Public School Shakedown

A fundamental struggle for democracy is going on around the country, as a handful of wealthy individuals and foundations pour money into efforts to privatize the public schools. The Public School Shakedown pulls back the curtain and reveals what is at stake. Our writers include teachers working in classrooms around the country. We follow the money, expose the privatizers, and report on the resistance and the hard work of people on the front lines of public education.

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  Wesley Fryer

  From Oklahoma Teachers, Lessons for Progressives

  Teachers are challenging a decades-long nationwide conservative campaign to shrink government. more

  Apr 18, 2018

  John Thompson

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  Pete Souza (white house archives)

  By Repealing School Discipline Reforms, The Trump Administration Hurts Students of Color

  Obama-era policies forced schools to deal with racism in their disciplinary practices. Now the Team Trump wants to scrap those measures. more

  Apr 17, 2018

  Rann Miller

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  ‘When It Is Our Children, No One Cares’

  Whether the focus is gun violence or racist public policies, people are collectively recognizing how we currently put the lives of our children at risk—some children more than others. more

  Apr 16, 2018

  John H. Jackson

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  Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

  Cynthia Nixon Could Take Down Andrew Cuomo Over Education

  The candidate for New York governor and former Sex and the City actor is a longtime public education advocate, and isn’t afraid to point out Cuomo’s pattern of underfunding schools. more

  Apr 12, 2018

  Jake Jacobs

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  Larry Smith

  In Oklahoma, an ‘Education Spring’ After a Long Winter of Discontent

  Oklahoma teachers now have national attention as they march to the state capital to demand better working and learning environments for students and teachers alike. more

  Apr 4, 2018

  John Thompson

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  Vince Reinhart

  The Outrage of Theoretical Children

  Theoretical children are useful: they are predictable and generalizable. They lend themselves easily to political agenda. But theoretical children don’t exist. more

  Mar 23, 2018

  Emily Kaplan

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  Daphne Zaras

  Oklahoma Teachers Plan a Strike: “Our Children Cannot Wait any Longer”

  While the state has cut taxes on oil, state employees have not received an across-the-board pay raise in twelve years. more

  Mar 21, 2018

  John Thompson

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  Want Better Student Outcomes? Try Loving Cities

  The Schott Foundation is offering a seismic shift in how policy makers, philanthropists and the general public can create better schools. more

  Mar 15, 2018

  Sarah Lahm

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  Gage Skidmore

  Betsy DeVos’s ‘Shining Example’—A Charter Closed for Poor Performance

  Betsy DeVos doesn't care about how charters and vouchers are performing, because there is no place for public education in her worldview or political agenda. more

  Mar 13, 2018

  Jeff Bryant

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  Atomazul

  Why Teachers Strike (It’s Not All About Money)

  As a past union president, I know there’s nothing teachers would rather do less than strike. Getting a majority of them to do so is really, really hard. more

  Mar 12, 2018

  Peter Greene

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  wk1003mike/Shutterstock

  White Teachers with Guns

  What would it mean for black students to sit in a classroom knowing their teacher was armed? more

  Mar 7, 2018

  Rann Miller

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  Success Academy

  What’s Behind New York’s Charter School End Run Around Teacher Certification?

  If granted, this would allow teachers to transfer from a charter into any public school statewide, avoiding current degree and certification requirements. And that’s not good for students. more

  Mar 1, 2018

  Jake Jacobs

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  Joseph Gruber

  #NeverAgain: Our Education Fellows Respond to the School Gun Violence Uprising

  Real change will require adults to step in too, and intersectional organizing for the safety of all students. more

  Feb 28, 2018

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  False Promises: Is Promoting College a Disservice for Some Students?

  Author Linda Nathan worries that well-meaning educators who say every student can go to college are doing more harm than good. more

  Feb 19, 2018

  Emily Kaplan

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  Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute

  How Education Reformers Get Black History Wrong

  Fostering pride in one’s own achievement is worthwhile, but pursuing it in isolation of the gospel of the black freedom struggle is like building on quicksand. more

  Feb 17, 2018

  Rann Miller

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