Thompson: More Class Time - Or More Recess?
News coverage of Rahm Emanuel's push to lengthen the Chicago school day tends to assume that Emanuel is right on the substance, while questioning his methods. But education veteran Deborah Meier explains in Bridging Differences how Emanuel misunderstands educational reality. She is especially correct in emphasizing that his "reform" is doubly wrong. It is rushed, and it will further push PE, art, and music out of children's lives. Meantime few policy wonks seem to have noted that the teachers union has the better plan for adding minutes to improve academic performance, which the Chicago Sun Times reports is patterned on the high-dollar private school
Waivers: The Coming Federal Windfall For Districts
#nclbwaiver One of the things that hasn't been discussed much about the NCLB waiver scheme is just how much districts are chomping at the bit to find ways to spend some of that SES money that they've long complained about having to give away to tutoring companies and other outside providers oh these long years under NCLB. That's because, under NCLB, schools and districts that don't make AYP for consecutive years have to offer outside tutoring to kids at those schools -- and "give away" up to 20 percent of their NCLB funding in order to pay for the extra services. But of course even the worst schools and districts in America think that they can do better than anyone else -- even when they've tried and failed to do so in the past. And