Nationally, tide is turning toward smart teacher personnel policies
Emmy L. PartinThe D.C. Public Schools and the Washington Teachers Union just reached an agreement on a new teacher contract. Reformers are calling it the boldest of its kind.
What do lotteries and cartels have to do with education?
Word has it (here, too) Cleveland will be among the cities in which the new Common Core national standards will be piloted. The timeline is
You call that a ?sacrifice??
Michael J. PetrilliMy post yesterday, arguing that we have too many veteran teachers who cost too much and add too little value, stirred up quite a bit of controversy, both here on Flypaper and over at
UK update: Cameron new PM
Stafford PalmieriI opined last week on the fate of the British education system in light of Thursday's confusing election results.
Movie review: The Cartel
Stafford PalmieriHeard about the new movie The Cartel? It's the story of the mafia-esque education establishment in New Jersey and it's quite a whopper. It came out last summer when it played at a number of independent film festival screenings in the Garden State?and at which point Gadfly caught wind of it.
Senioritis
Michael J. PetrilliAs a few smart guys predicted fifteen months ago, the budget crisis is putting serious pressure on teacher se
Education news nuggets
We might not have a K-12 master plan, but that doesn't mean we can't still learn a lot from the military ?
Quotable and notable
?This is an incredibly special moment in American history, where you have Republicans in New Jersey agreeing with a Democratic president on how to get reform.? ? New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
British election remains unclear
Stafford PalmieriWe've been ruminating about education reform in the motherland recently, especially the ideas of the resurgent Tories and their plan for state-funded ?independent? schools. But as of this morning, the situation in Britain remains unclear.
Quotable and notable
?If we're going to go to national standards, which I'm very supportive of, I'd rather be at the table deciding what they're going to be than be on the sidelines having them done to us.? ?Winston Brooks, Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent
Likely round 2 RTT applicants
The Department has released the list of states intending to apply in round 2 of RTT.
RTT legislation in CT
Reform legislation is on its way to the governors desk in CT. It wouldn't have happened with the outstanding reform organization ConnCan.
School Choice: A Hot Topic
Charles Murray's New York Times op-ed on the merits and limitations of charter schooling coincided quite well with Fordham's event yesterday on the very same topic.
Literary Study in Grade 9, 10, and 11 in Arkansas
Janie ScullSandra Stotsky, Christian Goering, David JolliffeUniversity of ArkansasSpring 2010
The Endurance of Centralized Governance Systems in an Age of School District Decentralization
Heather Schwartz, Columbia UniversityFord Foundation Project on Choice District GovernanceJanuary 2010
College and Career Ready: Helping All Students Succeed Beyond High School
Stafford PalmieriDavid T. ConleyJossey-Bass2010
Still troubling bed partners
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Not long ago, I laid hold of this space to voice my concern that private foundations are getting entirely too palsy-walsy with Uncle Sam—and that he’s doing his ardent utmost to draw them into an intimate embrace.
Don't get your culottes in a twist
The New York Times is making a habit of putting charter schools on the front page.
5, 6, 7, 8, reformers learn to advocate
It wasn’t so long ago that reformers were regularly out-hustled by the education establishment. While we were mostly putting out white papers and writing op-eds, they were making campaign donations and marching on statehouses. Unfortunately, our compelling ideas were no match for their raw political power.
Duncan to parents: Look in the mirror
Michael J. PetrilliThe issue of parental involvement is vexing for education reformers. Everybody knows that it matters, but nobody really knows how to encourage it. In a free society, how do schools, or governments, make sure that parents provide the love, attention, discipline, nurturing, and care that their kids need to succeed? The short answer is: they can't.
Now that's a good investment
JPMorgan Chase announced yesterday that it is providing $325 million to support charter schools. It appears that the funding will be sent through local partners that help charters access facilities.
Strange LA TImes editorial
This editorial from the LA Times has me scratching my head. It makes it sound like California made a deal with the Department of Education regarding its RTT application. The claim is that ED has agreed to consider CA's application even if the state only has a couple districts signing on.
Quotable and notable
?I don't know of another time when we've done as much education reform in Connecticut as we've done tonight..? ? Connecticut State Representative Jason Bartlett ?Spurred by the Lure of Federal Aid, House Approves Major Education Reforms,? Connecticut Mirror
More damage control from Arne Duncan
Michael J. PetrilliThe campaign continues to dispel the myth that ?stakeholder buy-in? is the key to winning Round Two of Race to the Top.
Quotable and notable
?We've never had an agreement fully implemented.? ? George Parker, President, Washington (DC) Teachers, on the new DC teachers contract
Quotable and notable
?We're never going to be like France, where the education minister can look at his watch and tell you what every fourth grader is doing.??Terry W. Hartle, Senior Vice President at the American Council on Education