Tag Archives: public education

Washtenaw Intermediate School District leadership weighs in on the battle over Ypsi’s International Baccalaureate middle school

By Mark | October 30, 2017

On the evening of Tuesday, October 17, members of the Ypsilanti Community Schools Board of Education, without any public debate, voted 4-2 in favor of a plan to hand over control of Ypsi’s Washtenaw International Middle Acadey (WIMA) to the Washtenaw Educational Options Consotrium (WEOC), the organization that currently operates the regionally-funded, and Ypsilanti-based Washtenaw […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Education, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bert Okma, debt, diversity, East Middle School, economic segregation, extractive colonialism, International Baccalaureate, Maria Sheler-Edwards, Naomi Norman, opportunity index, school consolidation, schools of choice, Scott Menzel, segregation, threats to public education, Washtenaw Educational Options Consotrium, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Washtenaw International High School, WEOC, West Middle School, WIHI, WIMA, WISD, YCS, YIES, YPS, Ypsilanti Board of Education, Ypsilanti Community Schools, Ypsilanti International Elementary School, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 23 Comments

Michigan, the state where Betsy DeVos has fought the past several decades to deregulate the charter industry and weaken public education, finishes dead last of all 50 states when it comes to student proficiency improvement

By Mark | February 20, 2017

Citing the good work she’d done in Michigan, the Detroit News endorsed Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education this past January. The Amway heiress, they told us, based on what she’d accomplished here in Michigan, was a “sound choice” – someone who would “strive to improve education for all kids.” The “hysteria” over DeVos, they […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged accountability, Betsy DeVos, Brian A. Jacob, Brookings Institution, charter schools, Department of Education, deregulation, Detroit News, dismantling of public education, Donald Trump, for-profit charter schools, NAEP, National Assessment of Education Progress, political endorsements, proficiency, Rick Snyder, Secretary of Education, threats to public education | 5 Comments

Influential conservative group with ties to the Trump administration and Betsy DeVos calls for the “gradual, voluntary return at all levels to free-market private schools, church schools and home schools as the normative American practice.”

By Mark | February 15, 2017

I’ve yet to see a copy of the five-page document, but it’s being reported that the Council for National Policy, a group the New York Time calls “a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country,” has started circulating a policy paper on education reform in the United States. […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bible, charter schools, Common Core, Council for National Policy, Department of Education, dismantling of public education, education reform, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, God in school, manifestos, religion in schools, religious extremism, Richard DeVos Sr., school vouchers, Secretary of Education, separation of church and state, sex education, Steve Bannon, Ten Commandments, threats to public education | 5 Comments

5th grade charter school teacher Mika Yamamoto, fired from Michigan’s Renaissance Public School Academy, where she was the only teacher of color, claims she was told by her principal, “The community is not ready for your voice.”

By Mark | February 12, 2017

Since this past November, when I interviewed the mother of Josie Ramon, the 12 year old Royal Oak Middle School student who taped classmates chanting “Build the wall” at her and other Hispanic students, I occasionally get notes from people, asking that I help get the word out about similar things taking place within Michigan’s […]

Posted in Education, Michigan | Also tagged accusations of racism, Beloved, Betsy DeVos, Central Michigan University, Charter School Partners, charter schools, Children’s Protective Services, dismantling of public education, domestic violence, Donald Trump, Elie Wiesel, First Amendment, for-profit charter schools, getting fired, horror, insider dealing, John Engler, John Engler Center for Charter Schools, lawsuits, Los Angeles, Mary Kay Shields, Mika Yamamoto, Mt. Pleasant, oppression, racism, Renaissance Public School Academy, safety, Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance, threats to public education, Toni Morrison | 149 Comments

Maybe now would be a good time for us to surround a local school, join hands, and let it be known that we intend to fight to preserve public education

By Mark | February 7, 2017

We got beat today. We just needed one vote to keep Betsy DeVos away from the Department of Education, and we couldn’t manage it. We waged one hell of an assault… occupying the offices of our Senators, jamming their phone lines, going after them with unprecedented enthusiasm them on social media… but it just didn’t […]