Cara Fitzpatrick
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Editor @Chalkbeat. Author of “The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America.” (I'm not active on here.)
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Articles by Cara Fitzpatrick
ICE detained another NYC student, Education Department confirms Friday
Another New York City public school student has been detained by immigration agents, the Education Department confirmed late Friday. The student, whose name and school have not been released, attended a legal hearing to seek asylum and was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the department said.
Artifical Counter-Intelligence
An original version of this article was first published by STEP Journal, February 2025. Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm with its fast integration into both personal and work life. Firms worldwide are intrigued about AI's capabilities, but at this current time there is not a full understanding of AI in general and, more specifically, the abilities of certain AI models.
Artificial counter-intelligence
Joanna Caen TEP and Cara Fitzpatrick comment on the challenges and impact of AI in the modern-day private client firm CPD Business practice Ethics and Standards Technology Although artificial intelligence (AI) began in the 1950s with Alan Turing publishing ‘Computer Machinery and Intelligence’,[1] it has since become more commonly used, with its adoption exponentially increasing over the past year or two.
A Conversation About School Choice
Listen to the interview with Cara Fitzpatrick (transcript): Sponsored by WeVideo and The Modern Classrooms Project This page contains Amazon Affiliate and Bookshop.org links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. What’s the difference between Amazon and Bookshop.org? At first glance, the notion of school choice is a no-brainer. Obviously, a parent should be allowed to choose the best school for their child.
Review of The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America
If you want a refresher on the school choice movement since 1950, you could do worse than The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America, by journalist Cara Fitzpatrick. The book is easily digested, and while race and segregation are major parts of the story, it does not succumb to the simple narrative too often seen: choice is grounded in racism. The book has problems, but they do not disfigure the history too badly.
Book investigates 'The Death of Public School'
In the past seven decades, an astonishing array of people and organizations have tried to wrest taxpayer funding away from America's public schools and give it to private ones. In many cases, they've had motives other than improving education for all.
Cara Fitzpatrick investigates ‘The Death of Public School’
In the past seven decades, an astonishing array of people and organizations have tried to wrest taxpayer funding away from America’s public schools and give it to private ones. In many cases, they’ve had motives other than improving education for all.
Useful history of school choice exaggerates threat to public education.
The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America by Cara Fitzpatrick Basic Books, 2023, $32; 384 pages. CARA FITZPATRICK'S NEW BOOK does not deliver on the promise of its title, for it doesn't describe the death of public schools or even show that they have a nasty cough. Instead, this volume by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist recounts a history of the school-choice movement in which public education remains very much alive and well.
The Charter-School Movement’s New Divide
In early June, a state board in Oklahoma did something that seemed obviously unconstitutional: It approved a new, openly Catholic charter school. Students at the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would receive religious instruction, and the online school would participate in “the evangelizing mission of the Church,” according to St. Isidore’s application to the state.
The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America
(Author) FORMAT Hardcover$32.00$29.76(English) Backorder (temporarily out of stock) Buy new or used from an indie through our partner Biblio: Price Condition Seller A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shows how conservatives have pushed for a revolution in public education--one that threatens the existence of the traditional public school America has relied on public schools for 150 years, but the system is increasingly under attack.
Is public school as we know it ending?
Private school vouchers lost a lot of battles, but they may have won the war. As the new school year kicks off, education advocates are bracing for continued attacks on America's public schools. Yet despite the ongoing culture wars schools have facedin recent years,pollsters find that parents still generally like their kids' schools, and most of the political opposition has come from those without kids in the public school system.
First religious charter school approved in Oklahoma despite state ban
A state board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve an application for the country’s first religious charter school, despite a state law prohibiting such schools. If it opens as planned, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would offer students an explicitly religious curriculum based on the teachings of the Catholic Church. The move sets the stage for a lengthy legal battle that could well reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The ensuing debate could also splinter the charter school movement.
Can charter schools teach religion? Fight looms even after state board rejects school
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter to keep up with how public education is changing. A state board in Oklahoma voted down Tuesday an application for the country’s first religious charter school, highlighting the legal uncertainty around using tax dollars to directly pay for religious education.
Can charter schools teach religion? Fight looms even after state board rejects school
A state board in Oklahoma voted down Tuesday an application for the country’s first religious charter school, highlighting the legal uncertainty around using tax dollars to directly pay for religious education. In rejecting the school’s initial application, board members acknowledged that the larger issue of whether religious charter schools pass legal muster would likely be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
What’s Behind the Growth?
Since the pandemic began, more than 20 states have added new private school choice programs or expanded existing ones. Some call it a “school choice wave,” and the proposals are becoming bigger and more sweeping. School vouchers are at the heart of the school choice movement.
