The Horace Mann League of the USA
 
Greetings! 
Welcome to the October 15, 2012, edition of the Horace Mann League Blog. 

This newsletter is supported by dues and contributions by the members of the Horace Mann League.  Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated. 

Jack McKay, Executive Director, The Horace Mann League of the USA.
Some of the recent postings on the HML Blog for October 15, 2012.
Click on the title to read the complete article.

This week's postings:


Things educators could say, but don't

With reform policies based more on hope than data, you might think educators would speak up more than do. Why don't they?  

  

Dear President Obama by Diane Ravitch

It's time to write your letter to President Obama to let him know how he should change Race to the Top.  Join the Campaign for Our Public Schools.

 

Letter to President Obama,  by Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Please wake up and see that the education policies your administration is promoting are decimating our public schools, harming our children, demoralizing our teachers, and threatening the future of our democracy.  

It's Not Me, It's You 

The phenomenon is known as "stereotype threat." Members of groups believed to be academically inferior - African-American and Latino students enrolled in college, or female students in math and science courses - score much lower on tests when reminded beforehand of their race or gender.  

  

This should come as no surprise. When you cut close to a billion dollars from public education, there are going to be consequences.

  

Suppose the legislature decided that the solution to the financial crisis was to mandate an evaluation system for every loan officer in the state, even mandating a value added metric to be used. Suppose that 80% of your best managers and vice presidents told you that using that inaccurate metric was going to hurt, not help Citibank. Mr. Chairman, would you have complied, or would you have resisted in order to save your bank?

  

As Children's Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity
In a recent IBM poll, 1,500 CEOs acknowledged this when they identified creativity as the best predictor of future success. It is sobering, therefore, to read Kyung Hee Kim's recent research report documenting a continuous decline in creativity among American schoolchildren over the last two or three decades. 


Bill Gates, other billionaires funding charter effort  by Valarie Strauss

To get an understanding of how America's wealthiest people are using some of their fortunes to drive school reform, take a look at a list of the contributors to the pro-charter school initiative on the Washington state ballot.
 

How do we attract people from our local community into their public schools during the school day?  One successful method is the "Superintendent's Patrons Tour." 

 

 

 

 

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
 
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application. 
 HML Blog Posts through August 5, 2012
The 304 postings are listed in alphabetical order by author.