I had a conversation today with a friend, a mother of two young boys, who recently won for them, through a lottery, places in a Washington, D.C., charter school. My friend mentioned that she has been approached by several people looking to buy the spots she won; these people are offering cold, hard cash. The highest?offer so far, she said, has been $1500 per slot.
In his recent post, ?Preempting the Naysayers,? Chris points out that the ELA standards of two states and one kind-of-state?California, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.?received from Fordham Institute standards reviewers higher marks than did the new Common Core ELA standards.
?If we want to build a good system, we cannot only rely on testing at the end of learning. Testing implies that the student has finished the educational system. The most important thing is not just to see the testing results, but to pay close attention to the educational process.
In a recent post in Time Andy Rotherham asks whether it may be the ?end times for public charter schools? and he cites a number of setbacks in the charter world to whet your doubting appetites.
First came the recruitment of State Superintendent Deborah Gist; next came winning $75 million in Race to the Top (RTTT) funds. Rhode Island has been on a whirlwind track toward education reform over the past couple years. And?as one with boatloads of Ocean State pride (who doesn't love coffee milk, water fire, and Dels lemonade?)?it's been fun to watch.
We're not opposed to criticism here at the Fordham Institute. In fact, we welcome healthy dialogue involving more than just one perspective on a given issue or topic. The release of Fordham's new Standards Central online clearinghouse, a one-stop-shop for all of the Thomas B.
