To get the most out of this blog, view Ted Talks 2011 – Knowledge Is Power. #1: Sir Ken Robinson; and #5: Salman Kahn, and the Kahn Academy. I selected these two excellent presentations for many reasons, but the most important reveal is when Bill Gates comes on stage with Salman Kahn. His reaction and comments – those of a major player in the reform…
Author. Educator. Father. World Traveler. EdwardFBerger.com is where I share my insights into the world of education.
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I finished reading Reign of Error as my family explored Colorado’s beauty, not long after stopping at 12,180 feet above sea level, overlooking the Continental Divide and Trail Ridge Road. That eagle’s view of beauty, and my mind’s view of America, made the book even more special. From that vantage point, with Diane’s information filling my head, I thought of the America We The People…
The super rich are more privileged than the rest of us as they do not have to have their ideologies examined by the people. They do not have to be elected before they force changes. If they believe that our public schools should be destroyed, they destroy them. If they believe that educated and certified teachers should be humiliated and removed, they remove them. If…
Last week I posted a blog about testing those who are having a major impact on education in America. Are these people qualified to affect the lives of children? To reorganize or destroy schools? To evaluate teachers? To introduce alien and unproven processes and top-down edicts on all schools? What must they know and be able to demonstrate before they are credible? Should they be…
Let’s start evaluating the qualifications and accomplishments of the self-appointed education reformers. On my list of those to be Tested, Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Walton’s and the Walton Foundation, Eli Broad and the Broad Foundation, Michelle Rhee and the Students First organization, also Bloomberg, Parents First, etc., … you can add other reformers – deformers – to this list…
What do we do to change the effectiveness of our schools? In loco parentis we guarantee every child the same care and opportunities that we good parents provide for our children. What does that mean? Take Bill Gates as an example of the dichotomy between what he does for his children while ignoring the basic human needs of other children – especially when the other…
Destroy the good to reform the weak? What can communities that have good schools do to stop the destruction of their schools and the weakening of their societies? Is the movement to reform education driven by educators working for children, or forces determined to destroy the American Dream and establish a new type of feudalism? What if your community has created great schools and is…
Another community meeting. Our state politician stands in front of two-hundred concerned and ready- to-help citizens. The meeting was called by concerned parents and teachers; people who believe that open, honest discussion and examination of facts will help save our public schools. The meeting progresses and all of the information given by the organizers about the state’s economy and our ability to save our public…
At this time in our history, We The People have lost rights we assumed we have: 1) The right to a fact-based secular education in publicaly supported schools with elected boards and elected representatives who wisely enforce policy and distribute tax dollars; 2) The right to vote for candidates of our choosing, not those selected by a few who use their wealth to buy and…
Ask any of the present education reformers who are set upon destroying our schools how education works. Ask what our schools do for our kids, their families, our communities, and our nation. Ask any of them what actually happens in classrooms: The socialization, and the mastery of foundation skills for individuals to use to be able to contribute to themselves and to society. Ask the…