Category Archives: Issues Blogs (2011-2014)

How School Choice Turns “We” Into “Me”

John Rex Elementary Charter School
John Rex Elementary Charter School (on the right) is the newest school built in Oklahoma City Public Schools. Their collection area is narrowly defined in an a part of the city where there are few children. That makes room for downtown executives to enroll their children from all parts of the metro. Photo by Brett Dickerson

“School choice” turns the “we” of society into the “me” of taking care of my child at the expense of everyone else.

Continue reading How School Choice Turns “We” Into “Me”

Quality Teachers Are Developed — Not Found

Jaime Escalante
The real Jaime Escalante did come from computer programming into teaching, but his celebrated success came after years of developing his own teaching skills and math program at the same high school. Photo credit: MyHero.com

Are quality teachers found or developed? This is not just a rhetorical exercise. The answer has everything to do with how we go about the whole management of our teacher workforce.  Continue reading Quality Teachers Are Developed — Not Found

Blogs Are Critical to Re-establishing Public Schools

charter school oklahoma city
What was once Harding High School in Okla. City Public Schools is now Harding Charter Preparatory High School, authorized by the district.

Over the last ten years, bloggers have kept the issues of who controls schools at the forefront when so many big money interests want desperately to have us look the other way.

One advantage that school raiders have in taking public schools away from the public and turning them over to investor-owned charters is that the traditional news sources are hobbled from reporting accurately and fully.
Continue reading Blogs Are Critical to Re-establishing Public Schools

Teacher, You Live in Two Worlds

teachers rally capitol contest
Teachers, parents, and administrators make an unusual foray into the world of the contest March, 2014 with this huge rally at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

We teachers live in two worlds: One is of collaboration and democracy. The other is of contest and domination.

We’ve done well with that first world, the one of collaboration. It’s that second one of the contest and mental brutality of eliminating the competition that we have a hard time swallowing.  Continue reading Teacher, You Live in Two Worlds

Gov Fallin Won’t Give Up on Punishing Public Schools

Fallin and the State of the State Address
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin gives her State of the State address to the combined House and Senate of the Legislature on the first day of the session, February 2. Credit: KGOU.org

Apparently, Governor Mary Fallin is still sold on the A-F school grading model from the very latest new and improved “government transparency” website that was rolled out during her state of the state address on February 2.  Continue reading Gov Fallin Won’t Give Up on Punishing Public Schools