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 This blog is no longer being updated.
School & District Management
Opinion
NYC Schools Chancellor To Appear On Colbert Report
Not to be outdone by Secretary Spellings' powder-puff appearance on the Daily Show earlier this year (see video here), NYC Chancellor Joel Klein is scheduled to appear on the Colbert Report tonight at 11:30 eastern. It should be fun. Colbert, much more than Jon Stewart, is known for taking a little bit out of his guests. But the good folks at Slate have written a piece on how to avoid getting completely owned.
Education Funding
Opinion
Not Much Hope For NCLB 2.0
"With every passing week, the 110th Congress looks less likely to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the fate of which will therefore hinge on the 2008 election," begins this NRO commentary (No Question Left Behind). "So long as these monster questions lack agreed-upon answers, I don’t see much hope for an NCLB consensus, and I don’t see much hope for NCLB 2.0 anytime soon."
Education Funding
Opinion
Real [Education] World, DC
It sounds like the intro to an MTV reality show: "Eight young people leave the classroom, come to Washington, D.C., and are immersed in the world of education policy." But no, it's actually a program run by the folks at Fordham. And, of course, it has its own blog (here).
Federal
Opinion
The Great Presidential Mashup "Cheat Sheet"
I don't think that any of the candidates have said anything noteworthy on education -- or that anything they say about the issue before the primaries are done with should be believed -- but maybe you want to know for yourself. Fine. Yesterday, I showed you the Washington Post "issue tracker." Today's it's the Slate/ Yahoo!/ Huffington Post overview of what each of the candidates have said on education, in preparation for tomorrow's, er, debate.
Education
Opinion
Principal Bans Reporter, Then Apologizes
Those pesky reporters may not seem like much, but mess with them and you might get embarassed. A Kentucky principal was forced to apologize after banning a reporter from a school event. The reporter had covered a racial incident at the school, displeasing the administrator. Via Romenesko.
Education
Opinion
Fasting Over NCLB
Having failed to make the school transfer provision a high-profile issue and feeling shut out of the reauthorization process, author and advocate Jonathan Kozol (whose book Shame Of A Nation was a big seller last year) has now resorted to a partial fast in protest of the law. Read all about it on the Huffington Post (Why I am Fasting: An Explanation to My Friends).
Federal
Opinion
What Was Good Enough In 2005 Isn't Good Enough Now
I'm still not exactly sure how, in the carefully-choreographed no surprises world of Congressional hearings, there were actually a couple of mildly unexpected developments at yesterday's monster NCLB gabfest: the CTA's media campaign against the Miller draft (see previous post below) and the late-breaking flareup with Reg Weaver over merit pay (that's why the teachers didn't go first, eh?). The AP has that one covered here, via EdWeek.
Education
Opinion
Lang In For Schaffer At PEN
Albert Lang, formerly of Communication Works, is moving over to PEN and will soon be taking over the reins of the PEN NewsBlast, which Howie Schaffer founded and turned into such a behemoth. Congrats, condolences.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
California Teachers Union Defies NEA "Suits"
A couple of sharp-eyed folks have noted this afternoon that, while the NEA seems to have gotten what it wants (or thinks it can get) from the Miller draft, the California Teachers -- powerful forces for Miller, McKeon, and Pelosi -- are taking a much harder anti-NCLB line. See NCLB II post here (Ca. Teachers Oppose "Miller/Pelosi" Bill), and Schools Matter here (which contrasts the NEA and CTA positions): "We must thank the CTA for taking the position that the Suits for the NEA will not."
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teachers With Richer Kids Earn More Under Performance Pay
"Teachers at predominantly white and affluent schools were twice as likely to get a bonus as teachers from schools that are predominantly black and poor," based on this Orlando Sentinel story (Merit pay for teachers reveals sway of affluence). "It wasn't supposed to work that way." Via a friend.
Education
Opinion
Don't Name Your Blogs Like I Have
I've done just about everything wrong when it comes to blog naming, according to this recent article from Slate (What not to name your blog). I named this one something boring, and didn't name it after myself. I named the other one (District 299) something so obscure that even folks in Chicago didn't know what it was (at first). But at least I didn't go for irony, Star Wars allusions, or bad puns. And I like to think I've chosen my antagonists wisely.