Duncan donuts and coffee with Spellings?

Charter School Authorizers in SREB States: A Call for Accountability

Southern Regional Education BoardNovember 2008The Southern Regional Education Board has identified key elements to gauge the success of charter schools (see here).

Coming soon: Fordham probes the brain drain

When 30 Ohio college students were interviewed in November at three of the state's top universities, they were asked to play what researcher Steve Farkas calls the "finish the sentence game."

Study says school finance system prevents education reform

A six-year, $6-million study of the American school-finance system has determined what many education experts conclude every day-that the system is broken and must be reformed before any true long-term education fix can be fashioned.

Grappling with weighted student funding in a billion-dollar ed. plan

The State Board of Education will vote next week on a new method of allocating and spending education dollars as well as a call to boost state K-12 spending by $1 billion.

AG Rogers: Admit it, you just don't have a case

There's a good chance-logically speaking-that Attorney General Nancy Rogers will not appeal the latest rejection of the state's claim that a poorly performing charter school violates the Ohio charitable trust law (see here).

Is Spellings rolling the dice with federal student loans?

In light of the current financial calamity, was this really the best location for this speech? From Education Daily: Spellings to speak today in Las Vegas

Joel Klein, staying alive

The daily tracking poll grinds on, as our Washington Insiders* beg for President-Elect Obama to announce his domestic policy team, and in a hurry.

Fordham in the news...

In a City Journal review of the new Malcolm Gladwell book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Laura Vanderkam praises his prose and calls it an "engaging" read.

Roland Fryer on Colbert Report

Harvard economist Roland Fryer made an appearance on The Colbert Report last night to discuss his new system of incentivizing students to learn more by paying them for good grades

Lou Gerstner: Nationalize education

Former IBM head Lou Gerstner, no doubt building off his appearance at the

Rhee's moment in TIME

It's hard not to root for Michelle Rhee, the butt-kicking, straight-talking, no-nonsense Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Chances are, the next education secretary will be from Chicago

It's week four of Fordham's name-the-next-education-secretary-daily-tracking poll, and yes, Arne Duncan is still in the lead. By a lot. Which means, according to one colleague of mine, that he probably won't get the job. If not, maybe another Chicagoan will: Oprah Winfrey.

Arne Duncan soars in ed secretary poll

Arne Duncan carries nearly 40% of our Insiders' votes, soaring high above even his closest competition - Klein, Sebelius, Canada, and Darling-Hammond. But which one of these contenders will dare to pluck his wings? It might be Klein, given that our Insiders increased their support for him today, changing his percentage from 6.3% to 9.8%.

Happy Thanksgiving from Fordham!

The Thomas B.

Walking the walk: Fordham's charter school sponsorship report

From Emmy Partin, Fordham's writer and researcher in the Ohio office:

"A Byte at the Apple" event Nov. 17, 2008: Panel 3

Mike's on CNN!

Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video" mce_href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a>

The big picture on high school reform

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

"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

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.

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.

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"

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.