Saturday, October 31, 2009

Dan Walters: School duels, using surrogates - Inside Bay Area


Dan Walters: School duels, using surrogates - Inside Bay Area:

"ONE OF the more obscure — and probably more important — of California's many political conflicts pits an organization called EdVoice against the California Teachers Association and other school unions.

It centers on our ever-deepening education crisis, manifested in low test scores and high dropout rates, especially among black and Latino kids.

EdVoice, maintained by some wealthy Californians such as Southern California developer Eli Broad and Silicon Valley tycoon Reed Hastings, advocates charter schools, tougher teaching standards and other aggressive approaches.

The CTA and its allies, meanwhile, say California's chief education issue is money, specifically its below-average level of per-pupil spending."