A few things to note as I clean out my inbox and notebook at the end of the week:
1.) I’ve neglected to mention the extent of NEA’s presence at the House hearing on Monday. The union had at least one of its members from every congressional district represented on the Education and Labor Committee. The union brigade stood out with their red-and-white stickers that said: “A Child is More Than a Test Score.” I saw them talking to several members of the committee in the hallway. You can read Joe Williams’ take on it at his blog for Democrats for Education Reform.
2.) If you’re like Sherman Dorn and just have to read all of the testimony from Monday’s hearing, here’s the link for you. It looks as if all the statements are up.
3.) Americans for the Arts unveiled its NCLB recommendations Thursday at a wine-and-cheese reception at the Kennedy Center in Washington. They would like schools to use federal funds to ensure disadvantaged students have access to arts education and a national effort to improve assessments of kids’ artistic abilities. You can read all of the background here.
4.) James Kohlmoos of the Knowledge Alliance has this essay comparing Sept. 10, 2001 and Sept. 10, 2007. On both days, he notes important events where he and others tried to create the perfect accountability system. He also notes on both days that, as important as the NCLB issues are, our country faces defense questions that trump them.
5.) To call me Andy Rotherham’s “beloved” is just plain silly. My relationship with Andy is like ones I have with dozens of sources in the 16 years I’ve written about education policy. It’s often friendly, sometimes confrontational, and always respectful. Those dynamics weren’t apparent when I wrote only for print. Now that I’m blogging, it’s transparent. And that’s all for the good, I think.
