Month: May 2018

The Rural-Urban Divide: Responses To School Shootings Show Us Two Sides Of America

When then-candidate Barack Obama was still seeking the Democratic nomination back in 2008, one of his most notable gaffes of the primary campaign trail was an ill-worded assessment of blue-collar culture. Speaking to a wealthy fundraiser crowd, Obama suggested that rural residents of Pennsylvania were bitter, and that they were inclined to “cling to guns or religion” as a result…

If The Boys Really Aren’t Alright, We Have Work To Do

When Michael Ian Black published an op-ed entitled “The Boys Are Not Alright” for The New York Times back in February, it garnered a lot of attention from educators, parents, and advocates of young people. Black’s analysis of young men and masculinity didn’t pull any punches. He referenced the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 high school students…

Kentucky’s ESSA Plan Was Just Approved. Here’s What That Means.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has just approved Kentucky’s new education plan under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). For Kentucky schools, that means new changes in accountability, school ratings, and student success are coming. Kentucky’s Interim Commissioner of Education Wayne Lewis was optimistic about what the new plan means for Kentucky students. In a statement released May 7, Lewis said,…

This Is Why State Testing Matters

We’ve arrived at that point at the end of the school year where everyone and everything is moving at a frenetic pace, and if you didn’t know any better, you might think there was some sort of natural disaster about to nail your local public school. That’s right, it’s testing time. Thousands of Kentucky students are gearing up to take…

Citing Low Performance and Student Abuse, Interim Commissioner Lewis Calls For JCPS Takeover

Jefferson County Public Schools is facing a takeover. Referencing the low performance of several Louisville schools as well as abuses in student discipline, Interim Commissioner of Education Dr. Wayne Lewis stated on Monday that he will attempt to give control over the JCPS district to the state. JCPS is one of the nation’s largest school districts, and the largest in…