Boston Stands Up for Wisconsin Teachers’ Rights

February 24, 2011 by

Getting the message out in front of the Fox News office.

Citizens for Public Schools joined the throngs at the Massachusetts State House Tuesday in support of Wisconsin teachers and all workers whose right to bargain collectively is under attack.

Just for the record, though some news reports made it sound like the Tea Party had a significant presence, their numbers were dwarfed by all those who came out to support teachers and other union workers.

For more on this important event, watch for the next issue of the Backpack.

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Filed Under: Boston Issues, Education

High-Stakes Testing’s Unintended Consequences

January 26, 2011 by

Northeastern University Professor Louis Kruger continues to screen his MCAS documentary, “Children Left Behind,” and speak to community groups about the film’s message. A recent article in the Sharon Patch featured an interview with Kruger, a member of the CPS board of directors:

Kruger says high-stakes tests such as the MCAS have “unintended consequences” for the students who fail them.

“The research indicates that high stakes tests do not accomplish their principal aim of improving the academic skills of students, and in addition the tests have serious side effects on our most vulnerable students,” Kruger says.

“If high stakes tests, such as the MCAS, were pharmaceuticals, the FDA would ban their use.”

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Filed Under: Achievement Gap, Education, Film

Author Diane Ravitch to Speak Dec. 1 at BC Law School

November 2, 2010 by

Diane Ravitch

Citizens for Public Schools is proud to welcome Diane Ravitch, author of the heralded book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, to the Boston area on Wednesday, December 1, to share her trenchant analysis of how our political leaders are pushing an education reform agenda that is wrong.  Ravitch will speak on “Taking Back School Reform: What kind of reform do we want and how are we going to get it?”

As a former Assistant Secretary of Education in the administration of George H. W. Bush, Ravitch once embraced charter schools and high stakes testing, but became convinced by the evidence that they are not the solution and are in fact part of the problem. “Why give away public schools to the private sector?” Ravitch writes. “The private sector does not get better results on average than the public sector, not (according to NAEP) for black students or Hispanic students or urban students or low-income students.

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Filed Under: Education

A Ray of Hope: On Tipping Points and Pushing Back

August 18, 2010 by

Anthony Cody taught science in Oakland, CA, for 18 years and now blogs regularly on teaching and education in Education Week. I wanted to share his Aug. 15 post, “This is How a Tipping Point Feels,” for its note of optimism and thoughtful analysis of the opportunities we face as we try to push the education policy pendulum back toward something reasonable and helpful for our children.

It’s worth reading the whole thing, which mentions a recent oped by influential Washington Post writer Dana Milbank, which calls out President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for expanding “the importance of standardized testing to determine how much teachers will be paid, which educators will be fired and which schools will be closed — despite evidence that such practices are harmful. In the process, he’s offended just about all the liberals involved in or advocating for education without gaining much support from conservatives.”   → Read More

Filed Under: Education

Thanks for a successful conference!

August 6, 2010 by

The Citizens for Public Schools Annual Fall Issues Conference exceeded our high expectations for the quality of the speakers, attendees and ideas generated for change. Thanks to all whose hard work and great ideas made it such a success.

Stay tuned for a special Fall Issues Conference edition of the Backpack, coming soon to an email address and web site near you!   → Read More

Filed Under: Conference, Education
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