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Monday, May 14, 2012

Bad News for TFA « Diane Ravitch's blog

Bad News for TFA « Diane Ravitch's blog:


Bad News for TFA

Federal Court reaffirms ruling that alternate route teachers are not “highly qualified” and that it is wrong to concentrate them in districts with high-needs students.
Diane
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NINTH CIRCUIT REAFFIRMS RULING THAT TRAINEE TEACHERS NOT INTENDED AS “HIGHLY QUALIFIED” UNDER NCLB
Project: Renee v. Duncan
Date: May 11, 2012
But Judges Dismiss Case Because Congress Temporarily Classified Them So
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals panel yesterday re-affirmed its September 2010 ruling that the U.S. Department of Education unlawfully diluted the standard of teacher owed every student in the country under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) when it issued a 2002 regulation classifying teachers in training as “highly qualified.”



Charter School Rent Gouging in NYC

Yoav Gonen of the New York Post discovered a stunning allocation of public funds in Brooklyn. Gonen reported recently that for-profit National Heritage Academies was leasing buildings and then subletting them at a mark-up of 1,000%, charged to the taxpayers. NHA is leasing a school from the Brooklyn Diocese for $246,000, but charges the city of New York a whopping $2.76 million for rent and related charges.
Nice work if you can get it.
That extra $2.3 million could pay the salaries of quite a few teachers and reduce class size for many children. Instead it will fatten the profits of a charter corporation.
Diane


Release the Tests

A parent recently wrote an article in the New York Times explaining why he planned to file a Freedom of Information Act suit to demand the release of all test questions.
He is right. Now that the tests have assumed so much importance, the public has a right to know what they were asked.
Now that the tests have such a decisive effect on so many people’s lives, the public has a right to know.
Based on these tests, students will be promoted or will fail.
Based on these tests, students will get into the college of their choice, or will not.
Based on these tests, some teachers will get a bonus, and others will be fired.