Eagles Fans know What works in Education - Superbowl Champs Edition.

 My dear friend and fellow public education activist, Alison McDowell, decided not only to celebrate the Eagles winning the Superbowl, but to speak with fellow Philadelphians about their schools. I was amazed with how aware people are about the true ways to improve education for kids.

Lower Merion & all suburban school districts, pay close attention. What we see happening in Philadelphia is part of the plan of Betsy DeVos and other education reformers who want to kill ALL of public education. We are not immune to ideas like this.

Alison is a serious advocate for public ed, and I know no one whose research digs deeper than hers. In this blog post, she outs the current SRC's plans to spend big bucks on a low quality, one-size-fits-all, phony, "personalized learning" Pearson program. She writes, "Given the outgoing School Reform Commission’s plans to vote to spend almost $20 million dollars next week on corporate computer-based curriculum and data management by Pearson, the celebratory Eagles Super Bowl parade seemed like a perfect time to go out and ask Philadelphians how they would use the money instead. It’s time we started listening to the voice of the people. It was a great experience that made me so appreciate the wonderful human connections that are possible in our city. If you want to build a movement, education is critical and it can happen many places, including the streets. After watching this video I encourage you to share it with others who value human teachers over data and algorithms."

Watch this 6 minute video, and see how the people get it right!

Here is a sample of where the wise people of Philadelphia think the $20 million 

would be better spent:

-Teacher salaries

-Books

-Reducing class sizes

-Sports

-Music

-The Arts

-Outdoor playground equiptment

-Field trips

-School supplies

- Building matenience

-New Books

-NO ON-LINE DATA COLLECTION

-Opening more schools

-Neighborhood schools, not charter schools

-Guidance counselors

-Supporting special needs students

-Stop the focus on just math and reading/Stop standardized testing/No testing

-Bring back creative thinking

-Limit time on computers

-After school clubs

-Access to paper books

-Stop test prep and teaching to the test

The gentleman in the red sweatshirt said something I have often thought, "Human evolution was not meant to end up sitting at a computer terminal."

Check out this NYT article about some of the early pioneers of the tech industry, who have banded together to earn about the dangers of tech addiction.

First they came for the cities, then the rural districts... beware suburbs – we are next.