The Death of Public School
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Meet our newest story editor, Cara Fitzpatrick
I moved nearly 3,000 miles from my home in Washington State to take my first job as an education reporter. I was so excited to cover education that I agreed to work in an office I had never seen, in a part of Florida I had never visited. I started the job just before Christmas, when all of the other reporters were on vacation.
‘Unacceptable’: Lying to get a prized college admission | Book review
Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal By Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz Portfolio. 368 pp. $28 Reviewed by Cara Fitzpatrick For the wealthy and well-connected, the rat race for selective college admissions starts in preschool, if not earlier.
Book review of Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz
When we moved to New York City three years ago, I felt lucky to get my two preschool-age children afternoon spots in a Montessori program — the application period, which began a full year in advance, had long since closed. We couldn’t afford full-time child care, with tuition hovering around $30,000 a year per child. Later in the year, the school’s director asked me to speak with the “exmissions consultant” about kindergarten options for our oldest child.
Pinellas could bump up starting teacher salary to $40,000
With salary negotiations winding to a close, it looks like the starting teacher salary in Pinellas County Schools could soon be among the most competitive in the Tampa Bay area. A proposed salary schedule for the 2013/14 school year has a first-year teacher making $40,000 a year. Under the proposal, all teachers would see a 5.6 percent pay raise, on average. Some would get more, some a little less.
Learning loss vs. mental exhaustion: Parents, educators and school leaders differ on whether summer school is the answer | LA School Report
Carmella Gilmour, a first-grader in Richland, Washington, works on a reading assignment at home. Her mom is concerned that Carmella and her two siblings are falling behind and would jump at the chance to send them to summer school. (Dori Luzzo Gilmour) Before a global health crisis closed schools nationwide, Kristen Roosevelt told her principal that she wasn’t interested in teaching summer school this year.
Learning Loss vs. Mental Exhaustion
By Cara FitzpatrickJune 2, 2020 Before a global health crisis closed schools nationwide, Kristen Roosevelt told her principal that she wasn’t interested in teaching summer school this year. Roosevelt, who teaches first grade at a high-poverty public school in Portland, Oregon, changed her mind after her school closed and she saw how the crisis was affecting her students. It took three weeks to get devices to students who needed them. The next hurdle was connecting families to the internet.
Learning Loss vs. Mental Exhaustion: Parents, Educators and School Leaders Differ on Whether Summer School is the Answer
Cara Fitzpatrick is a former reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. She is currently writing a book on the history of school choice due out in 2021.
‘You’re Debating Someone Else’s Child’: 30 Years Later, Milwaukee’s School Voucher Program Divides a City Whose Public Schools Struggle
Students at Milwaukee’s St. Marcus Lutheran School where Superintendent Henry Tyson bristles at suggestions that his school has harmed the low-performing public schools surrounding it. (stmarcus.org) Milwaukee Ron Kelly saw a crowd of protesters as he turned into the parking lot to drop off his daughters at St. Marcus Lutheran School.
Business leaders praise embattled Broward School Board
One board member cried. A teacher lashed out at Superintendent Jim Notter. And business leaders rallied to support the Broward School Board in a routine meeting interrupted by bursts of drama Tuesday. Causing the tension: a recent grand jury report that found the school system grossly mismanaged and its leaders ineffectual. Despite that, several of the area's top business leaders praised the embattled board and Notter for their good work.
Broward School District pays ex-custodian $108,000 a year to teach janitors
For nearly five years, the Broward County School District has been paying a former head custodian more than $100,000 a year to teach school janitors the finer points of cleaning. Reynolds Hedland III, 52, has no college degree or state teaching certificate, yet earns more than 99 percent of Broward County's teachers.
Custodial classes: Ex-janitor makes $108,000 to teach
As we reported in a story Thursday, the Broward County School District has been paying a former custodian more than $100,000 a year to teach janitors how to clean schools. (The ex-janitor, Reynolds Hedland, also does a lot of his old duties as head custodian, according to the principal. He's teaching only 58 days this year.) Some readers are wondering what kind of classes Hedland teaches. There are three main courses for the district's janitors.
How the Pinellas County School Board neglected five schools until they became the worst in Florida
In just eight years, Pinellas County School Board members turned five schools in the county’s black neighborhoods into some of the worst in Florida. First they abandoned integration, leaving the schools overwhelmingly poor and black. Then they broke promises of more money and resources. Then — as black children started failing at outrageous rates, as overstressed teachers walked off the job, as middle class families fled en masse — the board stood by and did nothing.
