Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #schoolvouchers
Most recents (24)
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So many different Right-$ groups inflating evidence for #schoolvouchers itās impossible to āš all of them. #txlege #gapol #neleg #INed #ksleg
But hereās the general pattern, using this EdChoice table as an example (there are many more):
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So many different Right-$ groups inflating evidence for #schoolvouchers itās impossible to āš all of them. #txlege #gapol #neleg #INed #ksleg
But hereās the general pattern, using this EdChoice table as an example (there are many more):
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First is the absence of abysmal negative OH, and IN results by teams led by Figlio and Berends, respectively.
Those studies use panel data and methods and find terrible statewide at-scale voucher effectsāhugely relevant to legislation today.
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chalkbeat.org/2018/8/9/21107ā¦
Those studies use panel data and methods and find terrible statewide at-scale voucher effectsāhugely relevant to legislation today.
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chalkbeat.org/2018/8/9/21107ā¦
But #schoolvouchers advocates drop them from tables like the š because theyāre not lottery-based studies. Itās true that lotteries are gold standard evaluation toolābut have well-known limitations re: scale and generalizabilityākey issues today.
Any case, you donāt drop them
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Any case, you donāt drop them
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Thereās a #schoolvouchers link to the #January6thReport. It centers around attorney Cleta Mitchell who led Trumpās GA pressure efforts after the vote. #BigLie
Mitchell is all over the final report:
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january6th.house.gov/sites/democratā¦
Mitchell is all over the final report:
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january6th.house.gov/sites/democratā¦
Mitchell is also Board Secretary for the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a huge #schoolvouchers backer out of Wisconsin thatās given $millions to voucher research and advocacy.
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archive.jsonline.com/newswatch/2037ā¦
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archive.jsonline.com/newswatch/2037ā¦
The Bradley Foundation is also financially the āextraordinary forceā behind #BigLie efforts, per @JaneMayerNYer reporting @NewYorker.
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newyorker.com/magazine/2021/ā¦
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newyorker.com/magazine/2021/ā¦
Aš§µ on why the #KYed ruling last week against #schoolvouchers tax credit scheme matters @NPEaction @Network4pubEd @PV4PS @BadassTeachersA @edvoters
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First: a winās a win. Itās good to see #schoolvouchers stopped anywhere. The push to privatize is so relentless, so well-funded by such a narrow swath of backers, it can feel like swinging in the dark against it.
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But more concretely: the KY Court found that #schoolvouchers tax credit shell game was a budget commitment even though itās not a direct appropriation. Reducing revenue by $10 is the same as spending $10.
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The push for #education privatization #schoolvouchers is now a cruel update to longer efforts to separate single out and separate children. @carolburris @Network4pubEd @NPEaction
Heritage announced its #EducationFreedom strategy early in 2022:
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heritage.org/education/repoā¦
Heritage announced its #EducationFreedom strategy early in 2022:
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heritage.org/education/repoā¦
And Heritage has been branching out on this tactic by adopting itself as a pseudo sex-science shop
The goal here is to underscore differences as āchoiceā and āvaluesā #lgbtqia #LGBTQ
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heritage.org/gender/event/tā¦
The goal here is to underscore differences as āchoiceā and āvaluesā #lgbtqia #LGBTQ
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heritage.org/gender/event/tā¦
With longstanding antipathy to #DEI baked into an #EducationFreedom agenda that in their telling is good for kids of color
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heritage.org/educationreporā¦
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heritage.org/educationreporā¦
Donāt let the Right define opposition to #SchoolVouchers
Itās their way of setting up targets to shoot down. @DianeRavitch @rweingarten @Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS @palan57 @BadassTeachersA
The problems are:
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ā Tax-giveaways for those already in private school
Itās their way of setting up targets to shoot down. @DianeRavitch @rweingarten @Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS @palan57 @BadassTeachersA
The problems are:
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ā Tax-giveaways for those already in private school
ā A revolving door of children in and out of private schools promising long term academic stability
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dianeravitch.net/2022/12/12/josā¦
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dianeravitch.net/2022/12/12/josā¦
Another glaring gap between the actual Fordham #ohioed #schoolvouchers results and the spin from its Forward is on student achievement.
@NPEaction @Network4pubEd @PV4PS @OhioPEP @StephenODyer @CLub_edu @SchlFinance101
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@NPEaction @Network4pubEd @PV4PS @OhioPEP @StephenODyer @CLub_edu @SchlFinance101
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The actual researchers clearly say their results are due to changes in student compositionāwith #schoolvouchers by design drawing more lower income students (ie also lower ave test scores) away from districts.
