Quotable & notable
?This story shows California is behind the rest of the nation. We do not invest in education the way we need to. We have an emergency?* ?Tom Torlakson, California Superintendent of Public Schools
The union way
Kirti Baranwal and Gillian Russom are teachers in Los Angeles. Today the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed they wrote: ?Education Reform the Union Way.?
Education news nuggets
Now that it's alright to Huck Finn the Constitution, why not give kids the right to vote?
Bringing playtime back
The New York Times ?most e-mailed? list can be hilarious in its predictability; as I write, the top three articles are about restoring children's play, cost-cutting travel tips, and strengthening individual marriages (where are the stories about getting accepted to college?and yoga?).
Stretching the School Dollar
Michael J. Petrilli, Marguerite Roza, Ph.D.This policy brief lists fifteen concrete ways that states can "stretch the school dollar" in these difficult financial times. It is written by Marguerite Roza, senior data and economics advisor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Michael J. Petrilli, executive vice president at the Fordham Institute.
Quotable & notable
??if there is a ?national standard,' what prevents the same people who are using the present ?standardized tests' from continuing to demonize teachers???* ?Joel Shatzky, Former English Professor at SUNY-Cortland
Stretching the School Dollar: A Brief for State Policymakers
This new policy brief lists fifteen concrete ways that states can ?stretch the school dollar? in these difficult financial times. Written by Marguerite Roza, senior data and economics advisor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Michael J.
Quotable & notable
?It is fundamentally wrong to divide students up according to their racial group and teach them separately.'' ?Tom Hone, Arizona superintendent of public instruction
Clunk
Ben Yagoda is an author and professor and on to something when he identifies a new-ish sort of bad writing, which he calls ?clunk.? One reads about pupils who blithely insert into school assignments text-message phrases such as LOL and various emoticons?e.g., . And perhaps this does frequently happen?
More Finn fight
Rarely do I agree with the New York Times editorial page; today I mostly do. The Times editorialists are ?horrified?
Instead of facing up to the budget crisis, the unions and their friends change the subject
Michael J. PetrilliThe New Year is shaping up just as I predicted, with Diane Ravitch and the teachers unions criticizing budget-cutting proposals but offering no real alternatives of their own.
Quotable & notable
?[The charter school] approach could decimate our school system and use our diversity against us.'' ? Gene Maeroff, President of Edison, New Jersey's School Board
Checker weighs in on tax break for home schoolers
Today's NY Times Room for Debate poses the question, Do Home Schoolers Deserve a Tax Break? The question explores one of the proposals of the new Republicans in Congress ?
A whole new world
From the Core Knowledge blog we learn that ?purists? are ?predictably crying censorship and political correctness?
Pearls before swine
Every so often some people get the idea that a masterpiece could use a bit of, well, changing, just tweaking, really, and just here and there, and so they go off and make the changes and then claim that what they've really done is made the masterpiece more ?accessible? and so have actually, in changing it, shown it the respect it of course deserves.
Fordham-sponsored KIPP Journey Academy making gains
Bianca SperanzaIn 2008 with Fordham as its authorizer, Ohio's first and only KIPP School moved into ?Linden Park, one of Columbus' poorest neighborhoods. The school had high hopes of providing area fifth and sixth graders with an excellent education.?
In case you missed it: 7 for '11
Michael J. PetrilliNote: This piece originally appeared in the December 22nd Education Gadfly. Love what you see? Sign up to receive the Gadfly in your inbox.
Unions on the run?
Peter MeyerThe New Jersey teacher whose public confrontation with the Garden State's Governor in September has become ?a YouTube classic?
Dear Cathy:
Peter Meyer?Monday is Cathleen P. Black's first day of school??so begins a provocative story by Elissa Gootman in the NY Times.?The Times asked some of New York City's ?most respected principals? to give the new Gotham schools Chancellor ?some advice.?
The best and worst of the ?best and worst of? lists
Michael J. PetrilliThe end (of 2010) is upon us, and edu-pundits everywhere are compiling their ?best and worst? lists for the Year of the Tiger. Here's my run-down of the lists themselves:
Peoples' Choice (via Google): Top 20 2010 education stories as of RIGHT NOW!*
Peter MeyerMike missed this for his best and worst?of the best and worst because it's late, as usual.?
News from New York: Black is good to go
Peter MeyerA New York judge dismissed three lawsuits seeking to keep publishing exec Cathleen Black from taking over the reins of the nation's largest public school system.
Shanghai's secret sauce: Hint?it's not in the Lo Mein
Peter MeyerAs if we didn't know, the NY Times reveals the secrets to China's recent success in the PISA tests:
Education News Nuggets
Amanda OlbergWe all know that money isn't everything, but with the faltering economy and shrinking budgets, it's probably a good idea to
Quotable & Notable
?The answer to the inherent difficulty of judging performance is not to simply throw up one's hands and pay anyone who manages to show up for work more often than not.'' * ? Megan McArdle, Business and Economics editor for The Atlantic
Education News Nuggets
Amanda OlbergHeads up to AT&T and Verizon: adjust your 2011 revenue projections accordingly, as advancements in technology and State Board of Education guidelines may reduce student cell ph