Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, August 5, 2013

UPDATE: What Do Jeb Bush’s Breathtaking Denials Mean? + Top Bennett Aide Implicted in Grade Scandal + Maine’s Chief for Change Takes Heat Scathing Purple Musings #Cheats4Change

Maine’s Chief for Change Takes Heat for Defending Bennett | Scathing Purple Musings:


Will Charter Schools USA Lose High Performing Status With Failing Orange County School?
The high performing charter school rules were created to help guys like Jonathan Hage open more school. The Orlando Sentinel’s Lauren Roth reports: The F grade of a new Orange County charter school means its parent chain will likely lose its designation as “high-performing.” Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail is part of a group of Florida charter schools run by management organization C


What Do Jeb Bush’s Breathtaking Denials Mean?
In a stunning defense of disgraced education commissioner Tony Bennett,  Jeb Bush picked up his pen today in an attempt to save Bennett’s legacy – and perhaps his own. He wrote from his perch with Foundation for Florida’s Future. Lets take a look at a few of Bush’s stunning positions as they are published in the Miami Herald:  A man accused of trying to undermine public education, in fact, had dra



Top Bennett Aide Implicted in Grade Scandal Resigns Florida Post
From Jeffrey S. Solochek from the Tampa Bay Times Gradebook: Dale Chu, chief of staff to former Florida education commissioner Tony Bennett, resigned his post one day after his boss quit the department. Chu came to the Florida Department of Education with Bennett from Indiana, where he had been assistant state superintendent, overseeing Indiana’s education reform initiatives. He came as part of a

Maine’s Chief for Change Takes Heat for Defending Bennett



Cheats For Change #Cheats4Change


There is one less of Jeb Bush’s vaunted Chiefs for Change in office this morning, and one oh his colleagues Maine commissioner of education Stephen Bowen is taking heat for his odd defense of him. From the editors of the Portland Press Herald:
What we didn’t expect was the response we heard. Instead of defending the integrity of Maine’s school grading program, Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen defended Bennett, suggesting that enemies of school reform had cooked up the charges that toppled Bennett from his post
“Tony Bennett is a trailblazing education leader whose efforts to innovate and improve student outcomes remain a model for the nation,” Bowen was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office shortly after Bennett’s resignation. “Reform isn’t easy, but as Tony knew, those who are content with the status quo will always push back against new approaches and