I loved this one and read a few others by Valerie.

I get very discouraged when I realize how long so many have been reporting on the handi-work of the charlatans.

I read such lucid explanations of their chicanery and scandalous illegal behaviors, , and wonder how the war on public education could have gone on for 30 years and only now, with the schools in utter collapse, and the fecal matter hitting the fan, is the media looking up and saying ,"HUH?"

Because of my own experience which stunned me, as I was one of the most successful teachers in NYC, I have followed the voices of the early activists who have reported for over a decade this war on teachers which enables the charlatans and liars to replace real learning strategies with anti-learning nonsense,

Long before VAM, Lenny Isenberg, Karen Horwitz, Betsy Combier, Norm Scott, Lorna Stremcha, Rene Diedrich all exposed the first assault in order to remove the professional from the classroom and silence their voices, so Gates and friends could take it to the new level with CC and VAM.

This should be national news. I hear the stories on NPR, here in NYC, of the parents who have young kids, searching for housing and apartment in neighborhoods where there is access to good schools, and I hear how many, finally, chose a charter. Finding a school in neighborhoods where apartments and homes are prohibitively expensive for the middle class in NYC is driving up real estate. Imagine, once upon a time, when I was young, noon chose a place to live because of access to a good school" one assumed (correctly) that the neighborhood schools were there for the 'common good' that our Constitution proclaims in the preamble.

We have to find ways to FIX THE TAX CODES & BRING BACK funding to the public domain, so we can create smaller class size AND the programs to support learning for all.
BOTH!

There must be enough TRAINED staff to deal with children with learning problems, and enough trained personal to deal with behavioral issues, too, so a kid who won't give up a phone or follow directions won't be thrown into a wall by a cop!

I know I will get 'flack' for this" but".

Guidance personnel and those whose job it is to deal with genuine discipline issues must be part of today's schools, as they were part of every 'good school,' in which I worked.
What would I have done without Mr. Buetti, at Pomona Jr. H.S., when little Johnny was intent on disrupting my lessons??? 'Call-a-cop!' Take the kid, as one charter school principal did, and physically drop him on the doorstep of a different school??

Everyone of you who read this, know how ONE out of control student, can disable any lesson. All of us know how impossible it is to teach the rest of the kids, the ones dying to learn, amidst the chaos that 3 or 4 OR MORE children can cause.

Cops are not the answer" small classes with teachers and counsellors-- trained in ways to REACH and HELP such kids, with the SUPPORT of the principal -- will make LEARNING for ALL possible. THAT takes $$$, and if Mr. Gates and Mr Broad and Mr Walton and"well all those pouring money into private education enterprises had built new public schools, and LET THE TEACHERS TEACH in ways that the human brian actually acquires skill and knowledge (both) then this country would lead the world in EVERYTHING, like it once did!

And yes, forgive me for having witnessed the mess that occurred when learning disabled children and kids with real behaviorlal issues, were 'mainstreamed'-- so they do might not t feel different, but were in fact even more miserable in classes where they could not participate at the accelerated levels that most kids exhibit.

The charter schools kick them out, which is a tragedy for the ones who need help the most. A school, with small classes and programs that aid special needs children, which means staffing that meets their needs, too, is the only way.

I wonder if we will ever be able to stop the advances funded and promoted by the EIC (EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMLEX).

Keep telling it as it is, Diane. I dream that you, or Valerie or Carol or "well any of the genuine educators to be our next Secretary of Education. Maybe, if Bernie wins, and only if he KNOWS THE REALITY and hears of the destruction, can things change"

Ya know, Diane, I CAN'T get through to him, and I have tried ( contacted his brother Larry, his wife Jane, His old high school buddies, his press secretary and all his offices!

Please, won't YOU contact his campaign and offer/suggest/demand a vis-a-vis so he can REACH OUT to teachers with a POLICY STATEMENT re: lower ed, that ACTUALLY demonstrates/ shows that he GETS IT!
It is a chance to bring him the votes of teachers and parents to secure the nomination, and a chance to have a president who genuinely cares about PEOPLE NOT POWER!

He is a good man, and after hearing him for decades I believe a great one.
Hillary is in Broad's and Gates' pocket. Nothing will change if she gets the office.

Here is a chance. Please think about it.

You see, I WANT TO LIVE IN A NATION WHERE a person like BERNIE SANDERS is the leader, is THE PRESIDENT

Sigh!