Ok...the headline is going to create some controversy. I don't know if the writers assertions are accurate or not. It's your choice to make that determination. The article was published March 25, 2025 at The American Thinker written by John Conlon Give it a read and see if you agree or disagree. Quite the statement, eh? Let me explain. I’m well into my 60s and for my entire adult life I’ve heard that public school teachers are underpaid. It has been repeated as a mantra for decades. Ignoring for a moment whether it is true or not -- and the answer to that is generally, it depends -- let’s accept the mantra and analyze why public-school teachers are still underpaid after all … [Read more...]
School Administrators ‘Worm Around’ Laws Banning Critical Race Theory, Undercover Videos Reveal
So some school districts say they don't teach Critical Race Theory (CRT) when they really do. They may call it something else but the essence is there. In Washington State teachers are required by law to go through CRT training. Today we share a story that ran in The National Review. Take a few minutes to read the article and then go ask your local school district what they are doing and then file a public record request to get the details. Lastly, share those with us so we can share with our readers. As the intra-right debate over anti–critical race theory laws continues, new evidence has emerged to support the notion that the laws are toothless because ultimately teachers in the … [Read more...]
Charter Schools – Good or Bad?
Washington State approved the formation of charter schools in 2012 (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/charter-schools-narrowly-win-approval-in-washington/). The approval was for up to 40 schools. What's happened since the approval? Today we bring you a information that may be useful in judging the utility and value. Where do you go to learn more about charter schools in Washington State? https://wacharters.org/ Here is a link to the 2019 Washington State Charter School Report in case you want details: WA_Statre_Charter_School_Performance_Report_2019 Why consider a Charter School? You are not happy with public schools Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and … [Read more...]
Is technology in schools helping or harming kids?
Today we bring you an investigative report rom KARE11 - a TV station out of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The segment is five (5) minutes in length. We encourage you to take the 5 minutes and watch/listen to their report. Please share the link to the report as well. When asked the simple question...is there ANY evidence or proof of value of Chromebooks or other technology the answer is...no. See the question asked multiple times and the avoidance to answering. Listen to the segment from the child psychologist that speaks to HARM in children and then ask your local school district to watch the segment and answer the question...is there any proof of value and can you assure us there is no … [Read more...]
SBAc: Part 3 – Battle Ground SD vs. Washington State
This article is 9 pages. Rather than trying to format it to be readable in the blog it's easier if we provide the document for you in .pdf format. Download it by clicking on the link. It will take a few minutes to read. Here are the highlights: Looking at the test scores by following students as they move up in grades makes most of the results look better 40% to nearly 60% of the students taking the test are listed as failing. All prior tests showed a different picture. Why? Are the students suddenly dumber? Is the SBAc flawed? Were the prior tests too easy and not indicative of true performance? Battle Ground sometimes beats the State and other times falls short. Battle Ground … [Read more...]
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s Education Plan
Recently our new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal, issued a press release (http://www.k12.wa.us/Communications/PressReleases2017/Long-TermVision.aspx) in which he outlined his “vision” of the future of education in Washington State. We took the opportunity to email Mr. Reykdal to make some comments and ask a few questions. We got shuttled around between a few of his people but, in the end, we managed to get a few responses from Nate Olson, OSPI Director of Communications. We presume the responses represent Mr. Reykdal’s views and position(s). Below you will see the email we sent (our comments/questions in RED and their comments/responses in BLUE if we got … [Read more...]
Sending Government Agents Into People’s Homes Won’t Fix Preschool’s Failures
From a piece at The Federalist - author is Karen R. Effrem Government programs to fix home failures have never been successful, and they create the opposite kind of ecosystem than the one our country truly needs. First, the good news: even think tanks generally aligned with the education establishment in supporting federal involvement in education, particularly early childhood education, are starting to admit the stark truth of the longstanding and stunning lack of evidence for preschool as an effective means to close racial and economic achievement gaps and improve life outcomes. Dale Farran is one of the co-authors of the 2015 Vanderbilt University study showing … [Read more...]
Standardized Testing is Not Teaching
I came across this 3 1/2 minute video on YouTube that explains why the testing used in Common Core is a problem. Take a look and then let me know what you think. Did the video change your mind and if so why? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPs46yOcwP0&feature=youtu.be … [Read more...]