Mike's on CNN!

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The big picture on high school reform

Education Trust and Achieve have it, and share it, here.

Lou Gerstner: Joel Klein is a hero

And so are the folks leading the Washington, DC and New Orleans school systems (hint: Michelle Rhee and Paul Vallas), said the former head of IBM in a recent CEO forum sponsored by the Wall Street Journal

Obama's delicate dance

Oh sure, the economy is imploding and the President-Elect is considering a stimulus at least as large as what America's spends on schools in an entire year, but what we education wonks can't help but wonder is which way Obama will go on??k-12 policy.

Portfoliogate figure to head the DPC

Melody Barnes, whose comment on the Diane Rehm show sparked much speculation about Team Obama's position on testing and portfolios, is going to direct the Domestic Policy Council.

A slam dunk for Duncan?

It's week three of Fordham's name-the-next-education-secretary daily tracking poll, and Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan has moved into a commanding lead, with better odds of getting the job than the next five candidates combined.

"A Byte at the Apple" panel highlights

Catch highlights from last Monday's panel discussions on Fordham's latest book, "A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era."

Mike scheduled to appear on CNN Tuesday morning

Eye opening

Speaking of David Whitman's schools, I recently had the chance to visit a charter school of the kind he describes in Sweating the Small Stuff, and it was sobering.

Nebraska amends Safe Haven Law

Hallelujah!?? We've already made it quite clear how we feel about this??here and here. I will refrain from commenting further.

Obama chooses Sidwell

Seems the Obamas finally decided where Sasha and Malia will go to school: Sidwell Friends. Since it's in Maryland, its elementary school, at least, does not participate in the DC voucher program... which means breathing room for the President-Elect on that front.

Joanne Jacobs is a nag, and so are David Whitman's schools

Joanne Jacobs, whose eponymous blog is among the most dominant in the edusphere, pens a

Michael Lomax moves into second place, while the Bill Richardson balloon deflates

Arne Duncan's lead is bigger than ever in the quest to replace Margaret Spellings. One friend of mine urges me to just accept that he's the guy. Well, that's probably true. Meanwhile, United Negro College Fund president Michael Lomax is working his way up the ladder, and now appears to be the pick as the Arne-alternative.

Weighted Student Funding does more than rearrange "inputs"

Gates' self scrutiny

Fordham Board member Diane Ravitch takes to the (web)pages of Forbes.com to discuss the Gates' small schools movement. It was a well-intentioned effort, she argues, but ultimately not the "silver bullet" the Gates Foundation had hoped.

Janet Napolitano out of the running for education secretary job

It looks like she's going to lead the Department of Homeland Security instead. I've said it before and I'll say it again: keep your eyes on Bill Richardson.

It's the states, stupid (part II)

There's a growing consensus among conservative smarties that the key to the GOP's renewal is getting t

Reader contest: Name the right backdrop for Margaret Spellings's portrait!

I'm still waiting for my invitation, but a source passed this along to me: Please Save The Date The Portrait Unveiling of Secretary Spellings Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008

Bill Richardson bounds into third place in the race for the education secretary job

I may have been the first person to predict that the ed sec job will go to Bill Richardson, but I'm no longer the only one who thinks it's a real possibility.

"A Byte at the Apple" event Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 1

"A Byte at the Apple" event, Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 2

Disturbing development

New York Times columnist David Brooks began his June 13th piece with a question: "Is Barack Obama really a force for change, or is he just a traditional Democrat with a patina of postpartisan rhetoric?"

Brain dead

Isn't the show over when the fat lady sings? Not for these four chronically failing schools in Miami-Dade. The story goes something like this: four schools that have consistently earned "F's" on Florida's state report card were slated to close at the end of last year.

School kids with lice--no dice?

Should the louse, that age-old creepy crawly elementary school pest, keep kids out of school? That's what a few school districts in Ohio are pondering. Some have strict "no nit" policies, insisting that kids can only return when all signs of lice are gone. Others take a more live and let live approach, permitting students to stay in class while being treated for their pesky visitors.

Randi's rewind

Ah, the two faces of Randi Weingarten. Perhaps overcome with election-induced fuzzies, she boldly proclaimed on Monday: "with the exception of vouchers... no issue should be off the table, provided it is good for children and fair to teachers." Reformers, take heart!

A byte at the apple

Education data sorely need a transformation.

What Happens When States Have Genuine Alternative Certification?

Paul E. Peterson and Daniel NadlerEducation NextWinter 2009

Reading First Impact Study Final Report

Abt AssociatesNovember 2008

A Tale of Two Districts: A Comparative Study of Student-Based Funding and School-Based Decision Making in San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts

Jay Chambers, Larisa Shambaugh, Jesse Levin, Mari Muraki, Lindsay PolandAmerican Institutes for ResearchOctober 2008

Will Obama kill education reform?

It's a good question. When he made Linda Darling-Hammond (cue: Mike groaning) his lead education advisor, we thought the odds were good.