Cheating our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education and What We Can Do About It
Michael J. PetrilliJoe WilliamsPalgrave Macmillan2005
Removing Barriers to Entry in the Teaching Profession
Larry Rosenstock and Jennifer Husbands The Charter Journal (Not available online)September 2005
The shirt off their backs
First there was carnival-gate (see here), and now we have uniform-gate. Toledo requires all its public elementary and middle school students to wear uniforms. Low-income families can apply to the district for free uniforms, which are paid for by Lucas County Job and Family Services.
Put your merit pay where your mouth is
The list of high-profile political leaders who talk about merit pay for teachers keeps growing. Gadfly has already noted that New York City's school chancellor Joel Klein is a supporter. Now we can add Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to the list.
Schooled on class
While the spike in oil prices is leading some school districts to cut back on busing (see Christmas in September, below), the New York Times has found one district that is busing more kids than ever. Wake County Public Schools, which serves Raleigh, has for five years embarked on a campaign to integrate its schools along economic lines.
Next steps in Norfolk
Martin A. Davis, Jr.Norfolk Public Schools finally brought home the big one - the $500,000 Broad Prize for Urban Education. A bridesmaid in the competition each year from 2002 to 2004, the district took top honors this year based on the strength of increased reading and math scores, improved graduation rates, and significant reduction in ethnic achievement gaps.
Christmas in September
Early this week, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue closed the Peach State's schools for two days in anticipation of an oil shortage caused by Hurricane Rita—a shortage that never happened.
Culture shock
Jim WilliamsBecoming a public high school teacher after nearly 30 years in business required that I adapt to a culture whose priorities, norms, and incentives are upside down. Public schools operate in ways that conflict with their core purpose - teaching children the basic knowledge and skills required to lead successful adult lives.
Blind hogs and behaviorist laws
Chester E. Finn, Jr."Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while," quoth the late Russell Long (D-LA), longtime chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. And so it is with the customarily education-blind New York Times editorial page, which unearthed a back-to-school acorn of wisdom on September 6.
Education Myths: What Special Interest Groups Want You to Believe about Our Schools - And Why It Isn't So
Jay GreeneRowman & Littlefield2005
Solving the Charter School Funding Gap: The Seven Major Causes and What to Do About Them
Eric OsbergCenter for Education Reform2005
The Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland
Chester E. Finn, Jr.As a Marylander who hasn't done much for his state, I was honored to serve on this commission, which was appointed by Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and chaired by Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele.
Of minivans and charter schools
Martin A. Davis, Jr.An article in the September 12th edition of the Indianapolis Star (not available online) reported that the Hoosier State's charter schools are starting to sprout in the leafy suburbs. Similar news came out of Minnesota last summer. Is this a trend?
Playing the Blaine game
Only a thoroughgoing grinch, one might suppose, would find fault with the Bush administration's proposal to help all Katrina kids find a safe place to go to school this year. The administration will offer up to $7,500 per displaced student to cover education costs.
Sandra Feldman, in memoriam
Diane RavitchSandra Feldman was a brilliant and dedicated teacher unionist. From her earliest days in the civil rights movement, she exhibited intelligence, courage, and leadership. She was one of Albert Shanker's closest associates, and she shared his passion for democracy and civil rights.
No surrender
Amy WilkinsThough both my father and I have several shortcomings, neither of us has much trouble speaking for ourselves. I know enough not to try to speak for Dad. So let me, finally, speak for myself concerning two recent Gadfly writings.
A poor disposition
William DamonIt is welcome to hear that the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) does not sanction ideological indoctrination. (See Arthur E.
Left behind in L.A.
Los Angeles's poor students aren't getting a lot of love. An Education Trust - West report shows that the Los Angeles Unified School District's most experienced teachers tend to work in higher-paying, less-troubled schools in the city's more affluent areas. No surprise there. According to the report, LAUSD's "seniority bumping rights" policy is partly to blame.
Three cheers for Madigan
Dr. Kathy Madigan is stepping down as president of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) effective September 30, 2005. During her four-year tenure, Madigan's leadership was instrumental in developing ABCTE's Passport to Teaching program, which has become the "premier national alternative route to the teaching profession." Gadfly wishes Dr.
Trading places
Last week the Toledo Blade reported that Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Eugene Sanders interviewed for the top executive position at New Schools of Detroit, a nonprofit created in August by the Skillman Foundation of Michigan to oversee new charter schools in the area.
SES Tutoring Programs: An evaluation of the second year - Part one of a two part report
Michael J. PetrilliChicago Public Schools, Office of Research, Evaluation, and AccountabilityAugust 2005
Out of commission
What do the Amistad Commission, the Holocaust Commission, and the Italian Commission have in common? They all want a piece of the public school curriculum.
Delivering on the Promise of the 95 Percent Reading and Math Goals
Martin A. Davis, Jr.Lynn Fielding, Nancy Kerr, and Paul Rosier, New Foundation Press2004
Tallyho, achievement!
The conservative Tory party has long supported parental choice as the best method to elevate student achievement. This explains why the party has backed the City Academies Program launched by Labor's Tony Blair, which draws on community sponsors (business, faith-based, and individual) to replace decaying urban schools.
Fie on Middle Schoolism
Chester E. Finn, Jr.If ever an education fad showed dreadful timing, reaching its intellectual and political pinnacle just as lightning struck the mountaintop, it's "middle schoolism." The key year was 1989, when the middle school bible, an influential Carnegie-backed report named Turning Points, was published.
Fordham language regarding NCATE simply wrong
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's inflammatory introduction to William Damon's article in the Gadfly's September 8 issue is simply wrong. It said that "policymakers might reconsider whether being accredited by NCATE is evidence of quality or something far more sinister."
A is for arugula
Move over Jean Georges. There's a new "it" destination for haute cuisine in the Big Apple, and it's a place where vocal food critics are decidedly personae non gratae. Get caught turning up your nose, and you just might have to go to the back of the line.
Walking tall in Philly
Philadelphia Superintendent Paul Vallas stands tall (and not only because his height exceeds 6'5"). In this age, school superintendents are hired, sacked and traded as capriciously as professional athletes, but Vallas has a knack for sticking with the home team, explains Alan Greenblatt in his excellent Governing Magazine profile.