This Week In Education
Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education was an opinion blog that covered education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here. For posts after November 2007, please click here.) This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Where's Spellings?
In China, of course -- not in time to help the women's World Cup team (they lost on Friday to Brazil) but rather to help out with that whole Special Olympics thing.
Education
Opinion
Winners & Losers For September 2007
September's big education stories are sliced and diced by stalwart journalists Greg Toppo, Stephanie Banchero, and Jay Mathews in the first "Month In Review" of the 2007-2008 school year. It's nearly 30 minutes of banter and insight (featuring super lo-fi sound quality and even more amateurish than ever hosting by me): Download audio0907.mp3.mp3
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Performance Pay Not "Mandatory" In MIller Proposal, Group Says
For the last three weeks the NEA and most of the news coverage (for example here) have been referring to the merit pay provisions in George Miller's NCLB plan as "mandatory," but on Friday the Center on American Progress think tank put out a fact sheet claiming that the requirements are voluntary (and that Miller is not against collective bargaining). Who's right? It's hard to say. After all, NCLB itself could be described as voluntary -- states don't have to take the money and implement its rules -- but in reality it's not that way (states need the money). Still, it looks like there's more wiggle room and protections for teachers and local contracts in there than has been advertised (or reported).
Education
Opinion
Big Stories Of The Day
School struggles under rising federal standards San Deigo Union Tribune
Education Funding
Opinion
Why Teach For America?
Remember the headline about Teach For America that came out in The Onion a couple of years ago (TFA Chews Up, Spits Out Another Ethnic-Studies Major)? Well, TFA’s come a long way since then, but it is no less frustratingly problematic.
Education
Opinion
Get Ready For "The Month In Review"
September has come and almost gone in a flurry. As last year, I'm doing a monthly audio roundtable with education reporters on the big stories of the month, etc. We just taped it earlier today, and I'll post it on Monday. In the meantime, start thinking what you think the biggest story of the month was -- Miller's NCLB proposal or the NAEP results or something else? -- or who you think this month's biggest winners and losers were -- Kozol, Shanker, New York City? And then tune in Monday to see what veteran reporters from the Washington Post, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune have to say. Been hidden under a rock all month? Click here for a month's worth of news and commentary.
Education
Opinion
New Sunday New York Times Magazine Articles On TFA & College
Want to get a jump start on your weekend reading? Check out the new NYT Sunday Magazine -- out a little early online -- that includes an article on TFA (Why Teach For America) and a James Traub article on the Collegiate Learning Assessment pilot to measure the effects of college on student learning (here). Traub used to write about education all the time and he is much missed. Still, I wish there was some more hard-hitting stuff -- this looks from first glance like a glossy version of the Education Life section -- but that's just because I don't like higher ed stuff as much (and I haven't read any of the articles yet).
Federal
Opinion
What Happens On Education When Hillary Wins The Nomination?
Earlier this week columnist David Brooks suggested in a much-discussed (and free) New York Times column that the liberal (progressive) end of the Democratic party -- that means you and all your NCLB-hating friends -- could once again hurt Democratic chances for victory -- if Hillary Clinton wasn't already trouncing everyone else (The Center Holds). In that context -- what do I know? -- some of the current NCLB tactics by the teachers and others -- might be seen as pre-primary theatrics intended to bring the Democratic candidates as far left as possible before the inevitable and pragmatic slide towards the middle (and Democratic victory) begins. Not that everyone involved is pragmatic.
Education Funding
Opinion
Angie Does Global Education
Speaking of saving the world, Angelina Jolie is getting into the act. She announced a $148 million initiative to help educate children in conflict areas at the Clinton Global Initiative on Wednesday in New York City — the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict. The partnership will include commitments to improve educational opportunities for 1+ million conflict-affected children including 350,000 out-of-school children in conflict-affected regions and improving the learning environment for another 690,0000 children in conflict affected regions. The commitments will assist 200,000 Iraqi refugee children and aid than 300,000 children affected by the Darfur genocide. Then she went on to criticize the war in Iraq.
School & District Management
Opinion
Dallas Officials Enjoy Junket While Others Get Fired
"At the same time 169 jobs are being cut at DISD central administration, nearly that same number of employees decided to jet off to Canada for the International Reading Conference. Now, after a News 8 investigation into their expenses, school administrators are revising their travel policy." (Dallas Morning News.)
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Charter Schools For Rich Kids
Charter schools aren't just for poor kids, anymore. This week's Education Gadfly digs out an interesting story from the San Jose Mercury about parents in affluent Palo Alto, Cal. successfully threatening to start a Mandarin immersion charter school if the district didn't create one on its own. Some folks in the article think this isn't what charters are "for." Not surprisingly, the Gadfly thinks differently (All in). If you don't give parents -- especially affluent ones -- what they want, then they simply exit the system. Which, as with health insurance risk pools, just makes things worse for those kids and teachers left behind.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
A Teacher's Thoughts In The New York Times
I've been remiss in not posting something earlier about Chicago teacher Will Okun, whose writing and photography is being posted on the New York Times website as part of Nick Kristof's "On The Ground" series. How nice to see a real teacher's voice on the pages of the New York Times, plus all the comments that follow. In his most recent posting, Okun describes the inverse relationship between parents who come to parent-teacher conferences and parents who need to come to them, and what if anything should and can be done to address the problem. In his previous post, Okun decries the "miracle worker" notion of teaching, for teachers as well as reformers, and the process of teaching in a more sustainable way - even if it means "giving up" on some of the most disinterested kids.