For my part: I won’t be conceding K-12 school policy to Trump, DeVos and those pushing predatory lending-type school voucher schemes that give parents false hope. Instead: there’s hard work and investment ahead to renew public schools—and I’m ready to do it. @derekwblack.bsky.social

Spotted at Barbara's Books in downtown Chicago. The Education Wars is in excellent company!

Hard to overstate how far off the historic rails the fed commitment to public ed has gone: Offices shuttered. Programs for students eliminated, including mental health. Money withheld, including for rural schools. Persistent threats. Now, new budget pumps billions into private school vouchers.

Hard to overstate how far off the historic rails the fed commitment to public ed has gone: Offices shuttered. Programs for students eliminated, including mental health. Money withheld, including for rural schools. Persistent threats. Now, new budget pumps billions into private school vouchers.

I’ve studied Jim Ryan’s work for 20 yrs. He’s one of the nation’s foremost legal minds. He’s also incredibly even handed—a “progressive” who co-authored work w/ Federalist Society scholar. I’d take his judgment over Trump admin any day of the week. /1

Another example of the administration transgressing the “fixed star in our constitutional constellation…that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” /2

Ryan would be the first one at the table and listening intently if the admin was making demands that fell within its legal authority. /3

I’ve studied Jim Ryan’s work for 20 yrs. He’s one of the nation’s foremost legal minds. He’s also incredibly even handed—a “progressive” who co-authored work w/ Federalist Society scholar. I’d take his judgment over Trump admin any day of the week. /1

National Park Service is asking visitors to identify "any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans." So basically the subjective & biased perspective of the few will dictate the objective facts the many receive. 1/

This budget is either ill intended or ignorant. If Congress block grants education funds, states and districts will use that flexibility to reduce the amount they spend on education over the next few years.

This budget is either ill intended or ignorant. If Congress block grants education funds, states and districts will use that flexibility to reduce the amount they spend on education over the next few years.

In the latest episode of @haveyouheard.bsky.social we talk with the always-inspiring @derekwblack.bsky.social about education, the law, and democracy.

New @haveyouheard.bsky.social episode out with @derekwblack.bsky.social! This is going to be a good one. Can't recommend Black's books enough open.spotify.com/episode/1ddU...

Hard to believe that @haveyouheard.bsky.social is closing in on 200 episodes... Our latest, starring @derekwblack.bsky.social on what's really driving the Trump assault on public education and what we can do about it, is one of my faves soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...

I believe in America. I believe in public schools. I believe a family ought to be able to live on a week’s worth of work. And I believe politicians who chase unconstitutional agendas that do nothing to advance those things should promptly lose their jobs.

I believe in America. I believe in public schools. I believe a family ought to be able to live on a week’s worth of work. And I believe politicians who chase unconstitutional agendas that do nothing to advance those things should promptly lose their jobs.

Public schools will remain public. In what would have been the most consequential school case since the days of Brown v Board, the Court sides with sanity on the question of whether states must allow churches to run charter schools.

Public schools will remain public. In what would have been the most consequential school case since the days of Brown v Board, the Court sides with sanity on the question of whether states must allow churches to run charter schools.

Patriotic & classical education are the labels through which conservatives have counteracted woke education w/ their own extreme right version of history & hero worship. The US Dept. of Ed just announced them as official priorities for new charter school grants. 1/

Patriotic & classical education are the labels through which conservatives have counteracted woke education w/ their own extreme right version of history & hero worship. The US Dept. of Ed just announced them as official priorities for new charter school grants. 1/

AZ vouchers as a cautionary tale: $1 billion a year in private school tuition; 45% of the students receiving vouchers never attended public school; & a big chunk of the rest left A-rated schools. So much for helping needy students in struggling schools.

AZ vouchers as a cautionary tale: $1 billion a year in private school tuition; 45% of the students receiving vouchers never attended public school; & a big chunk of the rest left A-rated schools. So much for helping needy students in struggling schools.

As usual, I am confused by the Department of Education’s new policy. Says it will immediately spend $60 million additional on charter schools. But I am unaware of Congress ever having dumped money in a piggy bank that allows Ed to spend at will.

Absent such authority from Congress, this strikes me as clearly unconstitutional. The constitution reserves the power of the purse solely to Congress. Remember, the Court just recently struck down Biden spending money on student loans that Congress didn’t grant. 2/2

As usual, I am confused by the Department of Education’s new policy. Says it will immediately spend $60 million additional on charter schools. But I am unaware of Congress ever having dumped money in a piggy bank that allows Ed to spend at will.

Firing the attorneys at the Dept. of Ed Office for Civil Rights reversed Congress’s 50yr old decision that the right to be free from discrimination at school should not be a pay to play system. Nation Center for Youth Law is trying to fill the gap, but needs help.

