I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.
18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.
We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org
Picture of quote from W.E.B. DuBois's Black Reconstruction in America. "When the Confederates returned to domination, the public schools, which had attained a degree of efficiency never before reached in the South, were greatly curtailed. One hundred and ten of the teachers, many of them native-born, were dismissed at once, and their places were filled with intolerate Confederates."
W.E.B. Du Bois on the white takeover of southern public schools after Reconstruction. Not a coincidence that the chapter, "Back Towards Slavery," follows his analysis of the eventual dedegration of the public school system. Attacks on education are vital to (re)instituting authoritarian rule.
Worst. Episode. EVER.
Presented our framework for multidimensional school evaluation today at #ICSEI25!
Excited to work with my colleague Kristen Wilcox at #ICSEI25 tomorrow for our workshop on universities as community hubs. Read more and if you're in Melbourne, join us! ny-kids.org/internationa...
Weird how not a single one of the newspapers and magazines that have been breathlessly churning out "cancel culture" thinkpieces for the past four years have managed to use the word "censorship" at all to describe the most rapid and comprehensive campaign of mass-censorship in recent US history.
The universe speaks in mysterious ways.
"The academic workplace ... tiers and unbundles faculty labor according to hierarchies & in ways that often isolate and segregate colleagues based on areas of specialization-which thwarts inclusion across ranks, differing disciplinary..." #AcademicSky #EduSky #HigherEd
www.aaup.org/article/movi...
We're already seeing schools in high immigrant areas having kids not show up for school. This is going to be a system-wide equity issue with ramifications for some communities that will last years, if not decades.
I'm still looking for a reviewer for Oral History at a Distance! any takers? 🗃️
No, Academic Writing is Not Getting Harder to Read:
“What we see in this short article is a case of applying a measure to the wrong inputs. This results in a double standard, where humanities are assumed to be an “easy” discipline in which no complexity exists–so complex language is unnecessary.”
🗃️📚
I got to say, "He's the Jay Leno of superintendents" during a meeting today. I don't regret it.
Dear anyone writing about education, stop using phrases like "education is at a crossroads." It's as sophistic as it is prosaic. Be better.
The Brennan Center is seeking applicants for the Steven M. Polan Fellowship in Constitutional Law and History — a fellowship program aimed at enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the meaning and promise of the U.S. Constitution.
The extended deadline is March 14, 2025.
Trump's executive order says "female" means a person, belonging, **at conception,** to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell, and "male" means a person belonging, **at conception,** to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.
Having trouble managing the flood of messages from biologist pals chortling that Trump's anti-trans executive order legally defines every American as female, because defines people by their gender *at conception,* and all embryos are phenotypically female (they differentiate after 6-7 weeks).
Truth.
New poll: Most people think scientists should advocate on public policy. #scicomm
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984
I am a political historian pleading with people to embrace NEW and creative modes of opposition.
New ways to fight back.
A true opposition party.
NOT the same old same old.
Howling into the wind.
I’m calling it a day.
See you tomorrow, folks.
Here's how to cover things that are illegal:
(i) this is illegal
(ii) they say it's legal
(iii) It's not
Truth sandwich, extra mustard
The guys who sneer about Gender Studies courses are the ones who most need to take them.
And so begins our most recent collective FAAFO era in this great experiment in democracy.
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Yup.