Anti intellectualism, Corporate deform, TFA, Plotocrat reformers, The NFL, Retention research, Hoax of Privatizaton, Emotions outweigh logic, Reverse psychology

The Horace Mann League of the USA

Greetings!

Welcome to the July 29th, edition of the Horace Mann League Blog.
More about the Horace Mann League of the USA at HML website.

Highlighted Posts for Monday, July 29th:

The Violence of Organized Forgetting By Henry A. Giroux

These anti-public intellectuals are part of a disimagination machine that solidifies the power of the rich and the structures of the military-industrial-surveillance-academic complex by presenting the ideologies, institutions and relations of the powerful as commonsense.

House Of Cards - Corporate Deform in America by The Badass Teachers

The reformers who impose bad ideas on kids and schools take themselves very seriously. They don't like to be reminded that all their policies fail, and that their work is a house of cards.

How TFA Is Destructive by Mark Naison

Teach for America offers states and municipalities the opportunity to subcontract their teaching to non-union workers, saving large expenses in pensions and health care.

Public School Teachers: New Unions, New Alliances, New Politics By Michael D. Yates

Billionaires like Bill Gates (Microsoft) and the Walton family (Walmart) have established organizations and contributed enormous sums of money to do two things. First, they seek to revolutionize the way in which students are taught. Second, these plutocrat "reformers" want to alter radically the way in which schools are organized.

NFL Adopts Common Core Playbook-Copying Education Reforms by John J. Viall

"We will call this new effort to improve pro football 'Race to the End Zone.' All the leading school reform experts insist this approach will dramatically improve the quality of football play."

Hold Back To Move Forward? Early Grade Retention and Student Misbehavior by Umut Özek

The regression discontinuity estimates suggest that grade retention increases the likelihood of disciplinary incidents and suspensions in the years that follow.

Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. by Diane Ravitch

"A noted education authority launches a stout defense of the public school system and a sharp attack on the so-called reformers out to wreck them."

With no supporting evidence, they insist poverty has no correlation to low academic achievement, that abolishing tenure and seniority will improve schools, and that overhauling the entire system along business lines is the way to go.

Why Emotion Will Usually Outweigh Logic In The Audience's Brains by Michael Barker

They may well rationalise that decision afterwards by using logic, but the decision itself is made on emotion. Logic plays only a secondary role.

Vouchers gain ground, public education loses in final budget - NC by Lindsay Wagner

As public education tries to provide high quality educational services for all of its students in the face of these severe cuts, lawmakers have simultaneously introduced a 'way out' for those who can take advantage: school vouchers.

Save the Troy Library: Adventures in Reverse Psychology by Leo Burnett

An intriguing and motivating approach used to overcome a "no tax" Tea Party approach to funding a public library in Troy, Mich.

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: Joe Hairston, (former) Supt., Baltimore County Public Schools, MD

President-elect: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, VA

Vice President: Charles Fowler, Executive Director, Suburban School Superintendents

1st Past President: Mark Edwards, Supt., Mooresville Graded Schools, NC

2nd Past President: Julie Underwood, Dean, Sch. of Ed. U. of WI, Madison, WI

3rd Past President: George Garcia, (ret.) Supt., Boulder Valley Schools, CO

4th Past President: 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

Charles Fowler, Exec. Dir., Suburban School Superintendents, NH

James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA

William Hite, Supt., Philadelphia City Public Schools, PA

Christine Johns-Hines, Superintendent, Shelby Township, Michigan

Dwight Jones, Superintendent, Clark County Public Schools, NV

Eric King, Superintendent, (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN

Steven Ladd, Superintendent, Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA

Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC

Stan Olson, Superintendent, (Ret.) Boise Public Schools, ID

Executive Director:

Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, 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.