Thanksgiving Tricks & Treats: Klein, Tenure, NAEP and more
Somehow this Thanksgiving seems more like Halloween, full of tricks and treats.
#1. The big treat was, of course, Tom Friedman’s column in the New York Times, telling the world that, if he were starting out in journalism today, he would be an education reporter. He’s right. It’s a happening beat.
#2. This next one is either a trick or a treat, depending on where you are sitting: Bill Gates continues to speak out, leading some to label him ‘the shadow Secretary of Education. This time he chose the annual meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers in Louisville to call for huge changes in how teachers are paid. He said that the ‘bonus’ for having a Master’s degree was a waste of money (lots of money too, an estimated $8.6 billion in extra pay), because there’s little evidence that extra degrees add to positive student outcomes. There’s a mighty wind blowing on the issue of teacher pay.
Michelle Rhee opened the door with her ‘red and green’ pathway contract proposal over a year ago, offering to pay successful teachers roughly double their salary if they would give up tenure. That never made it into the contract, but her high profile made it very difficult for anyone to argue that teacher pay should be based solely on years of service and graduate credits. (Nonetheless, the National Education Association’s President, Dennis Von Roekel,