Disturbing but not unexpected results came out from the recent Black Minds Matter report published by Ed Trust West. Some lowlights; Black students in California are LEAST LIKELY TO: Become proficient readers by third grade; Be placed in Gifted and Talented Education programs; Master the mid-level mathematics skills that position students for success in college…
Why Are Cops in Schools?
While we express outrage around the girl slammed from her desk in South Carolina, an even worse situation happened right here in Oakland. In case you missed it a handcuffed, disabled young man was dumped from his wheelchair and pummeled by a “school security officer”. You can watch the video here. Thankfully it was on…
Zero Tolerance for Children’s Lives
What do you do when a student has a knife at school? It’s the gym period and the supplies are in a locked box, they key is nowhere to be found, kids are restless and anxious. Johnny, in an effort to help, steps forward, pulls out a switchblade and pops the lock. Technically that’s a…
A School’s “Got to Go” list and the Meaning of Success
One of NYC’s most successful charter networks, Success Academies, is on defense after admitting to a “Got to Go” list of students at one school, where not coincidentally most of those high needs students on the list withdrew. The NY Times article describes a seemingly deliberate pattern to push out higher needs students, often documented…
Education Reform’s “Other People’s Children” Problem
We have a serious “Other People’s Children” problem in education reform. Many if not most of the spokespeople and decision makers, really don’t represent or often understand the communities they are “reforming.” This has a distorting effect on the reforms and also gives folks the often real impression that reforms are being done to them rather than…