The fight for Fairmount Park Elementary
THE FIGHT FOR FAIRMOUNT PARK DIRK SHADD | Times Kristy Moody, the new principal of Fairmount Park Elementary, sometimes visited kindergarten just to feel the joy. It was a bright spot in a tough school. June 30, 2017 Story by CARA FITZPATRICK Photographs by DIRK SHADD Times Staff She applied her “listen-to-me lipstick,” a hot pink that commanded attention, and got into her Toyota 4Runner for the long drive to Fairmount Park Elementary.
More charges for Tampa Bay area woman accused of getting pregnant by 11-year-old boy
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More charges for Tampa Bay area woman accused of getting pregnant by 11-year-old boy Marissa Mowry, now 25, had sex as many as 20 times in 2014 with a boy who was 11 when he impregnated her, Hillsborough County detectives allege. [Photo courtesy of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office] TAMPA — A woman sexually battered an 11-year-old Brandon boy, got pregnant and raised the baby for three years before a tip led to her arrest, Hillsborough County sheriff's officials said.
By Cara Fitzpatrick Verified, Jeffrey Solochek Verified, Tony Marrero Verified, Tierra Smith Verified
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Tampa Bay Times
Verified
Tampa man crashes into parked cars, gate at the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque
Shaun H. Urwiler, 42, was arrested July 16 for intentionally driving his pick-up truck into two parked vehicles before smashing through the locked gate of the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. [Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office] A Tampa man intentionally drove his pick-up truck into two parked vehicles before smashing through the locked gate of the Islamic Society of Tampa Mosque, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Man convicted of second-degree murder in killing of Baby Doe, his girlfriend's daughter
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Man convicted of second-degree murder in killing of Baby Doe, his girlfriend's daughter BOSTON — A man was convicted Monday of murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl who became known as Baby Doe after her remains washed up on the shore of a Boston Harbor island. Michael McCarthy was charged in the 2015 killing of Bella Bond, his girlfriend's daughter.
By Melissa Gomez Verified, Cara Fitzpatrick Verified, Jeffrey Solochek Verified, Tony Marrero Verified
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Tampa Bay Times
Verified
British government says 75 out of 75 buildings failed fire safety tests
Workers remove cladding from Whitebeam Court in Pendleton, Manchester, on Monday.? A type of cladding restricted in other countries has been blamed for the fatal Grenfell Tower blaze. LONDON — Britain on Monday confronted a rapidly growing fire safety crisis after tests of the exterior cladding on dozens of public housing towers revealed a 100 percent failure rate, raising fears that this month's deadly inferno in London could be repeated elsewhere.
Canada Day is coming Saturday to Ybor City, Tampa's Latin District
TAMPA — Ybor City is Tampa's Latin District, known for showcasing Cuban, Spanish and Italian cultures. Toronto native turned Tampa-area transplant Bryan Grimsdale wants to add Canada to that list. At least for one day a year. On Saturday, he will host a celebration of Canada Day, our northern neighbor's anniversary of independence, from 3 to 10 p.m. at Ybor City's Dirty Shame. "Ybor reminds me a lot of Toronto in terms of the multiculturalism," said Grimsdale, 38.
Post reports: Russia probe reaches current White House official
WASHINGTON — The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government, the Washington Post reports, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the Post,these people say the senior White House adviser under scrutiny by investigators is someone close to the president.
Sheriff Gee announces major drug bust in West Hillsborough
TAMPA — Two major investigations into illegal drug trafficking in Hillsborough County produced 51 arrests and the seizure of more than $1 million worth of marijuana and synthetic marijuana, the Sheriff's Office announced Friday. Tips to Crime Stoppers played a major role in identifying marijuana grow houses throughout the Town 'N Country area, Riverview and parts of Pasco County, said Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee.
Police: Two dead in Tampa Palms apartment shooting, man in custody
TAMPA — Two male victims were killed at a North Tampa apartment complex Friday night, police said, who so far have released few other details. Tampa police responded to a call just before 5:30 p.m. at the Green Planet Smoke Shop, where people inside reported that a suspicious man had a gun. After officers took the man into custody, he told police he had killed two people, spokeswoman Janelle McGregor said in a news conference.
Antonio Burt, the high-profile leader of Pinellas' school turnaround effort, resigns
Antonio Burt, who was hired by the Pinellas County School District to oversee turnarounds at the county's lowest-performing elementary schools, is pictured during a meeting of Concerned Organization for Quality Education of Black Students, known as COQEBS. The district announced May 5, 2017 that Burt has resigned after 16 months on the job.
