There was a big charter school hearing today in the House. Though it was directly related to pending legislation designed to help great charters replicate and expand, the discussion covered the broad charter terrain. It was fascinating to listen to Members' questions and comments.
I pledge allegiance to Rod Paige's new book, which discusses the black-white achievement gap in pretty real terms.
"If the American Dream includes sending your kids to college, what is America saying to these parents?" ??? James T. Meeks, Baptist Minister, and voucher advocate
Can a school district sell a school building and prohibit the buyer from opening a school in that building?
The Brookings InstitutionFebruary 2010
Steven Farr, Teach For AmericaFebruary 2010
Speaking to reporters last month about the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Academic Transformation Plan, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten warned that teachers need to be full partners
Next school year marks the Fordham Foundation’s fifth year as a charter school sponsor in Ohio. We currently have four schools up for renewal of their original sponsorship agreements (aka, charters).
Columbus City middle school principals’ views about how well their schools operate diverge quite a bit from what state report cards say.
No one denies that Ohio’s economy is in crisis. The state’s current $50.5 billion biennial budget was made whole in 2009 by $8 billion in one-time federal Reinvestment and Recovery Act dollars and $2.4 billion in budget cuts. It is estimated that the state will face at least an $8 billion deficit in 2011 ($3.9 billion in FY2012 and $4 billion in FY2013).
Even though they still haven't seen the light of day in draft form, much less been joined by any assessments, the evolving "common core" standards project of the National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State Scho
New York City's United Federation of Teachers (UFT) recently published a report in which it said the area's charter schools don't serve at least the district-wide average of neediest students, despite serving an overwhelmingly poor population.
Once upon a time, education reform concerned itself with fixing "the system." Then we moved into our current fascination with fixing (and creating) individual schools.
One of the reasons that ???data quality??? can be so elusive is that bad data can just sit there, in a drawer in someone's desk, never getting discovered. It's an old axiom: data that never see the light of day tend not to be as reliable as data that are viewed and used. With more visibility comes more accountability for data quality.
This Post article about Duncan's speech to the nation's governors focusses primarily on potential teacher layoffs (giving more reason to suspect we're about to see a second stimulus, at least for school
Dillon writes in the NYT this morning that the president, in a speech to the governors today, will announce that the administration's NCLB proposal will require states to adopt "college- and career-ready standards" in order to receive Title I funds.
The House is holding a hearing this Wednesday on the All Students Achieving through Reform (All-STAR) Act, which would create a new competitive grant program designed to help replicate and expand high-performing charters.
Two things you might want to check out. A flyer from the Los Angeles teachers union. Tomorrow, they are holding a candlelight vigil to protest district reform efforts.
"I've learned as an author over the years that I am not perfect. So, if somebody in Iowa sees something in my book that they perceive is wrong, I am absolutely willing to give them the benefit of the doubt." ??? Neil F. Comins, Author, "Discovering the Universe"
???I think anything that offers parents more choice is positive.?? One size doesn't fit all.??? ???Nina Gilbert, Principal of Ivy Preparatory Academy
The Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU) has launched a campaign to unionize the city's charter schools. The union made public records requests to area charter schools asking for teachers' names, years of experience, current salary, and other information, presumably in preparation for reaching out to the teachers about joining the union.
A new report from Fordham today, authored by yours truly and our research assistant Janie Scull, identifies some
Our new report, America's Private Public Schools (described below), is meant to pierce the tired rhetoric used by so many defenders of the status quo in education.
The Post is reporting that a bipartisan group of House members is going to begin work on an NCLB reauthorization bill.
I'm sure many of you skipped over this job opening mentioned in this week's Gadfly. The bureaucratically named federal Office of Management and Budget may not sound like the hottest place to work. But if you or anyone you know is looking for a great edu-job, definitely give it some attention.
???This is the best opportunity we have had to have really substantial change in how we meet the educational needs of our kids. Congress would love to go home and say, ???We fixed No Child Left Behind.'??? ???Rep. George Miller, D-California
