Summary: Education Under Attack, Teachers Fight Back by MFlowers We speak with two educators, Stephen Krashen and Timothy Slekar, about the newest federal legislation on education, the so-called “Every Student Succeeds Act.” Hidden in the more than 1,000 pages are provisions that will undercut the profession of teaching. We discuss why and how education is under attack, not just in the United States but globally, and what teachers are doing to fight back and create the high quality education that children deserve. Relevant articles and websites: How Educators Should React to ESSA by John Thompson The Disturbing Provisions about Teacher Preparation in No Child Left Behind Rewrite by Valerie Strauss Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum and Technology. This was never about the kids by Peggy Robertson “Common” Goal: Corporate Ownership of Public Education and Our Children’s Futures (Part I) by Morna McDermott “Common” Goal: Corporate Ownership of Public Education and Our Children’s Futures (Part II) by Morna McDermott As Protests Rise over High Stakes Tests, More Students Likely to Opt Out by Kathy Boccella SDKrashen.com Busted Pencils Peg with Pen Educational Alchemy United Opt Out Bad Ass Teachers Association Guests: Stephen Krashen is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California. He is best known for developing the first comprehensive theory of second language acquisition, introducing the concept of sheltered subject matter teaching, and as the co-inventor of the Natural Approach to foreign language teaching. He has also contributed to theory and application in the area of bilingual education, and has done important work in the area of reading. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from UCLA, was the 1977 Incline Bench Press champion of Venice Beach and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is the author of The Power of Reading (Heinemann, 2004, second edition). His recent papers can be found at his website. Timothy D Slekar is currently the Dean of the School of Education at Edgewood College in Madison, WI.He began his career 24 years ago as a 2nd grade teacher in Virginia. Dr. Slekar attended Millersville University where he earned a Master’s degree in Education and continued on to earn his PhD at the University of Maryland at College Park. Dr. Slekar has published research in various top education research journals including Teacher Education Quarterly, Theory and Research in Social Education and Journal of Thought. Dr. Slekar is one of the founding members of United Opt Out National. He has been a radio cohost on podcast, local & national radio as well as on numerous television news shows as an expert education policy analyst including MSNBC, CNN & Fox News. Make sure to check out Dr. Slekar’s progressive education podcast—BustED Pencils at http://bustedpencils.com/ .
