Houston Federation of Teachers
President of the Houston Federation of Teachers, the local union for teachers that is pushing for a reduction in the number of tests required in Texas.
PROFILE
Gayle Fallon
Guest
FROM Gayle Fallon
To the Point
Is High-Stakes Testing the Ruin of School Reform? In Atlanta, 35 teachers and administrators were indicted this week for conspiring to raise student scores on standardized tests. In El Paso, a former superintendent’s in prison for putting kids in the wrong grade, pushing them out of school or preventing them from enrolling—so that test scores would meet high standards of accountability. Texas spends more on standardized testing than any other state. It’s where George W. Bush got the idea for “No Child Left Behind,” which evolved into “Race to the Top” under Barack Obama.
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To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.