The Horace Mann League of the USA
 
Greetings! 
Welcome to the August 27, 2012, email of recent additions to the Horace Mann League Blog. To those who submitted suggested articles, "Thank You."  Of the thirteen new postings, I've listed nine that are close to the "must read" level. Hope you enjoy the political cartoon of the week.

This blog is a service and supported by dues of the members of the Horace Mann League.  Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated. To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.

Jack McKay, Executive Director, The Horace Mann League of the USA.
Some of the recent postings on the HML Blog for August 20, 2012.
Click on the title to read the complete article.

This week's postings:
Whatever nuances differentiate the motivations of the Big Three, their market-based goals for overhauling public education coincide: choice, competition, deregulation, accountability, and data-based decision-making. 
 
Local political leverage helps to prepare the ground in different cities for specific Gates Foundation projects that tie into its vision of national standards and data-based accountability driven by entrepreneurial technological innovation. 

  

The Gates Foundation's Leveraged Philanthropy  By Anthony Cody

The Gates Foundation's model of leveraged philanthropy has had serious consequences in U.S. education. Many sources have criticized the specifics of Gates' profit-driven, politically enforced innovations in public schools.


I Am Puzzled by the Gates Foundation  by Diane Ravitch
I am puzzled by the Gates Foundation's persistent funding of groups that want to privatize public education. I am puzzled by their funding of "astroturf" groups of young teachers who insist that they don't want any job protections, don't want to be rewarded for their experience (of which they have little) or for any additional degrees, and certainly don't want to be represented by a collective bargaining unit.

  

Over the years, ALEC has crafted legislation on such policies as charter schools, alternative certification for teachers, parent-trigger laws, and vouchers for special-needs children. 


Charter school group's chief blamed for 2010 cheating scandal

Former Crescendo principals are still grappling with how they were drawn into violating a fundamental tenet of their profession, and teachers are left questioning their own actions and an educational mission in which they believed so deeply.  

Some haven't been afraid to voice their concerns and have penned books over the past decade that have exposed some of the biggest problems with education in America, taking the entire system to task in the process.

 

No Child Left Behind Worsened Education 

More Americans think No Child Left Behind has made education in the U.S. worse rather than better, according to results from a Gallup poll released Monday. 

  

All of the above articles plus more, click here.

 

 

 

 

About Us
The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.
 
Officers:
President: Mark Edwards, Supt., Mooresville Graded Schools, NC
President-elect: Joe Hairston, (ret.) Supt., Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
Vice President: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, VA
Past President: Julie Underwood, Dean, Sch. of Ed. U. of WI, Madison
2nd Past Pres: George Garcia, (ret.) Supt., Boulder Valley Schools, CO
3rd Past Pres: Steve Rasmussen, Supt., Issaquah School District, WA
 
Directors:
Martha Bruckner, Supt., Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Carol Choye, Instructor, Bank Street College, NY
Brent Clark, Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
Nancy DeFord, Supt. (Ret.) Park City Schools, UT
Charles Fowler, Exec. Dir., Suburban School Superintendents, NH
James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
William Hite, Supt., Philadelphia City Schools, PA
Dwight Jones, Supt., Clark County Schools, NV
Eric King, Supt., (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC
Stan Olson, Supt. (Ret.) Boise Public Schools, ID
Douglas Otto, Assoc.Prof.,Ed. Ad., University of North Texas, TX
 
Executive Director:
Jack McKay, Professor, (Ret.) University of Nebraska at Omaha, 
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
 HML Blog Posts through August 5, 2012
The 304 postings are listed in alphabetical order by author.