Laurel M. Sturt

On the Occasion of Martin Luther King’s Birthday

laurel — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 01:56:39 +0000

“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” These words of Martin Luther King gained immortality in his 1967 speech against the Viet Nam War. In our era, during over a decade of a War on Public Education, thousands of aware–yet afraid, and silent–teachers have contributed to victory after victory for an enemy who is stealing their joy, their livelihood and their pensions. Meanwhile, the theft of our children’s education, and with it, the future of our country, is no less compelling. Let 2014, then, be remembered as the year we found our conscience, and so our voice.

Given time considerations, regular blogging on this site hasn’t been possible, though I hope to attend to it in the future. Until then, please see my two Facebook pages, Laurel M Sturt and Davonte’s Inferno, for current postings.

laurel — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:17:49 +0000

THE ATLANTIC INTERVIEW 11/26/13

laurel — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 00:58:56 +0000

I’M GRATEFUL TO HOPE REESE OF THE ATLANTIC, WHO WROTE A WONDERFUL INTERVIEW WITH ME TODAY. MY FIRST DOSE OF MEAN COMMENTS, EVER, SO I’M STARTING TO GROW MY CARAPACE RIGHT NOW!

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/it-feels-like-education-malpractice/281837/

WITH LEONARD LOPATE YESTERDAY ON NPR

laurel — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:15:21 +0000

How gratifying to be using my teaching experience and comprehension of the stakes in high stakes, to get the word out about the disastrous scam that’s passing for education these days. Wish I’d had another couple hours to Bloviate on Bloomberg, but Helen Fielding, the “Bridget Jones” author, was up next and scratching her acrylics [...]

RADIO INTERVIEWS TODAY

laurel — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 01:56:31 +0000

This morning I started the “morning drive” radio interviews for Davonte’s Inferno straight from my kitchen table and out to the world! One station in Cleveland brought the perfect opportunity to rip into mayoral control, which they’ve had since 1995 and has yielded nothing but the lowest performance. Another Philly station got my riff on the horrific school budget deficit thanks to Governor Tom Corbett’s (named on the Worst Governors List) 2011 slash of $1 billion. Last I heard they didn’t even have people to answer the phones (though to be fair to Corbett, he DID cut taxes for corporations, too!). Along with the school warriors in Chicago, valiant Philly educators give us awesome inspiration–there was even a hunger strike last summer to protest!

EBOOK RELEASE NEXT WEEK

laurel — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:37:07 +0000

Davonte’s Inferno: Ten Years in the New York Public School Gulag will be released October 15th or soon after on ebook. The print release is November 12th. Thanks for your patience!

“Win Back Wednesday” Action By NYC MORE Caucus Against Teacher Evaluations

laurel — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 13:26:09 +0000

October 9, 2013

Today between 4:00 – 6:00 PM, MORE — the Movement of Rank and File Educators–will protest the illegal teacher evaluation system negotiated by the UFT and New York State. Join us at 52 Broadway, (Wall Street, 4 train). Wear your outrage, and red!

Mitch Daniels Calls for College-Level High Stakes Testing

laurel — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 21:15:23 +0000

October 9, 2013

This morning I saw former Indiana union-busting governor Mitch Daniels on MSNBC, here for NBC’s annual Miseducation Nation. Daniels’s main claim to education was his attempt to censor Howard Zinn’s writings from state schools, dismissing them as “crap” and “propaganda.” Now as president of Purdue, this heavy-hitting intellectual is seeking to expand high-stakes testing to college kids, in the name of accountability. In the neocon vision of the future, there’s no escape from inundata–they’ll do whatever it takes to choke the joy from learning.