Accountabaloney

Florida revives McCarthyism, anti-communism with classroom guidelines Historians question whether proposed standards emphasize ideology over critical thinking.

On the November FLBOE agenda:“Lawmakers promoting the bill said they did not intend to use the standards to indoctrinate children or spread fear, leaving the details to the Department of Education.”
“It’s a highly biased picture…”
#Florida
www.tampabay.com/news/educati...

Where Did The Money Go? Florida’s school funding shortfall wasn’t a glitch — it was a system failure.Until the state releases the missing February data, we can’t fix what went wrong.Transparency first.Release the Fourth Calc...

#Florida’s Spring 2025 school funding shortfall wasn’t a glitch — it was a system failure.
Until the state releases the missing February data, we can’t fix what went wrong.
#Transparency first.
Release the Fourth Calculation
substack.com/home/post/p-...

“what’s really happening is the systematic removal of ideas the government doesn’t want made widely available.” @FLFreedomRead www.floridatoday.com/story/opinio...

Trump admin going after special education with a hatchet in the dark of night seems like an issue the Dems could run with

"The agency cut nearly everyone who works to administer federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Mississippi towns say no to school choice as state-level push continues - Mississippi Today As conservative lawmakers promise to expand school choice next year, a handful of Mississippi cities are taking a public stand against the policy.

“As conservative lawmakers promise to expand school choice next year, a handful of Mississippi cities are taking a public stand against the policy.” mississippitoday.org/2025/10/07/m...

How about a Pause on the Race to Embed AI in Schools? I haven’t written much about AI and education, for several reasons. First, there are already many people writing compellingly and with considerable expertise about the uses and misuses of AI in the…

How about a Pause on the Race to Embed AI in Schools? - Just who wants us on this one? Well, scammers. And the folks who turned DEI into something to be avoided. teacherinastrangeland.blog/2025/10/03/h... via @nancyflanagan #EdTech

"Reinventing Education for the Age of AI" (or Building a Better MOOC) The slightly-cranky voice navigating the world of educational "reform" while trying to still pursue the mission of providing quality education.

“So many people who appear to be intelligent and well-educated who are harboring fantasy-based ideas about what AI is and what it does.” curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2025/10/rein...

Where’s that eating popcorn gif when you need it?

This week marks 10 years of Accountabaloney!
The mission is still the same: speak truth, defend public schools, and demand accountability.
Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, and stood with us along the way.
#DecadeofAccountabaloney accountabaloney.com/a-decade-of-...

Profiteering at the Expense of Students, Families, and Taxpayers: Step Up's Marketplace Students shouldn’t be trapped In a Marketplace full of overpriced choices. Families and taxpayers deserve better.

Profiteering at the Expense of Students, Families, and Taxpayers. Step Up's Marketplace traps students in an overpriced marketplace. #FLEducation #Florida accountabaloney.substack.com/p/profiteeri...

Why I Reject Crisis Rhetoric about Reading and Education: My Agenda [Header Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash] When I had my OpEd on the manufactured reading crisis and NAEP misinformation published in The Washington Post, I anticipated that SOR advocates would conti…

There simply is no settled evidence that the US has a “crisis” in reading or that any specific reading program or reading theory has contributed significantly to low student reading proficiency. radicalscholarship.com/2025/08/12/w...

Commentary: Florida doubles down on failed Schools of Hope experiment Florida families want safe, strong schools. Florida taxpayers want accountability and value. Schools of Hope deliver neither.

…”If lawmakers were serious about reform, they would invest in proven strategies: smaller class sizes, mental health support, competitive teacher pay, and community schools that partner with families.” 2/2
#schoolsofnope

www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/05/c...
#schoolsofnope

Commentary: Florida doubles down on failed Schools of Hope experiment Florida families want safe, strong schools. Florida taxpayers want accountability and value. Schools of Hope deliver neither.

“For eight years, the Schools of Hope program has drained public dollars, delivered mediocre results and weakened the very neighborhood schools that anchor our communities…” 1/2

www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/05/c...

