By the Company It Keeps: Derrell Bradford
Andy Smarick interviews Derrell Bradford, executive director of Better Education for Kids
Andy Smarick interviews Derrell Bradford, executive director of Better Education for Kids
One of three technical reports on retirement costs and school-district budgets.
...And only a few shameless Fordham plugs
Four years after the first report’s release, CREDO is out with an update
The second half of Andy's compilation of must-read recent publications
Andy Smarick interviews Mashea Ashton, CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund
Andy Smarick's latest interview is with Robin Lake, director of the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
One of three technical reports on retirement costs and school-district budgets.
When it comes to pension reform in the education realm, it’s hard to stay positive. Here, we’re saddled with a bona fide fiscal calamity (up to a trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities by some counts), and no consensus about how to rectify the situation. No matter how one slices and dices this problem, somebody ends up paying in ways they won’t like and perhaps shouldn’t have to bear. All we can say is that some options are less bad than others.
Observe what a low achievement bar these kinds of comparisons generally set
In favor of good old-fashioned school choice
Neerav Kingsland of New Schools for New Orleans outlines the basics of Relinquishment
Andy Smarick's picks of the week
Smith's new brief tells the story of the still-young Achievement School District in Tennessee
There's public, and then there's “public.”
Sage advice and news tidbits from Andy Smarick
Andy's picks, from Kansas City to CALDER
A new book from Sir Michael Barber, noted British education reformer, describes an effort to improve education in rural Pakistan
A collection of news and announcements
When charter schools first emerged more than two decades ago, they presented an innovation in public school governance. No longer would school districts enjoy the “exclusive franchise” to own and operate public schools, as chartering pioneer and advocate Ted Kolderie explained. Charters wouldn’t gain all of the independence of private schools—they would still report to a publicly accountable body, or authorizer—but they would be largely freed from the micromanagement of school boards, district bureaucracies, and union contracts. Autonomy, in exchange for accountability, would reign supreme.
Andy Smarick's pick of the news
Conducted jointly by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Public Impact, the new research study Searching for Excellence: A Five-City, Cross-State Comparison of Charter School Quality sheds light on charter performance — in Albany, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, and Indianapolis. These cities were highlighted because they have relatively large numbers of charter schools and charter school students. These are cities where charters have been part of the educational landscape for a decade or more. Read this exciting report today!
Keeping up with education headlines
In an era of budgetary belt tightening, state and local policy makers are finally awakening to the impact of teacher pension costs on their bottom lines. Recent reports demonstrate that such pension programs across the United States are burdened by almost $390 billion in unfunded liabilities. Yet, most states and municipalities have been taking the road of least resistance, tinkering around the edges rather than tackling systemic (but painful) pension reform. Is the solution to the pension crisis to offer teachers the option of a 401(k)-style plan (also known as a "defined contribution" or DC plan) instead of a traditional pension plan? Would this alternative appeal to teachers? When Teachers Choose Pension Plans: The Florida Story sets out to answer these questions.
Andy Smarick's pick of recent education news
The second of two posts on the past, present, and future of urban schooling
Earlier today on WAMU, Washington’s local NPR station, Kojo Nnamdi hosted a fascinating discussion on school boundaries, charter schools, and choice