School & District Management Blog

edbizbuzz

Public education’s core functions are teaching and learning, an endeavor in which private enterprise plays a growing role. Edbizbuzz was an opinion blog offering a perspective on this emerging school improvement industry. This blog is no longer being updated.

School & District Management Opinion School Improvement of RFP of the Week (2): First Steps To a Federal Infrastructure for K-12 Online?
Today, firms like Blackboard and K12 own the k-12 information turnpike, on and off ramps, filling stations, rest stops, long-haul vehicles, and much of its workforce.When/if the feds own the channel, service and content become king and the fragmentation of market providers inevitable. Prices and profits will fall.
Marc Dean Millot, May 27, 2008
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3 min read
School & District Management Opinion School Improvement RFP of the Week (I): Can We Expect Independent Program Evaluation if It’s Not Put Out to Bid?
DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, DC City Council, American Enterprise Resident Scholar Frederick Hess, Brown University Professor Kenneth Wong, the Public Education Fund, and those with an interest in objective reviews take note.
Marc Dean Millot, May 27, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (VI): What About Petrilli's Memo?
I was absolutely stunned to read Petrilli’s post. I was not surprised to see such remarks in the blogosphere, and not necessarily from Mike Petrilli - although I had no idea of his experience or interest in national security or law. I was very surprised to see such a statement from Fordham’s number two.
Marc Dean Millot, May 23, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (V): Petrilli v. Eduwonkette
Petrilli called Ayers a terrorist and suggested a moral shortcoming that AREA should address. Eduwonkette did not answer in kind, but implied that some might question the moral stature of Edwin Meese and Donald Rumsfeld, and ask members of the Hoover Institute to boot them.
Marc Dean Millot, May 23, 2008
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6 min read
Education Opinion Making the Most of Industry Awards
Participating in awards programs strengthens your company’s reputation, boosts morale,and helps with recruiting efforts. The news also fares well with board members and investors. Most importantly,awards build awareness of your company in the education industry.
Marc Dean Millot, May 23, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (IV): In The Interest of Full Disclosure (Cont.)
Ayers views on education are inconsequential, in the sense that they are not the basis of teaching and learning in many America schools or classrooms. The philosophical bases of the pedagogies proposed by Ayers on the left or E.D. Hirsch on the right are so far over the heads of teachers and administrators that their debate is quite literally "purely academic."
Marc Dean Millot, May 22, 2008
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7 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (IV): In the Interest of Full Disclosure
Ayers' decision to form the Weatherman was a huge mistake. Bombings carried out by the Weathermen were illegal.
Marc Dean Millot, May 22, 2008
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5 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (III): Right v. Left
If the center of the AERA’s political gravity lies near the Democratic Party’s social liberal left, Fordham and Manhattan lean towards the Republican Party’s social conservative right. There's nothing inherently subversive or wrong with either group's relationships or objectives. It's just a description of facts on the ground and of the protagonists in our "culture wars."
Marc Dean Millot, May 22, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (II): The Education Angle
The Story Breaks
William Ayers, now a professor at the University Illinois - Chicago, was a founding member of the Weather Underground. To summarize and simplify solely for the purpose of starting this discussion (more detail to follow), the Weathermen bombed government buildings to protest America’s prosecution of the Vietnam War. In the wake of September 11, bombings are understandably a matter of great sensitivity to all Americans. Independent of this, the Weathermen are a “hot button” issue for most Americans old enough to have become engaged in domestic politics from the late 1960’s to the late 1970’s. When it was revealed in February 2008 that Ayers is/was an acquaintance/friend/colleague/ally of Democratic Presidential contender Barak Obama, the professor’s personal history created a campaign issue that is likely to remain into November.
Marc Dean Millot, May 22, 2008
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6 min read
Education Opinion The Ayers Affair (I): Introduction
The debate around former Weatherman William Ayers - his past activities, his political philosophy, his views on education, his personal and professional relationships, and the individuals and organizations who have those relationships - says far mare about the nature of policymaking in public education than many realize.
Marc Dean Millot, May 22, 2008
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2 min read
School & District Management Opinion School Improvement RFP of the Week (2)
K-12 education agencies request private sector assistance with message and outreach strategies all the time. I don’t know how the practice compares with other agencies but, as the Bush Administration can tell you, it's a problematic area.
Marc Dean Millot, May 20, 2008
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3 min read
School & District Management Opinion School Improvement RFP of the Week (1)
Open source software is not free and it has its security vulnerabilities. On the other hand, it is inherently more flexible, and the security of proprietary software is not always air-tight either.
Marc Dean Millot, May 20, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion Reply to Ravitch on McCarthyism in the K-12 Debate
Respectfully.... I did not call Mike a McCarthyite in my initial posting on the subject, although I did say his approach heads us in that direction.
Marc Dean Millot, May 19, 2008
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3 min read
Education Opinion Reply to Mike Petrilli on McCarthyism in the K-12 Debate
I tried not to call Mike Petrilli a McCarthyite, but to emphasize the direction Mike's rhetoric could take us.
Marc Dean Millot, May 19, 2008
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3 min read
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