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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Chicago’s aggressive, new union leader introduces herself | GothamSchools

Chicago’s aggressive, new union leader introduces herself | GothamSchools

Chicago’s aggressive, new union leader introduces herself


If anyone wondered what the union backlash to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s leadership would be like, watch this state of the union address by Chicago’s newly elected teachers union president.
Former high school chemistry teacher Karen Lewis pulled no punches in an address she gave on July 1, in which she laid out her plans for an adversarial relationship with Chicago school CEO Ron Huberman. After

Revised “edujobs” bill would send city $200 million for teachers

A federal teacher jobs bill would send New York City schools $200 million, but could also chip away at federal grant money the city hopes to win.
The so-called “edujobs” bill has become the center of a politically charged debate. On one side are supporters of the Obama administration’s reform efforts and on the other are those who saving teacher jobs is worth slowing the pace of change. The bill, headed for the Senate after passing the House last week, would send a total of about $622 million to New York State.
After a previous attempt to save teacher jobs foundered, the bill’s sponsor, Wisconsin Representative David Obey introduced a new bill that would redirect about 10 percent of funding for Race to the Top into a $10 billion fund for teacher jobs. Federal teacher quality and new charter school programs also would be tapped for the jobs fund.
Obama has threatened to veto the measure if passed in its current form, raising the ire of the national teachers

A city private school fumbles in its merit pay experiment

Much of the debate about merit pay for teachers has focused on theoretical arguments. But for Robin Aufses, the English department chair at a private school in Manhattan, the issue is anything but abstract.
Aufses helped lead an experiment at her school last year in new ways of evaluating teachers. Starting in