Another federal budget proposal, another attempt from President Donald Trump and his administration to dramatically cut the budget of the US Department of Education.
The two previous years have shown us that Trump’s edu-budget is nothing more than bad theater, with virtually no chance of proposal becoming law. But the annual effort to slash ED tells a disturbing story.
And what is that story? We try to tell it on the latest episode of TrumpEd on the BAM! Radio Network. Give it a listen here.
As a society, we still marvel at that “stay-at-home” dad, viewing him largely as an oddity worth questioning. We question the motives of those fathers who volunteer in their children’s schools, holding them up as heroes for simply making the time. We doubt the motives of those men who would prefer to spend their Saturdays at the local park rather than at the golf course. And we ridicule those who would make a choice opposite to Beto’s preferring weekends at home with the kids, rather than on the road raising hundreds of millions of dollars, in pursuit of the top political prize.
From Eduflack’s latest on Medium on presidential aspirant Beto O’Rourke making light of his parenting approach
For the past year, we have watched state after state, city after city, address teacher strikes. Originally, these labor actions were about increasing school resources – boosting teacher pay, reducing class sizes, and ensuring counselors and nurses were available in the schools.
But lately, we are seeing a new side to such strikes. Teachers in West Virginia struck last year to boost pay and benefits. Last month, they took to the state Capitol to protest proposed state policies, including expansion of public charter schools.
So one has to ask, are we entering a new era when it comes to teachers activism? Dear ol’ Eduflack explores the topic on the latest episode of TrumpEd on the BAM! Radio Network.
Click here to give it a listen.
As part of dear ol’ Eduflack’s continues efforts to improve how American history is taught and learned, I was privileged to spend a half hour discussing the issue with Missouri’s National Public Radio affiliate.
It was a good discussion, moving beyond the data on how little we know about history and beginning to discuss what we can and should do about it. You can find the full segment here.
Much thanks to KCUR in Kansas City for hosting the segment, and gratitude to KUT Public Radio in Austin, TX for allowing me to broadcast live out of their studios this week.
The education community has been waiting two years to see a major education policy initiative come out of the Trump administration. And now the wait is over.
No, it isn’t focused on charter schools. No, it isn’t higher ed related. No, it isn’t even tied to past Trump rhetoric around early childhood education or career/tech education.
The major initiative is about providing $5 billion in tax credits to families. More specifically, it is providing billions to families who choose to send their kids to private schools. Essentially, they are offering a financial cousin to school vouchers.
But with the vast majority of school-aged kids attending traditional public schools, can we really have the tremendous impact on education that EdSec Betsy DeVos promised by offering tax breaks to private school families?
We explore the topic on the most recent episode of TrumpEd on the BAM! Radio Network. Give it a listen here . It’s your choice.
If Americans don’t know their history, who is the culprit? Is it the fault of k-12 or higher education? Is it lack of interest or lack of focus? And can phenomena like Hamilton just solve it all?
Dear ol’ Eduflack discusses these topics and many others on the most recent episode of Head Locke, the podcast of the John Locke Foundation. Give it a listen here.
Eduflack By Patrick R. Riccards 