Amid investigation, Pinellas officials bemoan racially charged incident at Campbell Park Elementary
LARGO — In his first public comments on the issue, Pinellas County schools superintendent Mike Grego spoke out at Tuesday night's School Board meeting about the decision to transfer former Campbell Park Elementary principal Christine Hoffman after an email in which she made a racially insensitive directive to her staff. Grego confirmed that Hoffman is under investigation by the district's Office of Professional Standards.
Pinellas 'Transformation Zone' schools showing signs of progress, officials say
A third-grade class at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of eight "Transformation Zone" schools in Pinellas County. A new draft report details signs of progress in the schools as they head into the spring testing season. [DIRK SHADD | Times] At eight of the lowest performing schools in Pinellas County, district officials see promising signs: academic growth, reductions in suspensions and discipline referrals, better teaching and improved attendance.
School on Saturday? Pinellas sees it as another way to reach struggling students
School on Saturday? Pinellas sees it as another way to reach struggling students ST. PETERSBURG — Sitting in the school library on a brisk and breezy Saturday morning, Cadi Moorehead proudly held up two sheets of paper. "I wrote a two-page story about Nate the Great," she announced. Cadi, 9, could have slept in. She could have played outside.
How to improve your odds in the Pinellas school choice lottery
Finding the right school for your child can be daunting. You go to the school district's Discovery Nights, take the tours and pore over test scores. Ultimately, a lot of luck is involved in getting a seat at the school of your choice. To make the process easier — and improve your chances — here are tips, from basic to advanced: 1. Submit an application between Jan. 4-13. (It doesn't matter if you apply on the first or last day. It's not first-come, first-served.) 2. Follow up.
As lawsuits over Pinellas black students drag on, both sides call for a mediator
As lawsuits over Pinellas black students drag on, both sides call for a mediator After four months of tense negotiations, lawyers for both sides in Pinellas County's 50-year-old school desegregation case are ready to call in a mediator.
New leader to play key role as Pinellas strives to raise minority student achievement
Hillsborough County school official, has been chosen as the new minority achievement officer for Pinellas County Schools. [Hillsborough County School District] Pinellas County school superintendent Mike Grego has taken another step in his growing effort to change the way black students are educated, hiring a minority achievement officer who will report directly to him. Lewis Brinson, 64, is a veteran school administrator from Hillsborough County.
Voters see School Board candidates through a new lens: Trump versus Clinton
Carol Cook came to the polls Tuesday prepared to talk about issues. The good things happening in struggling schools, an improving graduation rate, Hispanic student achievement and more career education options. The 16-year Pinellas County School Board incumbent could expound on them all. Instead, many passersby averted her gaze or sidestepped away. When voters did talk to Cook, they weren't focused on education. They didn't ask about her opponent, Eliseo Santana.
Friction mars talks in legal battle over Pinellas black students
Roger Plata, co-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, listens during a March meeting of an education advocacy group. For the second time since settling 16 years ago, the plaintiffs in a 50-year-old desegregation case have forced the Pinellas County School District back to the table to try to ensure that black children get an equal education. The meetings, which started in August, have been tense, even hostile.
Tony Dungy tells Pinellas students: 'Think about your future&apo
Tony Dungy, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, spoke to hundreds of Pinellas County elementary school students this morning about the importance of graduating from high school, going to college and the role his father played in getting him to read and get through school.
Incumbent Ken Peluso loses to teacher Eileen Long in close race for Pinellas School Board
The Pinellas County School Board lost one incumbent during Tuesday's primary election, while two other races will be decided in runoff contests in November. Ken Peluso, 59, narrowly lost his District 4 seat to 55-year-old Eileen Long, a veteran teacher. Long earned 51.1 percent of the vote, while Peluso earned 48.9 percent, according to preliminary results. Long said she was nervous about the close race but excited.
Incumbent Ken Peluso loses to teacher Eileen Long in close race for Pinellas School Board
Pinellas School Board candidate Bill Dudley reacts to early results at his election party at Ferg's Sports Bar in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. He trailed behind candidates Joanne Lentino and Matt Stewart. [EVE EDELHEIT | Times] The Pinellas County School Board lost one incumbent during Tuesday's primary election, while two other races will be decided in run-off races in November. Ken Peluso, 59, narrowly lost his District 4 seat to 55-year-old Eileen Long, a veteran teacher.
Report: Inexperienced teachers a problem in south St. Petersburg schools, but improvements are noted
Students at five failing elementary schools in St. Petersburg's black neighborhoods were far more likely to be taught by an inexperienced teacher than students enrolled in higher-performing schools in Pinellas County, a state review has found. State officials found that teachers who had three years of experience or less accounted for 30 percent to 40 percent of the staff at Campbell Park, Fairmount Park, Lakewood, Maximo and Melrose.
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