May 11, 2012
Whether one questions college and high school national rankings or not, everyone grabs for U.S. News & World Report’s issues that rate schools nationwide. We may quibble with which one is assigned top dog and which comes in third, but overall there is a sense that somehow the rating does justice to the service provided. […]
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May 3, 2012
Why is this woman protesting the creation of new options for parents – as some of those parents look on – when she most likely doesn’t live in a bad school zone and clearly doesn’t have a clue as to the plight of people who do? Crusading for universal pre-school is all fine and dandy, […]
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March 23, 2012
‘Do not Pass Go’, ‘Do Not Collect $200’, unless you’ve read “National Security Issue” from the Las Vegas Journal: “It could hardly get more clear: The performance of the public schools has become so bad that even a bipartisan, middle-of-the road panel says the low educational attainment of our younger generations threatens American security.” READ […]
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February 9, 2012
The move by states to secure waivers to NCLB requirements is intended to provide more flexibility to their school districts so that – as the theory goes – states and communities can respond to mounting national pressure to deliver better education. If only it were that easy. The reality is that these chiefs – regardless […]
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January 17, 2012
The fight for true educational justice and equality for kids suffered a setback this week with the release of a much-hyped report purportedly offering a broad overview and ranking of the country’s 42 charter school laws. Only 20 or so of the 41 states (and the District of Columbia) that provide a home to charter […]
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January 4, 2012
A longtime debate surrounding charter schools is whether or not those that are not working – for whatever reason – are closed. Our new report, which provides the first-ever national analysis of charter school closures, finds a movement very much accountable for its contract and commitment to quality educational options. Since 1992, 15 percent, or […]
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December 20, 2011
I might not be Santa, but I love his philosophy! There comes a time in everyone’s life (and for me it’s now) where one’s tolerance for injustice becomes too much. For the Occupy movement, that means taking over public parks and becoming an ever-present obstacle to remind people of their positions. Like it or hate […]
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December 13, 2011
What’s wrong with the NY Times article, "Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools"?
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December 7, 2011
Demonstrating once again the power of being number 1 (as in, the NUMBER 1 Strongest Law in the nation), the independent authorizer for DC charter schools has created and yesterday announced the results of a new performance accountability system aimed at tracking in real time the performance and growth of all the students in its […]
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December 6, 2011
I just read a piece in the New York Times by someone who actually writes for a living, and who lives in DC, say that she’d rather have bad neighborhood schools remain open, than have a choice to send her child to a public school that might actually be working. She is angry with people […]
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