Party like it's 1994

That's the title of my editorial in the brand-new Education Gadfly.

Thoughtful administration

When a Chicago study came out last year, reporting that students who were displaced by Ren10 school closures didn't learn more if they were reassigned to similarly low performing schools, there was mega hand-wringing and lots of "I-told-you-sos" from opponents of closure

Turnaround Event

Make sure to sign up for next week's event on one of the hottest issues around, school turnarounds.

Bellwether Education Partners

Big happenings in edu-land today. Andy Rotherham, education policy leader, founder of Ed Sector, and the fingers behind Eduwonk, is helping launch "Bellwether Education Partners,"??a new full-service nonprofit to help education reform organizations. He's partnering up with NewSchools co-founder Kim Smith, former Bain consultant??Mary Wells, and Monisha Lozier,??formerly of Korn/Ferry.

Quotable and Notable

???Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to graduate a student.??? ???Dana Herreman, Curriculum Director of Newark, OH public schools

Great Scott

Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts??last night jolted the political world, and may spell the end for President Obama's health care legislation. But Flypaper readers want to know: what are the edu-implications?

Open source education

You can find whatever your heart desires on the internet, and that's in part thanks to something called open source. It's a bit of an amorphous term, but that hasn't stopped this Utah virtual charter school from diving in to this potentially revolutionizing movement. Open source is just as its name implies--open.

Race to the Top coverage

Race to the Top is causing quite the buzz this week and??our Andy Smarick ??has been busy sharing his thoughts on the matter with many reporters. What does he make of it?

Today's Quotable and Notable

Quotable: "We are not just chasing a shiny penny, we are supporting reform." ??? Dwight Jones, Colorado Education Commissioner

Education Next article on RTT

Today is the first RTT deadline. States seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in the first round of payouts need to send their applications in by close of business today.

Now Colorado substantiates the USA Theorem

In very meaningful RTT news, Colorado has left important reforms out of its proposal. The state decided against making tough calls on teacher evaluations, potentially knocking a frontrunner back several spots.

Checker talks about testing on Fox & Friends

Checker was on Fox & Friends this morning, discussing state high school exit exams.

RTT, round three?

We haven't even gotten the results of RTT round one and Obama is already asking for another $1.35 billion to continue the competition a third year. Honestly, this is absurd. We've seen some good and some so-so legislation come out of the promise of RTT dollars.

Iowa's Trojan Horse

Check out Quick and the Ed on Iowa's faux RTT reforms. Looks like the state is barely changing its weak charter law and selling it as more. As Chad Aldeman writes:

Florida and the U.S.A. Theorem

Per the Universal State Application Theorem (that stakeholder support varies inversely with proposal strength

One great Gadfly, just for you

I took a hiatus from doing these "read your Gadfly" posts...but this edition is just so juicy, so??tantalizing, that I would simply be a terrible person to deny you the pleasure of reading it. We termed it the "Breaking News Issue," because the edition was just so timely you might wonder how we even got it out with all that recent material.

Watch "A Penny Saved"

If you missed our excellent joint-conference with AEI on Monday, no need to beat yourself up! You can watch it (over the long weekend) on C-Span, here.

Today's Quotable and Notable

Quotable: ???Every other profession in Alabama and America has a strong code of ethics. It is beyond me as to why the Senate majority thinks educators should not have one.??? ???Joe Morton, Alabama State School Superintendent

Upcoming events at American Enterprise Institute and Fordham

Another great event is coming up on January 27th, over at the American Enterprise Institute. The title says it all -- Education Reform: Reviewing the Obama Administration's First Year.

Video: The Road to the Education Reform Super Bowl

Negative slope

Now??Rhode Island and??Florida are proving the equation, too.

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.

Trojan Horse MOU on the way!

From Michigan:

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

The 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

Enrollment 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.