All eyes are on the “extraordinary authority districts” in Louisiana (the RSD), Tennessee, (the ASD), and Michigan (the EAA). And for good reason, because as this excellent Hechinger Report article demonstrates, old-style state takeovers almost always disappoint. The article highlights cases in the Magnolia State where districts have improved modestly under state direction but have then fallen back down when returned to local control—a logical outcome when a suite of reforms does not accompany the takeover.
Over the weekend, the Times wrote up the Too Small the Fail initiative, which is working with low-income parents to encourage them to talk to their babies and toddlers more. Hillary Clinton is among its founders. Here’s hoping it works; anything that gets disadvantaged kids off to a stronger start is worth pursuing. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t note that initiatives such as these are explicitly working to change the culture and behavior of low-income communities; Paul Ryan would probably be called a racist if he proposed such an idea.
The headline “Indiana Drops Common Core” has splashed across the national media all week. A more accurate headline might read, “Indiana May or May Not Have Dropped Common Core—We’ll Find Out in a Few Months.” What is certain, though, is that Indiana is in a pickle. Not only are its new draft standards worse than the Common Core standards they replace—but they’re worse than the old Indiana standards, too! The politicization of the standards-setting process is clearly to blame.
