California legislators abandoned a bill that would have overhauled state rules on teacher evaluations and reduced the role of test scores in them. Apparently the California teacher union's power has limits after all—and Golden State children get to enjoy the benefits of them.
As school starts around the country, students are more likely to be taught by rookies than ever before. The cause is a rising teacher attrition rate: Forty to fifty percent of new teachers are likely to leave the profession within five years. How high must turnover rates go before districts, unions, and the public realize that compensation systems stacked in favor of veteran educators through rich retirement benefits and seniority-based pay scales do little to keep the next generation of teachers in classrooms?
Students and educators in Hong Kong are protesting a new curriculum they say is intended to brainwash children into supporting the Chinese government. This episode offers a good example of what many conservatives fear from a national curriculum—and how little the Common Core resembles such a curriculum, despite what critics claim.
Teach For America corps members started work in Ohio the same week that the New York Times hosted a Room for Debate on whether TFA actually works. The status quo certainly doesn't and getting bright young people invested in Ohio's education challenges may help build the foundation for long-term education progress in the Buckeye State.
