#NoOn2 #KeepTheCap Reading List 2016
Charter schools drain money from public schools, are not accountable to communities, don’t serve all students — and could be inundating Massachusetts this November if Ballot Question 2 passes. Read up on why we need to #KeepTheCap on charter schools in Massachusetts by voting #NoOn2. Then spread the word!
- The MTA’s excellent list of resources on the harmful impacts of charter schools in Massachusetts.
- The Myth of Charter Schools by Diane Ravitch (.pdf)
- Great Schools or Great Scheme? by Maurice Cunningham. UMass political science professor sheds light on the “hedge fund and big finance players” bankrolling the initiative to lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts.
- What’s The Point? by EduShuyster. The absurd and infuriating story of how the city of Brockton was “rewarded” for its high school’s “remarkable teacher-led transformation” with “a new regional charter high school that will compete against Brockton High by offering less…all the while draining an estimated 5% of the city’s total education budget per year.”
- Not Measuring Up: The State of School Discipline in Massachusetts by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. The rate at which charter schools in Massachusetts impose harsh discipline on their students is frankly shocking: “While charter schools enrolled only 3% of students in Massachusetts in 2012-13, charters accounted for 6% of all disciplinary removals… And while only 4% of Massachusetts’ public schools are charter schools, they accounted for nearly 14% of the schools with discipline rates over 20%.”
Free Summer Reading for MTA Members 2016!
The MTA is making copies of ‘Secrets of a Successful Organizer‘ available for free to members who are interested in reading and discussing it with colleagues over the summer. The book shows you how to fight back where you work – and win. It’s a step-by-step guide to building power on the job.
For a copy of the book, published by Labor Notes, contact Ari Mercado at amercado@massteacher.org.
Corporate Education “Reform” Reading List
Find out how the 1% are bankrolling efforts to privatize our schools and leave our students with less, all in an attempt to siphon public funds into private hands, break teachers unions, and undermine what’s left of the public sector in the U.S.
And then find out how to fight back.
- Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools by Joanne Barkan (.pdf)
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Twenty Years After Education Reform: Choosing a Path Forward To Equity and Excellence For All by Citizens for Public Schools – Full report by Joanne Barkan (.pdf)
EDU Videos
Teaching or Testing?-HD from Educators for a Democratic Union on Vimeo.
A Different Vision for Education from Educators for a Democratic Union on Vimeo.