“Togetherness”, the Anti-Community’s Community?

Divided Community

Divided Community

Now television is in the charter fray.  In this review of the series “Togetherness”, Joshua Leibner in Salon magazine describes its charter school subplot.  Are neighborhood schools the “bogeyman for all of society’s ills?, he asks.  He wonders if for white people of their education and class,  all the education reform nonsense might feel right for minority kids–but just not for their children?  The setting for the series is in Eagle Rock in Los Angeles.  This is a real place where both Leibner and the show’s producers actually live.  Is the show fact or fiction? Continue reading

LWV Presentation to the Florida Senate Education Committee Workshop on Charter Schools

photoSue close upThe Senate Education Committee held a workshop on March 11th on proposed bills for charter schools. The list of bills was organized by topic. Sue Legg, Chair of the League’s Education Committee, made a presentation to the committee. She focused on three of the Committee’s topics.

Here is an edited version of her remarks.

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HELP SPREAD THE WORD ON EDUCATION ISSUES

faces-426078_1280We have been posting information on testing, school and teacher accountability, Common Core, charter schools, vouchers, and school innovation.  The posts have been full of facts and sources.

We hope you can use the information to help inform others about the issues.

If you have made fact sheets, written letters to the editor, or done presentations on education, please let us know.  We would like to share your work on the blog.

LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE TOPICS YOU WOULD LIKE US TO EXPLORE.

 

Where Did The Money Lead?

payoffby Pat Hall

While Pat and her team were following the money at CSUSA, she would call me with the latest episode.  The process began to feel like a detective story. I asked her to write down the process so that others who were trying to search out facts could learn.  Finding the data was step one, but getting  the information publicized was an equal challenge.  The impact was substantial.  The school district added a new staff position to help monitor the charter schools.  The local school board and its staff and attorney were involved.  The Commander of the MacDill Air Force Base was involved.  The Tampa Bay Times and the local CBS television station ran stories.  Here’s the process..Continue reading