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Quotable & Notable
?The effectiveness of a teacher is far and away the single greatest determinant in closing the shameful achievement gap.? * Christopher D. Cerf, Incoming Education Commissioner of New Jersey
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Hero worship, Michelle Rhee style
This email landed in my inbox over the weekend. I know it's a ?pitch,? but still, it's a little over the top, don't you think? And an eight page spread of never-before-seen photos? Education reform has really gone glitzy. Dear Mike,
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Education News Nuggets
Isn't it supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year? Apparently not for everyone.
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Pass the anchovies: What's with Singapore Math and Sputnik?
My friend Barry Garelick has a great take on the meaning of the recent American scores on the PISA tests.?
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Best and worst in 2010: Get ye to the polls!
The Education Next polls are still open.? You get to choose from a list of key education events chosen by Hoover's Koret Task force.
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What school districts and the prison system really have in common
According to an Alabama Press-Register report, neither schools nor students nor even teachers were the big winners from the state's education stimulus dollars. That accolade goes to Alabama's inmates and its prison system. And it was all perfectly legal.
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Quotable & Notable
?Everyone went to school, so everyone thinks they are an expert, but they don't understand how hard it is to be a good teacher.'' * Christopher Cerf, nominated to become New Jersey's next Education Commissioner
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Hot topic in the Windy City
The foreword to our Tracking and Detracking report (December, 2009) is quoted prominently in a recent Chicago Tribune editorial.
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No Mecca, no way!
In what may be a perfect example of a hard case making for bad law, the Department of Justice, according to the Associated Press, is suing a suburban Chicago school district for not letting a Muslim middle school teacher make a pilgrimage to M
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Crossing the Hudson: Cerf to Trenton
One-time NYC deputy schools chancellor Christopher Cerf has been appointed commissioner of education for New Jersey. Not a surprising choice, given Governor Chris Christie's determination ?to remake the Garden State's schools.
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Pump your brakes
Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of D.C.'s public schools, told an audience at the Manhattan Institute on Wednesday that ?her appointment?[as D.C. schools chancellor]?three years ago was met with nearly identical opposition to that being faced by incoming New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black,?
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Cerf's new turf
Chris Cerf, the former New York City deputy schools chancellor, will be the new education commissioner of the state of New Jersey. ?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
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Education News Nuggets
While Cathie Black spends a day working as a substitute teacher and opens a twitter account, students in Oregon get a
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Greene v. Dillon: Drill & kill or tests & curriculum?
Jay Greene's kerfuffle with the New York Times' education reporter Sam Dillon is fascinating because Times reporters rarely engage their critics.
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Quotable & Notable
?She's shown in her experience in business that she can run a multibillion-dollar organization, that she can turn something around, so I don't think her lack of experience in education disqualifies her [Cathie Black].? * Michelle Rhee, Former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools
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Washington micro-managers, there you go again
After months of inactivity on Capitol Hill, D.C. is humming today as the Omnibus Appropriations bill rushes toward completion. It's not a pretty picture to watch, particularly as the supposedly reform-friendly Obama Administration sells its soul in order to keep its beloved Race to the Top program alive. (OK, ?sells its soul?
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Starbucks Stadium at Halliburton High
The New York Times reported yesterday that, on Tuesday night, the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District ?unanimously approved a plan . . . to allow the district to seek corporate sponsorships as a way to get money to the schools.?
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The party of ?no??
United Teachers Los Angeles held a news conference yesterday, at which its brass proclaimed that they were not ?the villains of education.?
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Food for thought
Julie Gunlock, a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum,* writes on NRO that the newly signed Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will ?lead to a greater
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Education News Nuggets
Still stressed out about final exams? Worried that more college isn't a cure-all?
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The Tenure Slog
Adding to Liam's Tough Time for Tenure post, I wanted to call attention to a few more details, per the Times' t
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Boo-Hoo, Part 2
Gail Collins weighs in?on our bawling Speaker?elect in this morning's Times. She too noted the school connection during?the?60 Minutes story on John Boehner, pointing out that?
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Quotable & Notable
?You cannot be trusted to provide your child a nutritious meal because ultimately the government is smarter than you.'' * Julie Gunlock, Senior Fellow, Independent Women's Forum, on the Child Nutrition Bill
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Reform School: Tony Bennett
We call it ?Reform School: Lessons from Today's Leading Reformers.? We'll hear from Education Reformers in their own words. Our very first comes from Tony Bennett, the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. Who would you like to hear from?? Comment below or send us a Tweet with #reformschool
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Even under the best of circumstances, turnarounds fail
There's plenty of sobering news in Fordham's new report, Are Bad Schools Immortal? The Scarcity of Turnarounds and Shutdowns in Both Charter and District Sectors.
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Class Warfare, Republican Style
Politicians clearly revel in class warfare. Democrats?always rage at the well-to-do and try to present themselves as champions of the less prosperous. (See current goings-on in Congress regarding federal income and estate taxes.)
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He's fed up
Last week the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, while speaking in front of?loads of legislators?at a public forum of the Public Policy Institute of California, said this: ?At every step of the way, when Los Angeles was coming together to effect real change in our public schools, UTL
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Stuff is going down down south
During the Florida gubernatorial campaign, most voters were paying attention to then-candidate Rick Scott's past?as head of a hospital chain that paid $1.7 billion in fines in the largest Medicare fraud case in history. Now that Scott is the governor-elect, those voters (and?the press)?are turning their focus to the policy plans he released several months ago.