So districts didnāt actually improve #education due to vouchers
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So districts didnāt actually improve #education due to vouchers
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They just lost lower scoring kids.
āBut wait!ā #schoolvouchers activists may say, āthat shows vouchers are admitting poorer kids!ā
True enough but thereās no evidence voucher programs know how to *serve* those kids.
Quite the opposite:
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āBut wait!ā #schoolvouchers activists may say, āthat shows vouchers are admitting poorer kids!ā
True enough but thereās no evidence voucher programs know how to *serve* those kids.
Quite the opposite:
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Itās the #schoolvouchers two-step playbook:
ā set up a bar they know theyāll pass by saying ācritics sayā¦ā
ā barely pass and celebrate.
But thereās never discussion of relative effects:
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ā set up a bar they know theyāll pass by saying ācritics sayā¦ā
ā barely pass and celebrate.
But thereās never discussion of relative effects:
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For example there is vastly more and stronger evidence that funding public schools has substantial and long-term effects that dwarf the tiny ācompetitive effectsā on public schools that some #schoolvouchers studies find
#schoolfinance @SchlFinance101 @dsknight84
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#schoolfinance @SchlFinance101 @dsknight84
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And Fordham glaringly ignores its own previous study showing that students who actually use #schoolvouchers had test score drops ~ 4x the test gains by competition in the new study @Network4pubEd @OhioPEP @PV4PS
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A few general comments on this new Fordham report on #ohioed #schoolvouchers:
@Network4pubEd @PV4PS @NPEaction @NEPCtweet @pfpsorg @OhioPEP
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fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/research/ā¦
@Network4pubEd @PV4PS @NPEaction @NEPCtweet @pfpsorg @OhioPEP
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fordhaminstitute.org/ohio/research/ā¦
First and most important: the study presents a ton of zero impacts and tiny effects. Mostly this is #schoolvouchers report about statistical noise, packaged as a win. The beauty of null results is one can see what one wants.
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But in whatās become a trend for Fordham, its house-written Forward makes way more of the externally done results than it should.
Basically the argument goes
ā#schoolvouchersā critics say vouchers hurt but we find no evidence of vouchers doing anything! Critics are wrong!ā
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Basically the argument goes
ā#schoolvouchersā critics say vouchers hurt but we find no evidence of vouchers doing anything! Critics are wrong!ā
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Imploring #edchat journalists to ask these data questions of current/proposed #SchoolVouchers schemes.
Itās how we know the so-called #COVID19 exodus for private/#homeschool will come back.
5-year voucher exit rates *before* COVID were near šÆ
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dianeravitch.net/2022/12/12/josā¦
Itās how we know the so-called #COVID19 exodus for private/#homeschool will come back.
5-year voucher exit rates *before* COVID were near šÆ
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dianeravitch.net/2022/12/12/josā¦
There are 3 groups of #schoolvouchers usersāeach giving lie to #EducationFreedom:
š¤ long-standing #privateschool parents cashing ināfar the largest group
š¤ voucher-curious kids leaving soon after (most of the rest)
šµāš« some stray sortersāoften susceptible to recruiting
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š¤ long-standing #privateschool parents cashing ināfar the largest group
š¤ voucher-curious kids leaving soon after (most of the rest)
šµāš« some stray sortersāoften susceptible to recruiting
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There is NO evidence that #schoolvouchers give long-term ālifelinesā out of so-called failing schools. Theyāre a tax-giveaway to parents already sending kids privateā¦
ā¦and for the rest a crypto-like short-term gamble that they usually back out of soon after enrolling.
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ā¦and for the rest a crypto-like short-term gamble that they usually back out of soon after enrolling.
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Why have #schoolvouchers programs persisted and expanded despite a more lopsided base of objective evidence against them than nearly any other current #edpolicy #education initiative?
A few reasons š§µšŖ”
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A few reasons š§µšŖ”
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First is that today #schoolvouchers activists are directly part of the larger #trump-style revanchist and anti-democratic turn in American politics since Obamaās second term.
Politically their success is intertwined.
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Politically their success is intertwined.
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But as a policy matter too we see #schoolvouchers linger around even as #education research has tried to place itself in an #evidencebased position to inform policy.
If evidence were all that informed #edpolicy then vouchers would have been dead a decade ago.
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If evidence were all that informed #edpolicy then vouchers would have been dead a decade ago.
