Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig

  • From Wikipedia: A noble lie is a myth or untruth, told by an elite to maintain social harmony or to advance an agenda. The noble lie is a concept originated by Plato as described in the Republic. Plato presented the noble lie in a fictional tale— Socrates provides the origin of the three social classes who compose the republic proposed by Plato: . . . the earth, as being…

    Walking Away From High Stakes Tests, A Noble Lie
  • Originally posted on Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: With the publication of Radical and a few years after founding StudentsFirst, a policy advocacy organization, the 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…

    Kiss Michelle Rhee Goodbye
  • To add a little humor to the education and public policy debate, Cloaking Inequity features a series entitled Los Chistes (Also check out The Teat, which examines where various school “reformers” derive their funding). Who needs students when the Texas Legislature can legislate a pile of guns into my classroom? You better finish that statistics final on time…

    Los Chistes: “Say Hello to My Little Friend”
  • Last evening I watched a film on Netflix entitled “The Reel Injun.” Midway through the film, the director profiled when Sacheen Littlefeather presented a speech on behalf of actor Marlon Brando, for his performance in The Godfather, when he boycotted the 45th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, 1973, in protest of the treatment of Native Americans by the film industry (description via Wikipedia).…

    Absent?: Native Americans and Standards
  • One of the most challenging aspects of charters and choice that our society is struggling with are the potential incompatibilities with democratic and community control of schools. Last year NEPC recently released a report entitled  Democracy Left Behind: How Recent Education Reforms Undermine Local School Governance and Democratic Education.  I previously discussed the brief in context…

    From the Mailbag: Is Charter Legislation Inconsistent with Democratic Control of Schools?

Cloaking Inequity is an online platform for justice and liberty-minded readers. I publish reflections, analysis, and commentary on education, democracy, culture, and politics.

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Email me at jvh@alumni.stanford.edu