Virginia lawmakers wimp out on U-Va.
Here's how tough Virginia's tough legislative leaders were on Helen Dragas, who, in her role as rector of the governing board of the University of Virginia, threw the school into unneeded turmoil last summer with an ultimately unsuccessful effort to remove the president for reasons that have still not been explained to the public.
Read full article >>
New questions on the Common Core Standards
Here is the third post in a debate between Yong Zhao and Marc Tucker about the Common Core State Standards.
The debate began with this post from Yong Zhao, presidential chair and associate dean for global education at the University of Oregon's College of Education, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education. In the piece, titled "Five key questions about the Common Core Standards," he writes: "The efforts to develop common curricula nationally and internationally are simply working to perfect an outdated paradigm. The outcomes are precisely the opposite of the talents we need for the new era."
Read full article >>
Superintendent: Reforms could ‘wreak havoc’ on great schools
Madison Junior High School
Here is a letter sent to the New Jersey State Board of Education from Michael A. Rossi Jr., superintendent of Madison Public Schools, about the state’s school reform agenda and problems that officials have created for educators and administrators who are charged with implementing policy. Rossi says that officials are trying to force too much change too soon, an issue that was recently addressed by another superintendent in another state, Joshua Starr of Montgomery County, Md. You can read about that here.
(Some of the acronyms he uses are spelled out below)
Dear Members of the New Jersey State Board of Education,The purpose of this note is to provide (in as diplomatic a fashion as possible) a reasonable, reliable and valid analysis of the proposed implementation schedule for all
Why U.S. Education Department has 27 12-gauge shotguns
Back in 2010, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education purchased 27 new Remington Brand Model 870 police 12-gauge shotguns. Why?
The short answer is to replace their old guns. The longer answer is that the Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the department and sometimes, officials say, it conducts high-risk investigations and makes arrests of people with criminal backgrounds. Catherine Grant, spokesperson for the Office of Inspector General, replied to a question about what the guns have been used for with an email that said:
Read full article >>