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One reason #schoolvouchers are still described as having āmixedā outcomes is the success of advocates propping up shoddy studies to flood the zone and offset quality evaluations showing dreadful impacts.
But itās also because few people know what āmixedā truly looks like.
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But itās also because few people know what āmixedā truly looks like.
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But another reason is non-researchers donāt know what āmixedā truly looks like. #SchoolVouchers outcomes are mixed compared to a standard of āall results show bad outcomes.ā
Most doāand all recent doābut not all studies ever show negative.
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Most doāand all recent doābut not all studies ever show negative.
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But thatās not the question. Relative to other #edpolicy questions #schoolvouchers research over the last decade is entirely one-sided.
I could tell a data-driven story on either side of many #edpolicy questions. Where you have to decide the general tendency not an absolute
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I could tell a data-driven story on either side of many #edpolicy questions. Where you have to decide the general tendency not an absolute
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"#ALECās proposed Free Speech in Higher Education Act debated by members this week would ban public universities from using bias reporting systems to prevent or punish āoffensiveā or āunwantedā speech by students, faculty, staff, or guests." exposedbycmd.org/2022/11/30/aleā¦ #HigherEd
#ALECās FORUM Act "has passed in multiple states with the help of the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom, aims to address the manufactured free speech ācrisisā being hyped by the Right, often by sending extremist provocateurs to speak at colleges and universities." #HigherEd
The real reason for the attack on libraries dailykos.com/stories/2022/1ā¦ This "has always been about keeping people uneducated and ignorant. Suppressing diverse ideas has always been the hallmark of conservatism, and free libraries stand in the way of their goal."
The #schoolvouchers crowd loves to site my decade old PSJ paper using matched Milwaukee data to show small positive effects on attainment.
But they ignore my 3 other studies in far better journals that look awful for vouchers and are more informative to policy today
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But they ignore my 3 other studies in far better journals that look awful for vouchers and are more informative to policy today
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First up in @EEPAjournal: in āLife After Vouchersā we show low-income and Black students exit #schoolvouchers at higher rates and DO BETTER once returning to Milwaukee Public Schools @DianeRavitch
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journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31ā¦
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journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31ā¦
Next up in @aerj_journal in āGoing Publicā we deep dive into those kids who give up #schoolvouchers and show they are historically underserved and come from āpop upā voucher schools founded to take tax $
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journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31ā¦
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journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31ā¦
The folks I mention here are already pushing back on this piece @DianeRavitch so in lieu of direct social media battles Iām going to just āreply allā with a new point:
Letās talk āpeer review.ā The #schoolvouchers crowd has made use of this fuzzy term for years.
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Letās talk āpeer review.ā The #schoolvouchers crowd has made use of this fuzzy term for years.
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āPeer reviewā can mean a lot of things. For example this paper by Corey DeAngelis in something called the āJournal of Free Enterpriseā is āpeer reviewed.ā
Sorry but thatās just not JPAM or AEJ: Policy or EEPA and anyone credible knows that. š¤¦āāļø
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Sorry but thatās just not JPAM or AEJ: Policy or EEPA and anyone credible knows that. š¤¦āāļø
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And a number of āpeer reviewedā studies come from the working paper series at UArk that Jay Greene founded, whichāat least when I reviewed for them years agoāpaid $250-500 a pop.
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šØA new front has opened up in the push to privatize #schools.šØ
At Fox News Jeb Bush explicitly cited #soldastory as a reason we need #AZEd #schoolvouchers. @edvoters @BadassTeachersA @Network4pubEd @PV4PS š
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foxnews.com/opinion/our-chā¦
At Fox News Jeb Bush explicitly cited #soldastory as a reason we need #AZEd #schoolvouchers. @edvoters @BadassTeachersA @Network4pubEd @PV4PS š
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foxnews.com/opinion/our-chā¦
#Reading is going to be the new wedge issue to pitch #schoolvouchers /ESAs to parents understandably frustrated at #scienceofreading issues but who were turned off by the voucher culture war pitch.
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Just days before writing this Fox column and citing #reading as a reason states need #azed style #schoolvouchers Bush was honoring voucher hero @DougDucey at the annual ExcelInEd meeting
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And #schoolvouchers activists exploit parent frustration over whatās often real inadequacy of some public districts to meet special needs.
But vouchers as a fix are based on a theory of action assuming district neglectāwhen really districts themselves are under-resourced.
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But vouchers as a fix are based on a theory of action assuming district neglectāwhen really districts themselves are under-resourced.
