Quotable "Just as soon as we're celebrating what for a lot of systems was a successful year, you're starting off the new year with a kick in the pants." --Georgia Association of Teachers President Jeff Hubbard, discussing the recently announced teacher furloughs
Paul E. BartonEducational Testing ServiceJuly 2009
Paul Teske, Jody Fitzpatrick, and Tracey O'BrienCenter on Reinventing Public EducationJuly 2009
Atlanta principals are feeling more than just summer heat. And recent probes into test score discrepancies have revealed just how hot it can get. When low springtime scores at Deerwood Academy turned into huge gains during a summer-school retest, Principal Lisa Smith was accused of tampering with the results.
With the first quarter of 2009 witnessing the sharpest decline in state tax receipts on record (see here), it comes as no surprise that many states are scrambling to win federal "Race to the Top" dollars.
With the first quarter of 2009 witnessing the sharpest decline in state tax receipts on record, it comes as no surprise that many states are scrambling to win federal "Race to the Top" dollars.
When a prospective robber "does his homework," the implication is figurative. That is, unless you're this pair of robbers from Sacramento, CA. The two teens, aged 15 and 17, respectively, broke into a home in the Golden State's capital. When the house's owner returned, the aspiring pilferers dropped their backpacks to speed up their fence-jumping retreat.
Milwaukee's New Schools Approval Board, created after intense legislative negotiations earlier this summer, has released its first set of decisions: three approvals, sixteen denials.
Sol Stern is a man with a plan. The 2009 New York City teacher contract is set to expire three days before Election Day, and Mayor Bloomberg's overturning of term limits mean the United Federation of Teachers and that hizzoner will be going to bat once more.
The Gotham teacher aides who'll be jobless come September are not victims of the financial crisis. Instead, the cause of their unemployment is the source of their salaries. Parents at a number of affluent public schools have contributed $200,000 to 300,000 a year to pay directly for the additional adult help.
My article in last week's Education Gadfly ("Sarah Palin, anti-intellectualism, and the plight of??the liberal arts") generated more reactions than anything I've written in a long time.
Secretary Duncan visited a school in Baltimore yesterday to celebrate the city's impressive gains on the state assessment. ????Baltimore is no longer the lowest performing district in the state. ????Much work remains, but this is good news.
Yesterday, I was pretty excited about some events in Baltimore. Then this article appears. Are we really about to mess around with the formula of a superb school?
Join us Wednesday, August 19, for a panel discussion on how the changing education policy landscape is affecting both charter schools and voucher programs. The Obama administration is aggressively pushing to expand the number of charter schools available to American families.
Quotable "The world of education is the sector of the economy so far the least changed by technology. Ten years from now, that won't be the case, and these online lectures are the cutting edge of that." --Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder
Education Week takes a look at the response to Secretary Duncan's call for turning around 5,000 failing schools.
Quotable "Am I optimistic that they can avoid it? I am not." --Ray Graves, a retired bankruptcy judge who has been advising Robert Bobb, Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager
It's been awhile since I outright fawned over President Obama, so I'm going to let this one fly without any restraint or reserve: His speech to the NAACP last week kicked butt. It was transcendent. It was inspirational.
Quotable "We're doing this because we're stuck - we have kids coming out of windows." --Emily Heckman, parent of a child whose school may cut parent-paid teacher aides because of complaints from teachers' unions.
For the last several years, Maryland's legislature has debated a scholarship tax credit bill. These programs are increasingly popular across the nation (they were even a topic of discussion at this meeting).
Quotable "I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States." --President Obama, in his speech to the NAACP
If you thought the No Child Left Behind act went too far, you're going to love the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights under Russlynn Ali, the former leader of Ed-Trust West who is known for her admirable and effective sense of urgency.
I have a piece by that title in today's Education Gadfly.
During my time at the WH, one of the best things I worked on was a series of projects designed to raise the profile of the faith-based urban schools crisis and find solutions.
DC government fails to provide charters over $100 million Interesting NYT profile of Judge Sotomayor's Catholic elementary school
If you're curious what my book is about, why I favor start-ups over turnarounds, why I've watched Live at the El Mocambo a million times, and more, check out my interview with Education News.
This recent GAO report on the ARRA has some bad news for education reformers. SFSF funds are being used almost entirely to protect jobs and existing programs; no evidence of reform to be found. I go into more detail here.
Quotable "Sometimes I think, 'What if I'm sitting at the same desk she sat in?'" --Branaijah Melvin, 11-year-old student at Blessed Sacrament, Judge Sonia Sotomayor's K-8 school
