Oregon Governor Appoints Himself Superintendent of Schools
In a flurry of education bills passed last week, Oregon governor John Kitzhaber oversaw legislation to appoint an unlikely candidate for superintendent of schools: himself. Though many states have...
View ArticleMatt Damon’s Misguided March
Amid the thousands of teachers who organized on the White House lawn at the Save our Schools March last weekend, one in particular captured the attention of advocates and reporters alike. Actor Matt...
View ArticleThe market for ‘teacher voice’
The teachers unions are under attack—and not just from Scott Walker. In a recent white paper, Mitt Romney blamed the unions for gridlock and stagnation in American education. In the public discourse,...
View ArticleUnintended consequences of our teacher evaluation ‘binge’
Education is rife with contradictory statistics. Take, for instance, the situation in Chicago: In 2011, 54% of students graduated from high school; 99% of teachers were rated effective. The same year,...
View ArticleUnexpected education partnerships emerge in 2012 election
Education tends to produce some strange bedfellows. From right-leaning accountability hawks pairing with civil rights groups on the left to advocate for No Child Left Behind, to prominent Democrat...
View ArticleRethinking time, saving money
Yesterday, a group of civic and political leaders including Education Secretary Duncan, Governor Malloy of Connecticut, and Governor Hickenlooper from Colorado came together to celebrate a new...
View ArticleStandards for success: Challenges and opportunities for the Common Core on...
If you or your child recently took a standardized test, you might have noticed that the essay portion of the exam often asks students to write about… themselves. But does this kind of writing prepare...
View ArticleUncle Sam learns his lessons
Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that after two years of an impasse between the New York City teachers union and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the state would step in and impose...
View ArticleIt’s time to end the blame game in education
2012 saw its fair share of blame go around in education. School reformers blamed teachers unions for preserving the status quo. Unions blamed district leaders for budget cuts and stagnant pay. Some...
View ArticleExpectations and surprises at the ESEA waiver hearing
A rather typical group convened on Capitol Hill yesterday to discuss lessons learned from the first years of the Obama administration’s ESEA waiver plan. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and...
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