"Nearly three in four, 71%, of faculty in Florida who were surveyed said they would not encourage a graduate student to seek employment in Florida." #Florida

Nearly a third of Florida professors looking for work in another state • Florida Phoenix Citing state policy on tenure, elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and the cost of living, Florida faculty laid out their frustrations in a recent survey. In a Faculty in the ...

Citing state policy on tenure, elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and the cost of living, nearly a third of #Florida professors looking for work in another state floridaphoenix.com/2025/09/05/n...

I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education.
The end of critical thinking in the classroom...

Maxwell: Food stamps have accountability. So should school vouchers Scott Maxwell: It makes sense that Florida no longer allows food-stamp recipients to use their vouchers on junk food. The state should demand similar accountability for school vouchers to ensure pu…

"Just like with food stamps, taxpayers have a right to know that the money they’re providing for schools is actually funding a quality education."
www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/03/f...

Uniform Policy | Jennifer C. Berkshire Democrats must come up with a defense of public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation

I have a new essay up at @thebaffler.com about the right's turn against education-as-job-training. If you're wondering how we went from a decades-long national STEMergency to 'a flat earth curriculum is OK by us,' this is the piece for you! thebaffler.com/outbursts/un...

From Public Good To Personal Gain: How Florida’s ESAs Invite Abuse Yet another reason Florida’s school districts should refuse to participate in Step Up’s education marketplace and protect public schools for every child.

Yet another reason #Florida’s school districts should refuse to participate in Step Up’s education marketplace and protect public schools for every child. accountabaloney.substack.com/p/from-publi...

Is Public Education Over? It's been a tough summer for public school supporters

"we’ve moved from school choice as a means of escaping ‘failing schools’ to escaping any kind of school. But the bottom line is that we’re just supposed to accept that ‘education freedom’ means that lots of schools will be closing." #savepublicschools
educationwars.substack.com/p/is-public-...

Why America still needs public schools Two legal scholars argue that public education helps the US maintain the nation’s fundamental values of equality and fairness – and recent attacks put them at risk.

"relying on private markets to educate America’s youth makes it harder to create equal opportunity for children to learn and be economically successful, leaving the country less prosperous and more divided." theconversation.com/why-america-...

Selling Florida's Public Schools, Piece by Piece How Step Up for Students is recruiting school boards into the unbundling of public schools

In 2020, @jackschneider.bsky.social & I wrote a book called A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door. We warned that the vision of the future was *unbundling* in which school = whatever education content consumers purchase. As @flbaloney.bsky.social reports, the future is here substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Education Department quietly removes rules for teaching English learners The move is an acceleration of President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring English the country’s “official language.”

The Trump administration has rescinded federal guidance that spelled out schools’ legal obligations to accommodate students who are learning English, the Washington Post reports. About one in ten Florida students is recorded as an English language learner.
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Why the anger and threats over Florida’s schools? | Column Another front in Tallahassee’s us versus them culture wars.

Good advice for #Florida's school board members "School districts caught in the state’s wrath need to ignore the drama, press for legal clarity if standoffs arise and refocus public attention on student needs and achievement." www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2...

Selling Florida’s Public Schools, Piece by Piece – Accountabaloney accountabaloney.com/selling-flor...

Florida’s public schools are being sold off, piece by piece—and school board members are being encouraged to help. Step Up for Students calls it “innovation.” It’s really privatization accountabaloney.com/selling-flor...

State Board of Education asserts enforcement power over Florida schools A roundup of Florida education news from around the state

The State Board of Education made its direction clear during its meeting in St. Augustine. That story, plus the latest on school closures, student privacy, graduation options and more, in today's Florida education news roundup.
www.tampabay.com/news/educati...

Their test scores are not better. Not when they take the same tests that public school students take.

Florida law restricting school books is unconstitutional, judge rules A roundup of Florida education news from around the state

“None of these books are obscene.” Important ruling in favor of books and librarians in #Florida. Full ruling here: drive.google.com/file/d/1oZIU...
www.tampabay.com/news/educati...