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#schoolvouchers advocacy organizations stand up parents of these kids like other Right-wing groups go plaintiff-shopping in legal cases. Promising them vouchers as a cure-all.
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The name of the game for political #schoolvouchers activism is to build coalitions of support based on false promises, when the reality delivered will be a narrow constituency of families already in private school.
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š§µšŖ”š§¶
Hey š #educators and defenders of #publicschools:
Got an angry #MAGA family relative at your #Thanksgiving š¦ table who likes to yell at you about #publiceducation?
Hereās a short āwell actuallyā sheet to š back:
@Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS
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Hey š #educators and defenders of #publicschools:
Got an angry #MAGA family relative at your #Thanksgiving š¦ table who likes to yell at you about #publiceducation?
Hereās a short āwell actuallyā sheet to š back:
@Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS
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āIām sick of just throwing money at #schools that just waste it!ā
Well, actually, Aunt Betsy, investing in #publiceducation is one of the best things taxpayers can doāmore $$, better outcomes. @KiraboJackson
chalkbeat.org/2018/12/17/211ā¦
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Well, actually, Aunt Betsy, investing in #publiceducation is one of the best things taxpayers can doāmore $$, better outcomes. @KiraboJackson
chalkbeat.org/2018/12/17/211ā¦
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āAnd all this crime you damn liberals have going around too!ā
Well, actually, spending more $$ on #schools helps reduce long term #crime rates too! @fordschool @BrittanyEdPol @JasonBaron4
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fordschool.umich.edu/news/2022/inveā¦
Well, actually, spending more $$ on #schools helps reduce long term #crime rates too! @fordschool @BrittanyEdPol @JasonBaron4
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fordschool.umich.edu/news/2022/inveā¦
š§µ
Before he was peddling #schoolchoice as a āsolutionā to woke:
Jay Greene/Heritage less than a year ago explicitly argued the Right should fuel culture wars to advance a fringe agendaāmainly #schoolvouchers
@Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS @pastors4txkids @BadassTeachersA
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Before he was peddling #schoolchoice as a āsolutionā to woke:
Jay Greene/Heritage less than a year ago explicitly argued the Right should fuel culture wars to advance a fringe agendaāmainly #schoolvouchers
@Network4pubEd @NPEaction @PV4PS @pastors4txkids @BadassTeachersA
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Greene also pushed pseudo-science arguing against health care for #LGBTQ+ kids.
Using as a flimsy an evidence base as the #schoolvouchers data heās flooded the zone with for 20+ years
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Using as a flimsy an evidence base as the #schoolvouchers data heās flooded the zone with for 20+ years
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Itās critically important to understand the links between shoddy #schoolvouchers research showing positive impacts, and these pseudo-studies.
Two sides of the same @BetsyDeVos -based agenda.
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Two sides of the same @BetsyDeVos -based agenda.
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š§µ
So much of edu-Right is cult-like.
ā First is the weird hero-worship of figures like Bush, @BetsyDeVos, @DougDucey even lesser names like Rhee, and collection of Broad-supts #education #privateschool @DianeRavitch @NPEaction @PV4PS @mrobmused
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So much of edu-Right is cult-like.
ā First is the weird hero-worship of figures like Bush, @BetsyDeVos, @DougDucey even lesser names like Rhee, and collection of Broad-supts #education #privateschool @DianeRavitch @NPEaction @PV4PS @mrobmused
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ā Second are the villains, which every extremist group/cult needs to project its weird grievance on
For the edu-Right itās
āļø#teachersunions specifically @rweingarten
āļøāgovernmentā
āļø#woke/#DEI / #CRT āagendaā
āļø Trans-kids/ #LGBTQ adults
āļø who the hell knows what else
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For the edu-Right itās
āļø#teachersunions specifically @rweingarten
āļøāgovernmentā
āļø#woke/#DEI / #CRT āagendaā
āļø Trans-kids/ #LGBTQ adults
āļø who the hell knows what else
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ā Third, related to villains is stoked fear:
āļø perceived threat to way of life
āļø fear of āthe otherā
āļø imagined threats to own children coupled with willingness to actually put them at risk
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āļø perceived threat to way of life
āļø fear of āthe otherā
āļø imagined threats to own children coupled with willingness to actually put them at risk
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š§µ for #MIpol reporters: all fall I called Ducey MVP of #schoolvouchers and here heās getting that actual award from Jeb Bushās ExcelInEd
That group damage to #miched is huge. Theyāre behind 3rd Grade Fail modeled on #FloridaEd. Snyder gave them literal seat at the table
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That group damage to #miched is huge. Theyāre behind 3rd Grade Fail modeled on #FloridaEd. Snyder gave them literal seat at the table
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ExcelInEd will lead the fight against repeal of 3rd Grade Retention in the new #mileg. @PaulaMEAPres @mrobmused
Expect bogus āinsideā stories like this one, which got started pre-Whitmer #migov and then released early in her term to keep foot on gas
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excelined.org/wp-content/uplā¦
Expect bogus āinsideā stories like this one, which got started pre-Whitmer #migov and then released early in her term to keep foot on gas
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excelined.org/wp-content/uplā¦
ExcelInEd *seems* safe because theyāre moderate relative to crazy Dixon-type book ban howls today and have impressive array of moderate funders youād expect from a Bush-led org.
