Cloaking Inequity

Happy Fathers Day!! Now that the discussion of whether NCLB would actually close “achievement gaps” by 2014 is nearly in our rear view mirror (it is not going to happen, not even close— it is going to take 80 more years based on recent NAEP research, NCLB actually slowed our progress) let’s take a look […]

Reblogged from Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: With the publication of Radical and a few years after founding StudentsFirst, a policy advocacy organization, former Washington, D.C. Chancellor of schools continues to push her reform agenda nationally, one that was severely burned when she exited the district after only three years in office. Well […]

Are you ready for Cloaking Inequity’s most controversial post to date? I recently saw Django Unchained— I realize I am behind the times, but Redbox provides my film entertainment 80% of the time and the film just arrived. At any rate, I realize that Django Unchained is a thought-provoking film. When the film was first […]

What do you think César Chávez would have to say about “Right to Work”? Chicago school closings? Parent Trigger? Vouchers? Do you think he would be a member of Democrats for Education Reform?… César Chávez was a union leader…he fought the neoliberals every day of his life. ¡Sí, se puede! ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! The only answer, the only hope, is […]

WTF: Why the Finnish? It is ironic that reformers and the popular discourse (such as films like Waiting for Superman) often cite Finland, the “West’s reigning education superpower,” but actually completely ignore their approach to reform. They often use Finland as an example of success and then overlay their own ideas for reforms that are […]

Hi Professor, I’m a Stanford grad and receive alerts when you post messages on the LinkedIn group, Stanford School of Ed alumni. I just wanted to express my nearly complete disagreement with your anti-reform beliefs. I wish you well. All best, XXXX A year or two ago I attend a conference at Stanford University. The format of the conference […]

The public discourse about education is full of “zip code should not determine destiny” memes. The reasoning is— if we ignore the giraffe driving down the highway (poverty), it won’t exist or matter. The challenge with treating the symptoms of a disease rather than the causes, is that the outcomes remain inconsistent. For example, if […]

Your faith in what you believe must be a living, working faith that draws you away from comfort and security, and toward risk through confrontation.

I am ready to act, if I can find brave men to help me.

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

Opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow.

A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.

When you know better you do better.

Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be.

At the heart of the northern educational problem is the ghetto school, which with each passing day casts more children upon the human slag-heap, leading to increased frustration, and thereby increasing more impediments to any solution. This is a continuous on-going process. It is so complex that many run from it because the enormity of […]

We’ve got a responsibility to live up to the legacy of those who came before us by doing all that we can to help those who come after us.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.