Support (against STAT) from Nationally Known Education Bloggers

Diane Ravitch: Baltimore’s Risky, Expensive Bet on Technology

Towson University Professor Morna McDermott: Swindling Our Schools Baltimore County Style

“It’s important to examine motive, or conflict of interests, possibly at play here as well. Dr. Grasmick’s position at TU is funded by private philanthropists, as Mercedes Schneider reports, notably: “Edward St. John, a Baltimore developer and philanthropist, and Vince Talbert, a PayPal executive” who “have agreed to donate money for the overall program. 

Is Dr. Grasmick’s paid-for position (and subsequently her Baltimore Sun article) an opportunity for free market privatizers (interested in profiting from education reform) to capitalize on creating a spokesperson whose university position would create the illusion of legitimacy for their agenda?”

More from Morna McDermott:  21st Century Learning? Or 21st Century Profiteering? A guest post from a Baltimore-area educator

Emily Talmage:  Baltimore County Public Schools Used in 270 Million Dollar Tech Experiment – Save Maine Schools

“As teachers in Detroit ask why their district spent 6 million dollars on a consulting contract when classrooms are overflowing and schools are in disrepair, citizens in Baltimore County are raising similar concerns over a 270 million technology initiative called Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow (STAT).“