Today's conference--see the agenda below --brings together leaders of charter school networks, major funders, start-up curriculum companies (or "tool builders" in NewSchools-speak), policy types, and assorted "edu-preneurs."
We're only 15 minutes into the main event, and already two of my three questions have been resolved. Yes, someone has spoken about education... and that someone was none other than UFT president (and AFT heir apparent) Randi Weingarten.
I read Bob Herbert columns when I have trouble sleeping, and so it was that I noticed his piece, published Saturday, about high schools--how they're not preparing students for college and work, and how too many students drop out.
"If [teachers unions] are really really really so bad, then why wouldn't the schools in states that are union-free do so much better than the states that have unions?"
Andy Rotherham might not want to throw Randi tough questions, but D.C.
One clear message from today's conference is that Washington, D.C., is the new "it" city for education reform activity. The jealousy in the room is palpable. First, there's Michelle Rhee (speaking now), who is dynamic, entrepreneurial, and fearless.
After a long hiatus for lunch and some break-out sessions, the liveblogging returns. As someone who's helped to organize many an education conference, I can't help but be impressed by the full room this late in the day. It's either because: a) People really want to hear Newark mayor Cory Booker speak. (He's about to start.)
I'm hardly the first person to note the striking similarities between Cory Booker and Barack Obama. (Whitney Tilson, for example, discussed this connection long ago.) But their commonalities are overwhelming. Both men are black, highly educated, eloquent, inspirational, former community organizers and exude post-racial post-partisanship.
It's twenty minutes into his speech, and Cory Booker is finally starting to talk education. He describes walking into excellent charter schools in Newark--Northstar, KIPP--and seeing "what's possible."
We're throwing a little soiree at the Fordham offices. The crowd is filing in, and one question is on many minds: How's the food?
Don't let anyone tell you that ed reformers are a ragged bunch. The crew I'm observing right now is as sartorially sophisticated as they come. Especially noteworthy: Ben Wildavsky, wearing a particularly natty sport coat, and our own Amber Winkler, whose skirt is multi-hued, multi-pleated, and strikes one as a fresh burst of springtime.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to be the education governor of California.
Flypaper readers may not know that above Fordham's palatial new offices sits a well-appointed roof deck. And it features quite a nice view. Checker just noted that from one edge you can see the Washington Monument rising behind the White House and at the other end the National Education Association headquarters. Paragons of liberty, both.
Dean Millot at Edbizbuzz seems to think so.
Corey Bower seems to think so.
Clearly blogging is having a dumbing-down effect on my punditry. Though it is silly ("unwise"? "counter-productive"?
Now that Sol Stern has completely ruffled the feathers of the "whatever wo
A post from guest blogger and Fordham board member Diane Ravitch.
Video games supposedly made America's youth lazy and fat; maybe video games can make them active and lean.
Yesterday's Sunday Times (UK) featured a piece on New York City's student pay-for-performance plan, spearheaded by Harvard ec
Washington Post reporter Daniel de Vise writes today that high schools are scaling back "honors" courses as they boost their AP and IB offerings.
Nothing is more emblematic of the rampant intellectual incoherence and moral equivalence of our age than the current debate about whether Bill Ayers is a "terrorist." Dean Millot at Edbizbuzz calls Mike a "McCarthyite"--one of the most vicious slanders in the po
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story titled "No Child Left Behind Lacks Bite." Not in Washington, D.C., it doesn't.
Plenty of bad ideas make their way from the business world to education, but here's a good one: replicate successful school models via franchising. That's the argument made by business writer Julie Bennett in an essay in the new Education Next.??
To see but one example of why we can't trust local school boards to lead meaningful reform efforts, see this post from the National School Boards Association (NSBA).
For those??who doubt that competition has positive effects on public-school systems, this article , from the Houston Chronicle , is instructive.
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist/political cartoonist??David Horsey comments on the now-disbanded Office of Equity, Race, and Learning Support of Seattle Public Schools.
With overwhelming votes in its House and Senate, South Carolina is racing to revamp its state assessment system and, apparently, lower its standards dramatically. The Spartansburg Herald Journal says:
Flypaper is the source for this Chroncle of Higher Education story, which profiles McCain's education team. We revealed McCain's edvisors last week, here.