And as an org in many ways they are. Iād take them over @BetsyDeVos any day.
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And as an org in many ways they are. Iād take them over @BetsyDeVos any day.
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š§µšŖ”
Itās a big edu/policy research conference week (#APPAM2022 #ASHE2022 #UCEA22) and hereās a short thread on ideological diversity in edu-research and edu-journalism #edchat using the Greene/Heritage studies as a hook
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Itās a big edu/policy research conference week (#APPAM2022 #ASHE2022 #UCEA22) and hereās a short thread on ideological diversity in edu-research and edu-journalism #edchat using the Greene/Heritage studies as a hook
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Some formal edu research/journo communities have tolerated increasingly far-Right stuff for years, in part because of a genuine commitment to multi-perspectives, and also out of fear of being labeled ideological or against free speech themselves
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And in the #edchat journalism space there is some of the notorious #bothsides pressure too, to give voices to the Heritages and Catos if the world.
This is why people like Corey DeAngelis routinely are quoted as expert researchers when theyāre really political activists
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This is why people like Corey DeAngelis routinely are quoted as expert researchers when theyāre really political activists
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š¤¬š¤Æš”š
š§µšŖ”
NO the evidence for #schoolvouchers isnāt āmixed.ā
Voucher āempiricalā research showing positive academic effects are no less a political tactic than this piece of garbage hereāand by the same organizations.
#edchat
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š§µšŖ”
NO the evidence for #schoolvouchers isnāt āmixed.ā
Voucher āempiricalā research showing positive academic effects are no less a political tactic than this piece of garbage hereāand by the same organizations.
#edchat
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Heritage, Goldwater, Cato and EdChoice form the entire favorable base of evidence for #schoolvouchers.
No reporter would consider a study like this a neutral āstudyā
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No reporter would consider a study like this a neutral āstudyā
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No reporter would consider this anything but a politically motivated āstudyā
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Quickš§µ on vouchers and fringe campaigns:
The common link between @gretchenwhitmer @katiehobbs is both ran against fringe #schoolvouchers candidates #Election2022
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The common link between @gretchenwhitmer @katiehobbs is both ran against fringe #schoolvouchers candidates #Election2022
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Whitmer ran against @BetsyDeVos handpicked avatar @TudorDixon who made #schoolvouchers and āparentsā the centerpiece of her campaign
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Hobbs ran against @BetsyDeVos choice Kari Lake, who made AZās recent #schoolvouchers expansionāthe largest in the USāher own centerpiece
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For non-MI folks:
A Sunday thread š§µ on the history of Let MI Kids Learn, the pre-packaged name for @BetsyDeVos #schoolvouchers in #miched
@DianeRavitch @saribethrose @vicpasquantonio @Network4pubEd
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A Sunday thread š§µ on the history of Let MI Kids Learn, the pre-packaged name for @BetsyDeVos #schoolvouchers in #miched
@DianeRavitch @saribethrose @vicpasquantonio @Network4pubEd
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Among the dozens of #schoolvouchers plans Iāve seen, this was the worst in terms of transparencyāalongside #azed and #floridaed.
In particular no failsafe against Chatfield-style allegedly abusive schools.
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bridgemi.com/guest-commentaā¦
In particular no failsafe against Chatfield-style allegedly abusive schools.
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bridgemi.com/guest-commentaā¦
Whitmer actually vetoed the plan originally a year ago. And as early as then, the state GOP didnāt expect to win the #migov (save for a more recent post-primary fever dream) in #Election2022
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detroitnews.com/story/news/polā¦
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detroitnews.com/story/news/polā¦
