Charter Schools: Hope or Hype?
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Jack Buckley and Mark SchneiderPrinceton University Press2007
Not so grumpy, after all
I commend last week's spotlight on Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and its 10th anniversary ("A happy anniversary," August 30, 2007). But your commentary confused two very different types of virtual schooling programs.
Right point, wrong lesson
Once upon a time, before U.S. schools were desegregated, the District of Columbia's Dunbar High School provided a top-flight education to the city's black elite and future leaders--so much so that families moved to Washington so their kids could go to school there.
Risky business
Chester E. Finn, Jr.Economics sage Bob Samuelson (my college classmate, if you're interested) wrote last week a characteristically perceptive column, titled "The Economic Catch-22." Observing that "We are now in the ‘blame phase' of the economic cycle," he asked whether peopl
Dissed Down Under
Gadfly doesn't consider himself a moral crusader, much less a moral alarmist. But he is--and The Australian newspaper is his mouthpiece.
Dressed for success?
Do not come to school in Indianapolis with your trousers sagging, your shirttail fluttering or your logo-flaunting apparel. For you shall be turned away. The city has just adopted a strict dress code. High school students, for example, must wear solid-colored shirts, either in white or their school's official color. Pants should be tan, black, or navy; go gray and go home.
Few plaudits for audits
The last several years have witnessed an explosion in the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses--a laudable trend, on the whole.
Wake up, Wake
Phi Delta Kappa's recent audit of the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System should be viewed with healthy skepticism. Case in point: the educators group recommended that Wake tighten its "very liberal" policy on "site-based decision making" (i.e., the central office should give principals less autonomy).