The Looming Nightmare

By Larry Sand
03/30/2021
The ongoing Covid lockdown hysteria is taking a brutal toll on the young. According to the Burbio school tracker, 53 percent of schools nationwide are now fully open for business. With the new CDC guidelines having determined that three feet is a safe distance for students, one would think the other 47 percent would embrace...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, CDC, Covid, Darren Miller, Diane Ravitch, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

School choice ascending

By Larry Sand
05/19/2020
As traditional public schools grapple with the effects of Covid-19, many parents are awakening to school choice.  The left-right debate about how to improve education in the U.S. often comes down to money v. school choice. Many on the left bemoan the fact that we don’t “invest” more in education. It doesn’t help to point...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Betsy DeVos, COVID-19, Diane Ravitch, Larry Sand, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, school choice, teachers union

The charter school haters dig in

By Larry Sand
10/23/2018
The education traditionalists’ attacks on parental choice are unrelenting. All across Texas, children are hoping to get into a charter school. In San Antonio alone, 40,000 families await the chance to pick a school that best fits the needs of their child. Nationally, over 3 million students now attend these schools of choice, which get...

TAGS: Alex Caputo-Pearl, California Charter School Association, charter school, Diane Ravitch, In the Public Interest, James Shuls, Larry Sand, Lisa Snell, National Education Association, school choice, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles

Shoddy Studies

By Larry Sand
12/12/2017
Flawed reports aside, charters – schools of choice – are flourishing. As I wrote last week, too many government-run schools are failing and the future for them, collectively, is not rosy. But the monopolists running our traditional public schools (TPS), in addition to blaming lack of funding, have been busy lashing out at charter schools, which are decentralized and give parents a right to choose where to educate their kids.

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Anthony Cody, California Charter School Association, Center for Education Reform, Charter schools, Democrats for Education Reform, Diane Ravitch, Eva Moskowitz, Howard Fuller, In the Public Interest, Larry Sand, National Education Association, Network for Public Education, Randi Weingarten, teachers union

Being Open About Financial Support is the Smartest Policy

By Private: Gloria Romero
08/13/2014
I recently admonished former U.S. Department of Education undersecretary Diane Ravitch for making what I considered sexist remarks seeking to discredit former CNN journalist Campbell Brown’s credibility on education issues. Brown founded New York’s Parent Transparency Project and is championing the newly formed Partnership for Educational Justice, dedicated to supporting the latest challenge to overturn...

TAGS: Campbell Brown, Diane Ravitch, Gloria Romero, Vergara vs. California

The Strange Politics of Education Reform

By Larry Sand
09/10/2013
… where conservatives demand change and many alleged progressives, including teacher union elites, are really reactionary. While this may be old news to some, it can’t be said enough: In our polarized times, education reform is the only truly bipartisan issue, whereas with other matters things invariably break down into Republican vs. Democrat, liberal vs....

TAGS: Andrew Cuomo, Democrats for Education Reform, Diane Ravitch, Eric Holder, Heritage Foundation, Jay Greene, Larry Sand, Lindsey Burke, Lisa Snell, Michael Nutter, Rahm Emanuel, Reason Foundation, teachers union

The Parent Revolution and the Ancien Régime

By Larry Sand
06/04/2013
The ongoing battle between parents and the union-dominated education blob heats up in California. California state senator Gloria Romero’s Parent Trigger law has been around for over three years now, and its progress has been slow but steady. The law stipulates that if 50 percent +1 of the parents of children in a failing school...

TAGS: Alexander Russo, American Federation of Teachers, Ben Austin, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association, Diane Ravitch, Gloria Romero, Larry Sand, Parent Trigger, Randi Weingarten, Rick Hess, RiShawn Biddle, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, Warren Fletcher, Whitney Tilson

Leonie Haimson: Teacher Union Advocate

By Larry Sand
04/09/2013
Is it okay for a “parent advocate” to send her kids to a private school while maintaining that your kids remain in a failing government run school? Last week, via the blogosphere, we learned that education reform leader Michelle Rhee sends one of her two kids to a private school. One post asks the question,...

TAGS: Democrats for Education Reform, Diane Ravitch, Dropout Nation, Joe Williams, Larry Sand, Michelle Rhee, National Education Association, RiShawn Biddle, StudentsFirst, teachers union

Outsiderophobia

By Larry Sand
03/12/2013
A mental disorder has come to California, but for the afflicted — mostly teacher union types — it manifests itself in a partisan way. Voters were not swayed by outsiders and their millions…The public wants Board members who will listen to the community—not be beholden to their billionaire benefactors. So harrumphed an indignant and self-righteous...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, Anthony Cody, Diane Ravitch, Larry Sand, Michael Bloomberg, Mike Antonucci, National Education Association, teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, Warren Fletcher