The Institute is located right on the banks of the Allegheny River, which means while I'm sitting here baking I can at least look at water, but dang, it is unpleasant today. Not as unpleasant as it is out West. But I'm sure this is all just a momentary blip and nothing to be concerned about. In the meantime, here's a batch of reading from the week.
I oppose indoctrination, which is why I want schools to prove they are thinking acceptable things
Ordinarily I put the yuks at the end, but Alexandra Petri is a national treasure, and her take on Ron DeSantis new anti-wrongthink measure is exactly on point.
This critical race theory panic is a chip off the old block
Not sure how I missed this last week, but Gillian Frank and Friend of the Institute Adam Laats wrote a great piece for Slate showing the many times we have been here before.
Employers, don't blame the "skills gap" on workers
Or, for that matter, schools. Andre Perry and Anthony Barr write about a Philliy apprenticeship program that shows how it can be done.
PA should consolidate racetracks, not universities
Susan Spicka is the executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania. Here she takes a look at a plan to consolidate state universities and cut costs, even as legislators look to shore up horse racing. Because, for some reason, they think only one of those things has significant economic impact.
Platinum Equity Inks $4.5B Deal To Buy McGraw Hill
Your regular reminder that publishing is largely in the hands of people whose major interest is not publishing.
Why Americans are so divided over teaching critical race theory
Better than average summation/overview of the current mess, from NPR. You can listen or read.
How mob attacks on social media are silencing UK teachers
It's not just here, if that's any consolation. The Guardian reports on how British Trumpism is making life miserable for teachers.
If Pittsburgh council really wants to help city schools, there's an obvious solution
Different cities have different local issues. In Pittsburgh, one issue is that the city has actually been taking a slice of the tax dollars that are supposed to go to schools. Steven Snyder explains.
Take this job and shove it. Or change it.
Nancy Flanagan looks at the great post-pandemic employment reshuffle and considers what it means to teachers.
Supreme Court rules that Arkansas teachers pension were suckers to trust Goldman Sachs
Among SCOTUS decisions this round was one declaring that the Arkansas teacher pension system had no reason to trust the integrity of Goldman Sachs. Seriously. Fred Klonsky blogs about the story.
A new look at cyber charter balances
Public Citizens for Children and Youth just released a report about data showing that Pennsylvania's cyber charters are sitting in $74 million in reserves. Just some extra money they're banking for, well, because they can.
Religious freedom in America is protected for some more than others
As SCOTUS considers the right of religious folks to express their religion through state-funded discrimination, this op-ed from the LA Times points out some inconsistencies in how religious freedom tends to play out.
In Psychology Today, an argument for why GPA is so much more valid a predictor of college success than SAT or ACT.
America's school teachers aren't the Marxist cabal Foix News keeps depicting
Anne Lutz Fernandez writes an op-ed for NBC THINK explaining just how radical US teachers really are.
The pandemic showed remote proctoring to be worse than useless
Cory Doctorow breaks down the abuses and more abuses of remote proctoring.
Never let a good crisis go to waste: Michigan Ed Reform edition
At Eclectablog, Mitchell Robinson looks at the same old problem of reformsters who may fail, but who never go away.
Illinois legislature begins to repair the damage of Chicago school reform.
Jan Ressefer has been tracking this stuff for a long time. Here's a capsule history of ed reform in Chicago, and what might happen to fix at least some of the damage.
If only. But this piece in the New Republic made several conservatives sad, and it captures just how much damage Friedman has done, and why his ideas about education are toxic.
Literally, Seriously, and Institutional Integrity
I think Andy Smarick is wrong on a lot of education policy, but I also find him to be thoughtful and often a classic conservative, as opposed to whatever it is that conservatism has been replaced with. This piece is not short, but it's an attempt to explicate a whole world of truthfulness in rhetoric.
