Bad news for LA
In May, Gadfly reported that the Los Angeles teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, had managed to unseat several reform-minded members to win back the majority of the Los Angeles Unified School District School Board [see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=24#103].
Broad bucks to Long Beach
The Long Beach (CA) Unified School District has received this year's $500,000 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the nation's largest education prize. This prize recognizes urban school systems that have made the greatest strides in shrinking the achievement gaps among ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning
Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom, Simon and SchusterOctober 2003
Segregation in Neighborhoods and Schools: Impacts on Minority Children in the Boston Region
Eric OsbergJohn R. Logan, Deirdre Oakley and Jacob Stowell, Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research, Harvard UniversitySeptember 1, 2003
Education for Democracy
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Elizabeth McPike et al., Albert Shanker InstituteSeptember 2003
Flexing some union muscle. . .
There's nothing like a little old-fashioned blackmail. . . . The Wall Street Journal reports that education unions are increasingly turning to powerful allies in their fight against education privatization and outsourcing: public employee retirement funds and their billions of investment dollars.
. . . .And keeping the unions honest
A fascinating Education Week profile features Mike Antonucci, author of the Education Intelligence Agency's invaluable weekly Communique on doings within the teacher unions (http://members.aol.com/educationintel/communique.htm).
U.S. history standards flunk
Chester E. Finn, Jr.A state's academic standards are the recipes from which its education system cooks. A gifted chef may produce tasty dishes without great cookbooks, but most people's food isn't apt to be much better than its recipes.