Blog Archives

Up North Progressive recently had the distinction of being featured on Diane Ravitch’s blog this week. The Steve Ingersoll trial received much deserved national exposure when two teachers’ accounts of their experiences working for Dr. Ingersoll, published on this blog, was quoted by MSU Music Education Professor, Dr. Mitchell Robinson. More people need to know […]

There is good news for the students and parents of Brighton Public Schools and the taxpayers of Michigan. The Brighton Public School Board voted not to charter Pasquale Battaglia’s American Classical Academy on January 26. This is after many people voiced their objection to a charter school opening in their community that would take students […]

The Internet can be a place for information and communication with others, and sometimes it can be a place for mischief with hilarious results. Not everyone on the web thinks things through very well before launching their campaign. With a little effort, the people hustling school choice could find that out too if enough people […]

All education reform has two goals. Bust the union and make a profit off our tax dollars. Improving education has never been the goal or business model for corporate education reformers. Also always remember that school choice is a dog whistle for segregation.

This optical illusion was published on page ten of a report offered by Grand Traverse Academy last fall. They claimed the reason why the patterns of colors move is due to ‘eye movement errors,’ or, everyone who looks at this image has eyes that don’t work properly. This claim is false. The image is an […]

As if the chaos surrounding for-profit charter school Grand Traverse Academy isn’t enough to convince you that the charter school fiasco in Michigan is … well, a fiasco, there are plans in the works to open up yet another for-profit charter school in Traverse City. The people responsible for this want to open their school […]

If you’re like me, an unemployed school teacher with years of experience in the classroom yet can’t find a job, it probably seems odd to see an ad like this appearing anywhere in Michigan. This state lays off teachers every year thanks to Rick Snyder cutting a billion dollars from our K-12 budget while raising […]

Miss Fortune found me last spring when Up North Progressive published the first article about Steve Ingersoll and his for-profit charter school scam on the state of Michigan. This blog focused on methodology, their approach to special education services (Everyone’s a visual learner), and the fact that the same vision therapy used in his schools […]

Victory! On September 19 State Rep. Charles Brunner (D-Bay City) joined other Michigan House Democrats in supporting a bill that requires better transparency and accountability with Michigan’s for-profit charter schools and with stricter rules for state charter authorizers. Brunner’s example for why he supports State House Bill 5852 couldn’t be more appropriate. Bay City Academy […]

Grand Traverse Academy made many changes over the summer to make it appear like they have distanced themselves from Dr. Steve Ingersoll. His business partner, Dr. Mark Noss, formed a new LLC to act as management company for GTA. The school has a new superintendent and the person doing the books at Smart Schools LLC, […]