Several years ago, a wise principal told me, “You know, the real problem is that teachers have less and less control over what goes on in their classroom, but more and more responsibility for the results.” (“Results,” of course, meant standardized test score results.) That was right about the time I started noticing how many … Continue reading Teachers are Not the Problem with Clarke County Schools
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Wanted: Strong Candidates Who Believe in Public Schools by Jeff Bryant, Bertis Downs
A few years ago, I decided to quit bothering with politics. I’d had it with politicians who say one thing and do another, who say they support public schools but abandon this conviction once in office. Talk is cheap, and when it comes to public education, political talk is especially cheap. I set about working … Continue reading Wanted: Strong Candidates Who Believe in Public Schools by Jeff Bryant, Bertis Downs
Washington Post, Answer Sheet: Parent: Why school ‘choice’ doesn’t mean the same thing to me as to Betsy DeVos
It is School Choice Week, the annual exercise when well-funded, corporate school reform outfits pour money into advertising and marketing o promote charter schools as well as vouchers and other programs in which the public pays for private and religious school tuition. School Choice Week coincides with the confirmation drama of President Trump’s nomination of … Continue reading Washington Post, Answer Sheet: Parent: Why school ‘choice’ doesn’t mean the same thing to me as to Betsy DeVos
How one impoverished public school district is making strides
Washington Post, October 2015 by Valerie Strauss Bertis Downs is a parent and an education activist who lives in Athens, Georgia. He was legal counselor and manager of the now disbanded band R.E.M., and he spends a great deal of time advocating for public education in Clarke County, where he lives, as well as around … Continue reading How one impoverished public school district is making strides
Davidson Basketball: A personal reflection
Davidson Journal, March 2015 My love for basketball at Davidson goes back, probably like for many people, to my father, Bertis E. Downs, III, ’53. He had gone to Davidson, and like me, felt fortunate to have been able to go there—him for baseball and the ministry, me for his memory and legacy and whatever … Continue reading Davidson Basketball: A personal reflection
BERTIS DOWNS 
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