This week, we start off with a double header on the education system's economic woes--and what to do about them. First Checker explains why districts have so much trouble cutting the fat. Enlightening, surely, but not too surprising. What is surprising, though, is that he used this argument back in 2003, the last time our education system was facing a budget crunch (if you don't believe me, go read it yourself!). Seems somethings never change. Then guest editorialist, and political director for ConnCAN,??Marc Porter Magee gives us six suggestions for what states can do to trim their budgets. Instead of bemoaning the sad state of bugetary affairs, he argues, we should take advantage of the recession-caused political will to start cutting where cutting is needed. Further in, you'll hear about the Bush Administrations last NCLB gasp--new regulations, specifically, and most problematically, upping graduating rate reporting requirements--and an Ed Trust study that tries the same argument without any more success. You'll also find out about the proposed??gay high school in Chicago and subsequent uproar. Reviewed this week is a new book edited by Rick Hess (who reveals on the podcast that apparently not only does not read the news--as we learned last week--but also doesn't vote) on educational entrepreneurship and the latest from Notre Dame and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching on the future of Catholic Schools. All this and more.
