Just the other day, I got this letter from my friend Bruce Thomas. It raises a lot of interesting questions about what it means to be well read. I’ve attached the response he requested which I don’t think answered any of those questions. Instead, they raised yet others. What more could you hope for from a good conversation? I invite you to add your own questions – or answers. Dear Marv and Posey:...
What Did You Say?
Recently the New York Times reported that the Food and Drug Administration is authorizing over-the- counter sale of hearing aids without a prescription. This is music to my ears – literally – because my hearing aids are life preservers that save me from drowning in a sea of silence. At the same time, it’s been frustrating and infuriating that this salvation has been out of the reach of a large...
Teachers Who Write
Teachers Who Write My apologies if you’ve heard this before, but I’ve been on a life-long campaign to encourage teachers to write...
Death by a Thousand Cuts
The warning flags have been up for a long time, so it didn’t come as a complete surprise when word began to trickle out that the University of Chicago was phasing out its Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP); still it felt like a punch in the gut. Being part of the team that birthed the program and seeing it through its first 11...
Encouraging Teachers – Marian Wright Edelman
I’m easing my way back into the weekly routine of blogging after a couple of weeks of restorative silence (more about that in later pieces). The easiest transition is to rely on the well-crafted words of others, so let me introduce you to the words of another weekly poster, although she doesn’t call hers a blog. Marian Wright Edelman is the founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense...