"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Friday, November 9, 2012

The Daily Show Focuses on Public Eduction

Valerie Strauss posted this on her Answer Sheet Blog...Thanks to Jon Stewart for bringing this to the public attention. Intermediate School 318...
On “The Daily Show” Thursday night, Jon Stewart did a segment that focused on public education — the impact of budget cuts, how kids learn, teachers. This was all in his discussion with director Katie Dellamaggiore and student Pobo Efekoro about their documentary film “Brooklyn Castle,” which details how budget cuts affected a highly successful chess program at a New York City middle school.

Stewart notes the illogic of axing the chess program, the heart of the school, while money for standardized tests was not in jeopardy because of the budget cuts. Efekoro, who was a student at the school, says: “The teachers were fabulous. A lot of my teachers that I had, according to the city they are bad, but the fact of the matter is that I loved them.” And Stewart said: “Because they are being graded on a criterion that is much more mathematic….”
There's no logic to how the "reformers" deal with public schools. The goal is to dismiss, de-professionalize and privatize...not educate. 


The documentary, Brooklyn Castle, tells the story of how chess transformed an entire school.


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Stop the Testing Insanity!


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