The Weekly Newsletter of Educational Alternatives - www.EducationRevolution.org
SAVE THE DATE: AERO conference, June 26-29 at LIU/Post Campus, near New York City. 
Call for Workshops!
At last year's AERO conference we had five keynotes and more than 50 workshops and presentations. These covered areas such as homeschooling, democratic education, public and private k-12 educational alternatives, higher education alternatives, just to name a few. We prefer them to be experiential and interactive. To submit a proposal and download the form, click here. There is no official theme this year as we are simply celebrating AERO's 25th anniversary!

Last year, we limited the number of scheduled presentations so we could have at least one or two spontaneous workshops per session, and intend to do that again this year. So send it your proposals ASAP. People with accepted proposals can register at the special presenter rate.

People can now also register for the conference at the super early bird rate. This will last only a short time, as it did last year. At the last conference people came from 25 states and 10 countries. We expect more for this year because we are holding it at a more convenient date. You can now also reserve dormitory space. Again, you should do this soon as I was told dorm space will be more limited this year. We are reserving air-conditioned space, as the weather will probably be warmer. Unlike last year, all meals will be available at the Hillwood Cafeteria and do not have to be bought in advance, or people can go out on their own. We will organize networking events during the meals for those interested.
 
   
Education - A Very Short Introduction
Education is one of the hot-button issues of our time, heatedly debated by parents, teachers, local school boards, and national politicians. But despite the many measures taken to overhaul the educational system, student math and reading scores rarely seem to improve. Taking the reader from the schools of ancient times to the present day, this Very Short Introduction explains why education has followed the path that it has taken-and what we might do to improve it. Education expert Gary Thomas delves into some of the big questions of education and the twists and turns the field has taken over time, looks at the work of such key thinkers as Piaget and Vygotsky, and examines such recent innovations as the introduction of progressive education in the 20th century and the marketization of schools over the last few decades. Thomas repeatedly returns to the question of why education has recently become so test-orientated and he explores the consequences of this obsession with testing for children. He also looks at moves that teachers and policy-makers have made to try to improve what goes on in schools, from changing teaching so that it mirrors the way children learn, to making schools more inclusive and meaningful for a broader range of students.
 
Community & Education Interview Series:
Deborah Meier


Read the latest 
interview in the ongoing series about the relationship between community and education. This week's interview is with Deborah Meier, acclaimed author, school founder, and educator.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Part 2: Rotten to the (Common) Core -
Chris Mercogliano 
The soiled underbelly of the Common Core State Standards is just beginning to come into view. For starters, according to an ongoing series of posts by investigative blogger Mercedes Schneider, dating back to October, 2013, the idea that the Common Core State Standards, unlike the old NCLB version, were developed at the state level through a transparent process involving teachers, principals, parents, and education experts is a complete sham. The CCSS were actually "prefabricated," as Schneider puts it, under another name in 2004 by Achieve, Inc., an allegedly independent, nonpartisan, and not-for-profit education reform organization that in reality is none of the above.

It turns out that Achieve is closely aligned with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing political organization well known for its efforts to privatize public education and bring about other "market-based" education reforms. ALEC has been one of Achieve's major funders since day one; and, in turn, according to a flow chart of CCSS corporate connections compiled by education activist and journalist Morna McDermott and published in Truthout on 1/10/2014, the majority of ALEC's funds come from Charles and David Koch, billionaire oil tycoons whose far-reaching political agenda includes privatizing public education and defunding public schools.

Read more here.
 
John Gatto: Weapons of Mass Instruction (Video)
 
You can now watch John Taylor Gatto's 2004 AERO conference keynote, "Weapons of Mass Instruction." This talk was premiered at our inaugural conference and inspired his book by the same title!
 

News & Resources
Do you have a news or resource item you think Education Revolution newsletter readers would find useful? Send it to jerryaero@aol.com.
Thank you for your ongoing support. With your help, we will make learner-centered alternatives available to everyone!

Sincerely,

Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization

January 25, 2014 
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