parental estrangement

This Amanda Marcotte piece has nothing to do with education. Except that this parental estrangement fear and anger among the olds of the GOP is the same fear and anger behind educational parental rights movement and the belief that schools are breaking the ties between children and parents (who should be able to control their children completely).

This week at Forbes.com I wrote about Jen Jennings' new book (you should read it).

The film adaptation of Sweet Charity yielded some great Bob Fosse moments, but it also included this number from Sammy Davis Jr complete with late-60s groove.