Is Common Core facing death by a thousand cuts?
Criticism of the Common Core State Standards and the implementation of the initiative in most states around the country (which are two different issues, actually) just keeps on coming. Though far-right critics get a great deal of the attention, people on all ends of the political spectrum are thinking through the Core. Here’s a new […]
Is Georgetown University ‘Catholic enough’?
William Peter Blatty, the famous author of “The Exorcist,” a graduate of Georgetown University, and a doctrinaire Catholic, submitted a petition to the Vatican last year asking church officials to strip his alma mater of the labels Catholic and Jesuit because, it says, neither the faculty nor the student body are, in fact, Catholic enough. My colleague […]
Holder, Duncan asked to investigate ‘racially discriminatory’ school closings in New Orleans
This week marks the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that was intended to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine that codified racism in America’s public schools. You can read a report here about what it has and has not accomplished. Following is an open letter (see […]
Why D.C. should take Youth Court program off life support
The Youth Court of the District of Columbia, one of the only organizations dealing with juvenile delinquency in Washington, is currently on life support, writes Michael Shank, associate director of legislative affairs for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Here’s his post about why the D.C. mayor should keep it. By Michael Shank Keeping our kids […]
5-13-14 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: Academics call for pause in PISA testsHere’s an open letter written by academics and school activists from around the world to Andreas Schleicher, director of the Program of International Student Assessment, known as PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in dozens of countries and individual education systems in math, reading and science every three years. The letter expresses concerns