Education news nuggets
It's not a joke -- New York's RTT application requested money for office furniture.
It's not a joke -- New York's RTT application requested money for office furniture.
It's not a joke ? New York's RTT application requested money for office furniture.
A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down from the Thomas B. Boredom Finnstitute.
A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down from the Thomas B. Boredom Finnstitute.
???I think there needs to be an explanation from the systems that choose not to do it.?? I think they owe their taxpaying constituents in those districts an explanation as to why they wouldn't choose to participate, quite frankly.??? ???Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio
?I think there needs to be an explanation from the systems that choose not to do it.? I think they owe their taxpaying constituents in those districts an explanation as to why they wouldn't choose to participate, quite frankly.? ?Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio
Although I was pleased that Secretary Duncan chose only two states in the first round of the Race to the Top, we need to remember that there is well over $3 billion left in the kitty.?? He has estimated that 10 to 15 more grants could be made in the second round.
I've been going through state RTT scores, and based on what I'm seeing, I'm becoming convinced that states should refuse to capitulate to stakeholder demands to weaken their applications. I'm growing confident that states that put together bold proposals can win in the second round even if a significant number of their unions and districts refuse to sign on.
The crux of many education reform arguments is to shift the age-old conversation over what inputs we should mandate to a conversation about what outcomes we should be driving towards, measuring, and holding states, districts, schools and teachers accountable to.
We mourn the passing of Jaime Escalante, one of America's foremost educators in the late 20th century, a cla
There has been much written about Secretary Duncan's decision to choose only Delaware and Tennessee for first round winners in the Race to the Top.?? Perhaps the decision was easier than people think. [quote]
About a week ago, Tim Hoffine from the Ohio office, wrote up the recent NPR debate on the influence of teachers unions on America's schools. I'd also strongly commend it to you.
Reactions continue on RTT, and stakeholder support is the big winner (well, other than
???No one is protecting the status quo.?? No one is saying they're doing well enough.??? ???Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education
Over the weekend, David Broder argued that education should be the next issue on the Congressional agenda, and that it could be a rare chance for a bipartisan victory.
Later today, we'll find out which states have been selected as winners in the first round of the Race to the Top. The Department's announcement will answer three burning questions: How many? Why???Which?
The selection of DE and TN answers the questions I posed this morning--not necessarily in the ways I wanted, but we got answers nonetheless. First, both state had good plans. Not great plans but certainly good. And the Department deserves credit for selecting only two states. Secretary Duncan was tougher in choosing winners than in choosing finalists, and I give him credit for that.
The Department of Education has released the final peer reviewers' scores for Race to the Top (RTT) finalists. I find it very worrisome.
"I think the process was robust. We literally met with thousands of people who expressed their views. We heard them, and in the end, we disagreed." ??? Joel Klein, New York City Schools Chancellor
Montana didn't apply in the first round of the Race to the Top. ??At the time, its state superintendent said the program was pushing an urban agenda on rural states. Eric Feaver, the state union head, called it "devastating and irrational" and vowed to "do everything in our power" to keep the state from applying.
If you haven't read Andy's new "Stimulus Watch" piece from the American Enterprise Institute, get right on it.
So I'm a little mad that my NCAA bracket is doing so poorly. (I'm last place in the Fordham pool by a lot. I've only got two teams still in it--Duke and West Virginia. That's what I get for not watching basketball all season long. But I digress.)
That's at least the conclusion of CNS news, which reports that the 3,000 White House Easter Egg Roll tickets set aside for DC students are restricted to public and charter school students only. DC parochial and private school students need not apply.
Yesterday at a meeting of Ohio's School Funding Advisory Council ??? the group tasked with drafting state education spending recommendations by the end of the year -- council members got to hear from the man behind the ???magic??? of the evidence-based school funding model (EBM) that Ohio recently adopted.
I just heard Arne Duncan speak at a Policy Innovators in Education Network conference, and he indicated that we'll know shortly which states will take home the prize in Race to the Top's round one. He also reiterated--for about the thousandth time--that it's going to be a "very very" high bar.
So I warn the "entrepreneurial sector" in advance of the NewSchools Summit on May 12. -Mike Petrilli