January 26, 2010
Four things you are guaranteed not to hear in Wednesday night’s SOTU: “While a little nerve-wracking for us around the White House, November elections by the people of New Jersey and Virginia solidified what will be an exciting opportunity for those states to break from the status quo and embrace the education reforms of their […]
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January 18, 2010
In my junior year of high school, I was caught red handed not signed up for a Fall sports team (we were required to participate in one every season). I was guilty, had no defense, was unceremoniously marched over to the cross-country team and “volunteered”. For the record, this was and remains the harshest punishment […]
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January 12, 2010
Today’s speech by Randi Weingarten of the AFT exemplifies what’s wrong with teachers unions and their control over America’s education system. Randi made news today by announcing that she’d be willing to incorporate student test data in teacher evaluations-but she also listed a litany of other things (including “portfolios”) that should be included. I’m not […]
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December 2, 2009
When is a charter law not a charter law? When is a charter school not a charter school? Ask Mississippi. Like a thief in the night, July 1st of this year came and went, slipping out the back door with the Magnolia State’s charter law as legislators allowed it to sunset without even a word. […]
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November 24, 2009
Despite the adage that you get more bees with honey, I will not sit idly by and allow Congressman Jose Serrano, Democrat from Bronx, NY, write an opinion for The Washington Post that is layered with obfuscation and misperceptions, without calling him on it. Serrano is suddenly the focus of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program‘s […]
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September 28, 2009
Tomorrow, on his continuing education tour, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be joined in Philadelphia by two gentlemen who because of their obvious differences on many levels are called the Odd Couple of education. I applaud strange bedfellows – when they make things happen for kids. With this one, I’m not so sure. The first […]
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September 24, 2009
“Explosive” results of a comprehensive, multi-year analysis of charter schools in New York City find students in charters more poor, more disadvantaged and from homes with lesser educational background, but closing the achievement gap by as much as 86 percent in math and 66 percent in reading. So why is that news relegated to Page […]
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September 17, 2009
Senator Durbin used Wednesday’s hearing on Washington, DC public schools to broadcast what feels like a last ditch effort on his part to remove continuation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program from consideration, and frankly, making thinly veiled accusations of mismanagement and fraud when he himself admits to lacking all of the details speaks of […]
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September 4, 2009
(This post originally appeared on Politico‘s The Arena) The noise about President Obama’s impending speech to schoolchildren Tuesday is muffling the real issues. While the President has every right to address any segment of the nation on any subject – and we all have the right to voluntarily listen or not – it’s both the […]
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