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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.












VALERIE STRAUSS
A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

Posted at 8:30 AM ET, 04/21/2010

Race to Top winners chosen arbitrarily -- new report

A new report by an independent institute says that the first winners in President Obama's "Race to the Top" education funding competition were chosen through “arbitrary criteria," rather than through an objective process.
Posted by Valerie Strauss | Permalink | Comments (7)
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JAY MATHEWS
What's Right and Wrong With Our Schools

Posted at 2:05 PM ET, 04/20/2010

The Fixer: a principal who made a difference

Successful school revivals, the Djouadi story suggests, are often pure luck, propelled by the serendipitous presence of smart and resourceful people above and below the principal at the right moment.
Posted by Jay Mathews | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Thomas's bid to reinstate teachers fizzles

An attempt by Council member Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) to legislate reinstatement of the 266 D.C. teachers laid off by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee in October lost altitude quickly Tuesday and ultimately was postponed until next month.
The original version of Thomas' bill, filed last week as an emergency measure, would have ordered Rhee to re-hire the teachers she said she pared from the payroll for budgetary reasons, if Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi confirmed that money was now available. The proposal faced huge legal barriers, not least of which was the Home Rule Charter, which expressly reserves hiring and firing for the executive branch.

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles derided the bill as "political year" posturing. "By delegated authority, the Chancellor has the authority to run her ship. This is what the council did when it turned over governance [of the schools] to the mayor," he said.
By Tuesday's council legislative session, the bill had been softened to call for a "reinstatement feasibility plan" from both Gandhi and Rhee if it 
Ed Buzz: The Nation