Quality Counts against poorer states
This post is from guest blogger??Marci Kanstoroom, Fordham's Senior Editor and Education Next's Executive Editor.
Today's Quotable and Notable
Quotable: "[Gov. Rick Perry's] argument against applying [for RTT] boils down to the fact that he doesn't like the teacher that will grade his test. This is an application that even awards points for his own pet policies - teacher incentive pay and charter school expansion."
Charter rankings
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, my old stomping grounds, has released an important document on charter school laws. A while back, the organization created a "model law," ideal legislation that would support charter growth, quality, and accountability.
Kentucky decides on low X, high Y
Per this??post and graph below, Kentucky just confirmed the equation.
Texas being Texas or more to the story?
Texas has become the first state to rebuff the Obama administration's Race to the Top. Governor Rick Perry made the call, deciding that the size of the investment wasn't worth the strings. Texas, he believes, can do education reform on its own.
Today's Quotable and Notable
Quotable: "I think it would be a tragedy to talk about Martin Luther King Jr., while not being able to talk about the fact that he had a strong Christian faith. I'm hoping that's not the direction we're headed." - Jonathan Saenz, Lobbyist, Free Market Foundation
Bankrupt of logic: Dayton's teachers union rejects Race to the Top, despite $5 million deficit
Terry RyanThe Dayton Public Schools, in Fordham’s hometown, rang out 2009 with an announcement that it faces a $5 million budget shortfall caused by rising home foreclosures and delinquent property taxes.
ODE sets charter accountability sights on district conversion schools
Emmy L. PartinEnrollment in Buckeye State charter schools was up eight percent last year, to 89,000 students statewide, according to the Ohio Department of Education’s annual report to the governor about the state’s community schools.
Issue Brief: Common Standards: The Time is Now
Alliance For Excellent EducationBob RothmanDecember 2009
Keeping Cleveland from going the way of Detroit
Last week Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eugene Sanders released his long-awaited district transformation plan. It is an ambitious proposal that seeks a substantial reorganization of CMSD and looks to spur innovation for the long-suffering urban district.
This week's extras
Welcome to Ohio Education Gadfly’s newest section, “Editor’s Extras,” where you can catch up on important education news that you might have missed over the past two weeks. Editor’s Extras
Charter School Performance in New York City
Kathryn MullenCenter for Research on Education OutcomesJanuary 2010 This brief report supplements CREDO’s June 2009 national study on charter performance in 15 states and the District of Columbia. The January 2010 report focuses on the school years 2003-04 through 2008-09, and looks at roughly 20,000 students in grades 3-8 across 49 New York City charter schools.
Negative correlation
This post by my Ohio colleagues is very important. It forecasts a major challenge for Race to the Top (RTT) scoring.
Today's Quotable and Notable
Quotable: "To maintain the union and the trade, we need young men and women. So we thought maybe we should start our own charter school." - Armand E. Sabitoni, General Secretary-Treasurer of the Laborers' International Union of North America
Margaret Spellings, still defending No Child Left Behind
Former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings gave a speech at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club last week and -- no surprise here -- she is still defending No Child Left Behind. According to this Naples Daily News story, she told a luncheon crowd of 300 people that:
Time to think bigger on teacher prep
Kathleen Porter-MageeIf you haven't seen it already, this article in this month's??Atlantic is well worth a read, and will certainly get a lot of attention from people on all sides of the education debate.
A Penny Saved conference
The Fordham/AEI "Penny Saved" conference has been great so far! (A Penny Saved: How Schools and Districts Can Tighten Their Belts While Serving Students Better).
Today's Quotable and Notable
Quotable: "Everybody's trying to teach preschoolers how to read and nobody is trying to teach them how to do math." - Cyma Zarghami, President of Nichelodeon
The real RTT battles
The complexities and challenges of ensuring the Race to the Top's success are expanding rapidly, and I'm hoping the Department is prepared for what lies ahead. I'm concerned that, because so many of us have been focussed on the policy changes states have been adopting, two entirely more pressing issues have been given insufficient attention.
Buckeye Education in Review: 1999 to 2009
Ohio Education GadflyWhen the new millennium rang in on January 1, 2000, Ohio was marching down the path of education reform. The state was seeking improvements to its K-12 education system particularly in the areas of school funding, academic content standards, school choice, and accountability.
More articles
I'l be back to regular blogging soon. This battle between unions and the Race to the Top is heating up. Very interesting article and map on racial diversity among students by states
Understanding homeschooling: A better approach to regulation
Chester E. Finn, Jr.This sane and constructive piece by Indiana University education professor Robert Kunzman says that many states are following the wrong approach when it comes to "regulating" home-schoolers, trying to control the "credentials" of home-schooling parents, to decree what curriculum they should teach and more. This doesn't work, he says, and fosters unnecessary controversy and political conflict.
The hype, the reality
Eric OsbergDetroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert C. Bobb has garnered much national publicity as he struggles to save what is arguably the most troubled big-city school system in America from both financial bankruptcy and academic ruin.
More catch-up!
The article deluge continues. CA's RTT chances are improving Ed Week on NCLB and Dodd's retirement
STOP THE PRESSES Watch
Per #8 on this list, this year, I'm keeping track of the prolific ed reformer Whitney Tilson's use of the uber-emphatic "STOP THE PRESSES!!!" in his mass emails.
Another gold star for NYC charters
Stafford PalmieriThe now famous (or infamous) CREDO charter study from last June generated a ton of hype. (See our analysis here.) The results were largely mixed, seemly putting numbers behind the assertion that putting "charter" in front of (or after) a school name does not guarantee success.