Montgomery Co. schools to become global brand
School system will be paid $2.25 million to develop an elementary school curriculum.
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Do we need preschool graduation ceremonies?
Spend a little time watching videos of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students at graduation ceremonies, or, to save time, just take my word for it, but it's time to call a halt to these events.
Posted at 1:00 AM ET, 06/10/2010
Must-read new report on high school dropouts
Swanson discovered, for instance, that just 25 of the 11,000 U.S. school districts with high schools accounted for one out of every five students who failed to graduate in 2007, the most recent year with relevant data. Those 25 districts at the top of the dropout scale had a quarter million non-graduates, as many as were counted in the lowest ranked 8,400 districts.
On the road to a deal: Potholes and gridlock
In mid-June 2009, it looked like the District and the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) were finally close to a contract. Mediator Kurt Schmoke had every reason to believe he was done. After two months of mediating the stalemated talks that began in November 2007, there were agreements on the biggest, most problematic matters, dubbed "tier three" issues. These included a new performance pay system and "performance-based excessing," contractual jargon for trimming teachers from under-enrolled or reorganizing schools on basis of quality, not seniority.
The remaining items, relegated to tiers one and twos, were regarded as "low-hanging fruit," expected to move quickly to resolution without his prodding. These were items such as pay for coaches, contract language on teacher professional development and grievance procedures. On June 17, the former three-term mayor of Baltimore attended his final bargaining session and returned to his day job as dean of the Howard University School of Law.
But, like Michael Corleone in "Godfather III," just when he thought he was out, he got pulled back in. In mid-July, he received a call from AFT president Randi Weingarten and deputy chancellor Kaya Henderson, the District's lead negotiator, asking if he was available to return. The
Montgomery Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. (TWP)
