Jennifer Berkshire on Twitter: @BisforBerkshire The Have You Heard podcast on Twitter: @HaveYouHeardPod Support the Have You Heard podcast by becoming a Patreon sponsor HERE. Buy A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door at wolfattheschoolhousedoor.com Veena Dubal and Juliet B. Schor at The New York Times: Gig Workers Are Employees. Start Treating Them That Way. Jordan Zakarin at Progressives Everywhere: Prop […]

A friend of mine made a post on social media last night saying that she “wasn’t angry about people thinking schools should reopen,” and while I admire the measured tone and spirit of cooperation she displayed in her commentary, that sentiment left me feeling uneasy. Because I AM angry about people demanding schools reopen ASAP. I get the frustration, and the […]

The following essay was written by Tina Beveridge. Tina is a veteran music educator of 17 years and is currently a 2nd year PhD student in music education at the University of Miami. It was first posted on her own blog Insert brilliant title here… Reader, I’m not going to lie. I felt an enormous weight lift when President Biden […]

I wish I could find more satisfaction in something I’ve hoped would happen for 4 years. But as usual, Ms. DeVos did the absolute least she could do (resign), well past the time when it could have made a difference (with 13 days left in her lamest of all duck terms), and is probably only doing it to avoid doing […]

The inestimable Ron French is out this week with a terrific article in Bridge on the exploding Covid crisis in Michigan’s schools, and the situation is indeed dire. Readers across the state must be wondering how we got here. “Kids don’t catch the virus!”, they said. “And if they do catch it, they don’t get sick!”, they said. Even if […]

In the aftermath of the most consequential election in our lifetimes, I thought I’d take this opportunity to offer some free advice for state Democratic parties interested in attracting even more new voters and turning more red state legislatures blue: Let’s put a lot more focus on two issues that are critically important to building a stronger, more informed voter […]

I got an email from our school’s business manager on Friday at 5:11pm with an “emergency request” to complete a new required training module. The deadline for completing this module? The following Monday morning. As usual, the “system” didn’t allow me to even start the training module–some sort of IT glitch I assume–so I called the business manager, who was […]

Dear Teachers, As your school districts’ “return to school” plans are being released, remember that you are going to hear mostly from the folks in your communities who are angry–angry that classes are being offered online, angry at the lack of child care availability, angry at teachers for not putting themselves in danger. In fact, many of these persons may […]

You know how I know that the corporate education reformers, and their leader, Betsy DeVos, were never serious about actually improving public education? Because now, in the midst of a global pandemic, and a complete lack of national education policy guidance beyond “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!“, none of these education policy “experts” have come up with any “out […]

As someone who visits a lot of schools each year to observe student teachers and work with my colleagues in the schools, a few thoughts on these newly-released CDC “back to school” guidelines… • kids can’t keep their shoes and socks on for a full school day…masks? • no shared items? everything in school is shared…pencils are shared, books are […]

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has pulled a lot of shady stuff in her time in President Trump’s Cabinet. But her latest action may take the cake for brazen, underhanded political malfeasance. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars […]