My Daily News debut (I guess)

I have finally made the big leagues!! I'm joking of course, sort of! Recently I wrote in to the Daily News, this after Mastery Charter School attempted to make amends with the Center City community following the idiotic actions of a few of their students. Please note, I am in no way blaming Mastery for the actions of their students! Something in these youth's brains told them it was okay to randomly attack someone walking down the street.

I do, however, put a challenge out to Mastery Charter school.

Enjoy!

http://mrflemming.wikispaces.com/DailyNewsDebut

R.I.P. Public School????

For the past two weeks or so I have been enjoying my reading of Diane Ravitch’s book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education published in 2010.

As a teacher in Philadelphia’s public school system, I am a stanch supporter and believer in public education and the purpose for its existence as a foundational pillar in a democratic society. Not oblivious to the laundry list of challenges that urban education faces, I am one who believes that with hard work and the necessary collaborations, we can return Philadelphia’s and other urban public school systems to the once foremost and desirable educational systems they once were.

Reading Ravitch’s book has reignited that flame and has rekindled that desire!

In recent months public schools, their teachers and principals along with their unions have become the object of much scorn, criticism, and skepticism. We are lazy, adult-interests organizations who are employed for the self-serving purpose of padding our pockets while enjoying lavish health benefits and union protection! If I did not realize that I was a teacher, I would affirm that I was speaking of big business, oil, or politicians, and their special interests organizations, but I digress!

According to many-a-governor, senator, member of congress and others charged with passing laws in this nation, an overhaul is needed. The state capitals’ and Washington's buzz word for this overall is “reform”. Education reform is what’s needed to raise the achievement levels of America’s students, so they affirm. Ravitch’s book tackles this very concept in great detail.  What I can appreciate about Diane Ravitch is that she does not come from an “insider” perspective.  She is not and has never been a public school teacher or administrator. So then you ask, how can she truly write and publish a book about our system? Who better to do this than an objective outsider?

Had she been a public school teacher or principal, no doubt our critics would swear that her opinions about testing and school choice are heavily influenced by her public school predisposition!

Diane Ravitch is an education historian and researcher. She has served in high-ranking government positions in education serving under President Bush, the 41^st and President Clinton.

As she states in her book, she advocated for a strong system of testing and accountability and all that those terms meant for public education. But after working for sometime pushing these agendas forward, she came to a simple conclusion; they didn’t work!

I am enjoying my reading of this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an objective view of how this whole emphasis on test scores and school choice are not “panaceas” (a word used often in the book) for a system that could use some extra help.