State board likes the governor's plans even without the details

The State Board of Education passed a resolution last week (15-2, with two members absent) commending Gov. Strickland's education reform plan (see here).

A Longitudinal Analysis of Charter School Performance in Oakland Unified School District

California Charter Schools AssociationJanuary 2009A new report from the California Charter School Association indicates Oakland-area charter schools are out-performing their public district-school peers (see here).

The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School

ACT, Inc.2009

Why not national standards for big-city school districts?

Randi (Weingarten) turned in a dandy (op-ed) yesterday in the Washington Post making the case for national standards in education:

21st century skills...in the 19th century

Did Abe Lincoln have 21st century skills? Definitely.

Where 21st century skills belong

Amidst much of the haggling over 21st century skills, we often forget why the two sides disagree. It's not that those thought of as "against" 21st century skills don't think they're of any value. Quite to the contrary. 21st century skills--adaptability, critical thinking skills, ability to manipulate new media--are all good things for students to learn.

Targeting for-profit charter schools

The largest education slush fund in history

The details are starting to emerge from the stimulus bill (which the House has already approved, so you'd hope the details would be out).

Unionizing charters... maybe not?

We were all sort of shocked a few weeks ago when KIPP AMP and another KIPP school in New York reached out the New York United Federation of Teachers.

Saving (more) Catholic schools

We wrote yesterday in the Gadfly??that??four New York City Catholic schools will be saved by going charter.

Better late than never

I dallied yesterday in announcing the BIG NEWS: Gadfly is (and has been for almost 24 hours) out. (I hope I have not caused you undue pain and suffering in my tardiness.) In the top spot, find??Mike and Checker's advice for Arne.

Happy birthday, Charles Darwin!

According to this New York Times column, the father of modern biology, who was born 200 years ago today,??would be "pleased,??but not surprised" by the developments in genetics and other fields that have furthered our understanding of evolution and natural selection.

Massachusetts miracle

This letter to the editor is worth reading: To the Editor:

Advice for Arne

Checker and I have some, about how to implement the stimulus package,??in this week's Gadfly. Here's a snippet:

Re: Happy birthday, Charles Darwin!

Americans may be skeptical on evolution, but Darwin would surely not approve of this solution: "Darwinism Must Die So That Evolution May Live."

On the outside looking in

As tough economic times spread from coast to coast, a glance at the evening news offers images of hardship and despair. Down-on-their-luck workers standing in unemployment lines; small businesses shuttered; foreclosure notices on house after house. But here's another sorry sign of the times: more schools slamming doors shut to keep certain children out.

Green valentines

Traditionalists often lament the disappearance of letter-writing, personal notes, and other niceties of a time gone by. But have they ever considered the environmental impact of all that stationery? Ruth Loucks's fourth and fifth graders at Brant Central School in Southwestern Ontario have such matters on their minds.

Million dollar teachers

Calling all recent unemployed college grads! Hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of teachers in the Anne Arundel County, Maryland school district earn over $100,000 per year in salary alone, not to mention extremely generous benefits and a guaranteed pension that can bank as much $2 million buckaroos for a person of normal life expectancy.

More charter school unionization

If the decline of Catholic schools is disturbing trend number one, this is disturbing trend numero dos: highly celebrated and successful charter schools being unionized.

Bloomberg bails out Brooklyn's Catholic schools

Will New York's mayor henceforth be known as Michael "Noah" Bloomberg? Perhaps, if the bishop of the Brooklyn diocese, Nicholas DiMarzio, could rename him. DiMarzio recently likened the former financial guru to the Ark's captain for throwing the diocese a "lifeline" after the two agreed on a plan to convert four struggling Catholic schools to charters.

Still going strong

In case you were curious about last week's Gadfly email title ("Time to retire"), we are here to assure you: neither we nor Mr. Gadfly are planning to superannuate. Our email server, which tends to have a mind of its own, snipped off the last half of our feature editorial's appellation.

Win one for the Gippar?

Gadfly must have been thinking fondly back to the days of yore when he misspelled the first name of one of our guest editorialists. The Center for American Progress's Mr. Miller spells his first name Raegen not Raegan.

Advice for Arne

At press time, your boss's stimulus package was hurtling toward final passage. We still don't know how much you're getting of what you wanted. But one thing is certain: you're going to have more discretion over more federal dollars than any education secretary in history. Which is not entirely a blessing. Remember the adage, "be careful what you wish for"?

Trends in preschool lead exposure, mental retardation, and scholastic achievement: Association or causation?

Rick Nevin, National Center for Healthy HousingJournal of Environmental ResearchJanuary 2009

Report Card on American Education: A State-by-State Analysis, 15th Edition

Andrew LeFevreAmerican Legislative Exchange Council2008

Pushing for teacher pension reform

Perhaps the only thing related to K-12 education that Ohio's governor and lawmakers aren't talking about ???????fixing??????? is the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS). Odd, as few things are more outdated and in need of reform than the pension system.

Reform-o-Meter update: The Obama Administration so far

After last week's bursts of Reform-o-Meter ratings, it's been all quiet on the Southwestern (Maryland Avenue) front.

Stimulus deal

Get the minute-by-minute at Education Week's Politics K-12??blog.

What a difference $1 billion makes

How conservatives can avoid saying 'no'

AEI's Rick Hess (our Gadfly Show co-host) picks up on some themes elaborated at last week's ???Left at the Altar???