Firing the attorneys at the Dept. of Ed Office for Civil Rights reversed Congress’s 50yr old decision that the right to be free from discrimination at school should not be a pay to play system. Nation Center for Youth Law is trying to fill the gap, but needs help.

The list of recent authoritarian behavior toward and in schools is long and astounding but this either takes the cake or ranks toward the top. Oklahoma’s new standards call for the teaching of "discrepancies" in the 2020 election results. 1/x

Against voters’ will, including rural republicans, party ideologues shoved private school vouchers down the throats of TX, TN, and more this spring. Now they are forcing vouchers on the entire country—even in states that are completely opposed—& bypassing the normal Senate process.

Against voters’ will, including rural republicans, party ideologues shoved private school vouchers down the throats of TX, TN, and more this spring. Now they are forcing vouchers on the entire country—even in states that are completely opposed—& bypassing the normal Senate process.

Despite the lowest reading scores in decades, “there are”—for the first time in my life—“no education goals for the country.” Not from Republicans. Not from Democrats. Just ideological destruction on one side & hope of salvaging what’s left on the other.

Despite the lowest reading scores in decades, “there are”—for the first time in my life—“no education goals for the country.” Not from Republicans. Not from Democrats. Just ideological destruction on one side & hope of salvaging what’s left on the other.

The founding fathers long urged Congress to fund a national university, but it took the Civil War and the rebirth of freedom to see it done. That University is Howard, named for the head of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Now you know. Trump proposes to cut its funding.

The founding fathers long urged Congress to fund a national university, but it took the Civil War and the rebirth of freedom to see it done. That University is Howard, named for the head of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Now you know. Trump proposes to cut its funding.

“There’s no ‘We don’t like you’ authority in the federal Constitution or in statutory law. In fact, quite the opposite: You’re precluded from that.” Nor can you go from “step one to step five” of a six month investigative process “in a week,” Derek Black said.

“There’s no ‘We don’t like you’ authority in the federal Constitution or in statutory law. In fact, quite the opposite: You’re precluded from that.” Nor can you go from “step one to step five” of a six month investigative process “in a week,” Derek Black said.

This afternoon I got to hear from University of South Carolina law professor @derekwblack.bsky.social at the Cleveland City Club. Thanks to Professor Black for his devotion to history, the law, and the importance of American public education.

This is the day every young voter should remember. For several years running, young people said they needed mental health counselors more than anything—while legislators fawned over vouchers. Washington finally listened in 2022. Trump just cut the program.

This is the day every young voter should remember. For several years running, young people said they needed mental health counselors more than anything—while legislators fawned over vouchers. Washington finally listened in 2022. Trump just cut the program.

Most clarifying question in today’s Supreme Court argument in religious charter school case was whether a state that hired contractors to paint secular landscape murals on government buildings should be forced to allow someone to paint a religious mural instead. 1/x

Most clarifying framing was from Justice Brown Jackson who said the religious school was not being denied something that everyone else gets but was asking for something that no one else gets. 2/x

Best reply was to Justice Alito questions suggesting charters can pursue or share any type of curriculum they want (thus only religious ideology is excluded). Lawyer disabused him of that notion, explaining that a charter could not be LGBTQ, Project 1619, or founding father focused in Oklahoma. 3/3

Join us for a discussion with Derek Black on the vital role PUBLIC EDUCATION plays in sustaining our DEMOCRACY—and what’s at stake if it continues to be undermined. @npeaction.bsky.social @network4pubed.bsky.social @dianeravitch.bsky.social @derekwblack.bsky.social us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The Manhattan report argued that such charters were constitutionally required, and the report was reviewed for NEPC by @derekwblack.bsky.social. nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/re... (2/5)

Most clarifying question in today’s Supreme Court argument in religious charter school case was whether a state that hired contractors to paint secular landscape murals on government buildings should be forced to allow someone to paint a religious mural instead. 1/x

Just when I thought Trump Dept. of Ed couldn’t act any more arbitrary, hypocritical, or lawless, it tops itself, attacking NY Ed Department for trying to enforce anti-discrimination. I thought Trump’s claim was that the point of dismantling the Dept of Ed was to get feds out of states’ way. 1/x

I don’t have all the details of the dispute, but sadly the administration’s explanations are increasingly so flawed on their face that they contradict the notion that the administration is acting within the scope of legitimate power. 2/2

For those despairing over the state of our democracy, you might find heart in the thing on which Americans are most united: the president must respect Supreme Court orders. A mere 6% thought it was okay for the president to ignore the Court.

Just when I thought Trump Dept. of Ed couldn’t act any more arbitrary, hypocritical, or lawless, it tops itself, attacking NY Ed Department for trying to enforce anti-discrimination. I thought Trump’s claim was that the point of dismantling the Dept of Ed was to get feds out of states’ way. 1/x

For those despairing over the state of our democracy, you might find heart in the thing on which Americans are most united: the president must respect Supreme Court orders. A mere 6% thought it was okay for the president to ignore the Court.