another viewpoint
Julie Cook was ready to leave teaching. She’d worked in both urban and suburban districts and in three different states. No matter where she taught, she…
In the early grades, U.S. schools value reading-comprehension skills over knowledge. The results are devastating, especially for poor kids. At first glance, the classroom I was…
The research of the Harvard economist Raj Chetty shows that the scale of inequality is incredibly small. In recent years, Raj Chetty has become economist-famous…
Can’t afford teachers at Wade Thomas. But $3.8 million for a shiny new house on the hill is no problem? Really? http://go.boarddocs.com/ca/rova/Board.nsf/files/BDCRXY6FE209/$file/Architect%20Agreement%20with%20Exhibits%20-%20RVSD%20District%20Office%20Remodel_Rev1.190621.pdf
A letter dated June 12, 2019, from Sharon Sagar, Board Chair of the RVC to Teri Louer with copies to the Superintendent and RVSD Board:
The president appears committed to destroying the very idea of facts. A read for our times. Like many writers I know, I’ve had a passion…
It’s fine. You’re fine. Everything is O.K. Whoopsie: You completely bombed that career-making presentation, missed that deadline you could not miss or said something you…
THE MOST enduring — and unforgivable — civil rights offense in our country today is the consigning of so many poor, often minority children to…
Mastering English requires abilities that most children don’t develop until they’re pre-teens. Johnny in Topeka can’t read, but Janne in Helsinki is effortlessly finishing his…
The pressures of national academic standards have pushed character education out of the classroom. A few months ago, I presented the following scenario to my…
Extra money for our kids? Not so much! It is recommended the Board authorize staff to engage Axia Architects, to create and submit plans to…
White families “do best” for their children; when Latinos or African-Americans exercise choice, it’s called a “drain” Out of the 11.6 million new jobs created…
What does it look like to care about our community’s children? While the Stand community has maintained that all they want is for RVC to leave…
The Ross Valley Charter School’s plans to move into the old St. Rita’s school campus in Fairfax should go a long way toward providing a…
The endless flow of content doesn’t need to make sense to create engagement. YouTube is designed to catch you and not let go. Sometimes I…
Just Imagine
Maybe. Improvability is a choice. You can build a society, an organization or a family with improvement in mind. Either things are static or we’re…
Next week, the National Education Association (NEA) will release State Charter Statutes: NEA Report Cards. This new report grades each state’s charter school law in relation…
One of the hallmarks of existentialism is its particular emphasis on the concept of ‘anguish’, understood as the feeling we experience when we grasp our…
Or, Will The World Ever Go Sane Again? There’s a thought that’s been echoing in my head. Forgive me — it’s not a nice one. “Why the…
I can no longer assure my daughters that violence won’t enter our family’s spaces. The phone sits in the drink holster, next to the gear…
Sadly, a child dies after a fight, a child gets attacked and dies from two elementary classmates kicking her head, a father and mother murder…
Kennedy School professor’s latest book explores what makes a ‘master parent’ On a recent afternoon, the Gazette sat down with Ronald Ferguson, an MIT-trained economist…
Civil discourse isn’t just about polite conversation. It’s a vital ingredient to better public policy and public leadership. And vital to the Kennedy School’s focus…
Los Angeles-based “news outlet” seeks national audience with new hire Capital & Main, a Los Angeles-based non-profit media outlet controlled by a group of labor…
The teaching profession is in the midst of an “ongoing and alarming crisis,” Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in…
California failing to hold public school to standards applied to charter schools Last year, in his final budget as governor, Jerry Brown proudly proclaimed a…
Human societies are so prosperous mostly because of how altruistic we are. Unlike other animals, people cooperate even with complete strangers. We share knowledge on…
How self-segregation and concentrated affluence became normal in America Last summer, the Michigan town of Grosse Pointe Park erected a farmer’s market in the middle of one…
New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason. The vaunted human capacity for reason may have more to do with winning arguments…
It’s conventional wisdom that students of color, frequently Latino and black, are treated unequally in our educational system. This is true for Marin County as…
The agreement could cap a decade of lawsuits between the district and charter school. After nearly a decade of heated negotiations and millions of dollars…
“…Bagley said the district has responded to the union’s myriad requests by posting on its website the formal requests as well as the district’s answers. “They…