Local Control
Accountability
Opinion
Actions in Sacramento Undermining Real Accountability
Education Trust-West executive director Ryan Smith argues that promise of local control requires greater transparency in creating state and local accountability measures.
School & District Management
Opinion
2018 Election Will Rock California Education
Next year's California election will be both a referendum on the massive changes in education finance and testing enacted during Jerry Brown governorship and a test of the political coalition that made those changes possible.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
School Choice Doesn't Mean Public Schools Are Failing
Guest blogger Denisha Merriweather believes, "Education choice gives communities the ability to use their own strengths as a starting point for change."
Federal
Alabama's Assessment Request Could Be a Test Case for DeVos and Local Control
If the department ultimately rejects Alabama's request, it will be a signal that—even though local control is a watch-word of the Trump administration—that there are some clear limitations to that idea.
Budget & Finance
Opinion
Slow Implementation Endangers School Funding in Calif.
Nearly everyone says they like California's Local Control Financing Formula. A new report says it's a work in progress that's helping equity. But impatience and slow implementation put the system in jeopardy.
Federal
Trump Issues Executive Order Calling for Local Control of K-12
The executive order seems to be a not-so-veiled shot at the Obama administration, which used federal funding to entice states to adopt the Common Core State Standards and more.
Federal
Opinion
Fear and Optimism From Calif. School Leaders
A panel of school district leaders echoes the fears their students face from the Trump Administration but also the optimism about working within California's new financial and accountability systems.
School & District Management
Opinion
Schools Need More Reliable Research
Guest blogger Dr. J.M. Myers says, "The great risk to public education is that those knowledgeable professionals on the inside fail to be given the tools and authority to implement serious reform or fail to exercise a leadership role once given these tools."
Federal
Donald Trump Praises Betsy DeVos and Urges More Local Control Over Education
At a gathering of business executives on April 4, President Donald Trump also repeated pledges he made on the campaign trail about the Common Core State Standards and the role of Washington in K-12
Families & the Community
Opinion
Calif. Accountability Dashboard Debuts; Critics Abound
California released its long-awaited accountability dashboard. Its colorful multi-system replaces the state's single number, test-score-driven indicator. The dashboard could use improvement; but it's not as dumb as some of the criticism.
School & District Management
Opinion
After Standardized Testing--Then What?
It is important to fight for the reduction of standardized testing required. At the same time educators need the time and energy to spend on developing ways to monitor how students are developing those other skills and capacities.
School & District Management
Opinion
Creating a Learning Community at California's Education Department
California's Department of Education has espoused creating professional learning communities. Now, as key staffers write it's trying to recreate itself in that image.
School & District Management
Opinion
No Complaints: Devos Criticized Them and DC Teachers Spoke Out
Action not only makes a difference in others, it fuels the actors with hope and purpose.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Move Beyond 'Good Enough' and Vouchers and Charters Won't Matter
When attention turns to measuring the factors that contribute to successful learning, people will feel better about their schools, and want to support them as far more than 'good enough'.