Louisiana: Jindal vs. White on Common Core
Louisiana is the site for education dramas. Today began a new one. Governor Bobby Jindal announced that the state was pulling out of Common Core and the PARCC assessment consortia. PARCC is one of two federally funded testing consortia aligned to the CCSS. No sooner did Governor Jindal make his announcement than State Commissioner John White issued a press release affirming that the state was con
Questions Raised About Criminal Background of Connecticut Charter Leader
The leader of a charter chain in Connecticut has a criminal record, but no one ever asked him about his background, he says. The Hartford Courant reported: “Criminal convictions and past imprisonment of Michael M. Sharpe, the CEO of a charter school organization that receives millions in taxpayer funds, are worrying Hartford and state officials – who said Wednesday they hadn’t known of his record
Karin Klein: Clarifying the L.A. Times’ Editorial Positions
This comment was posted by Karin Klein, who writes editorials for the Los Angeles Times: “As a member of the Times editorial board, I continue to try to correct the inaccurate information that is continually put out in public about the Times’ position on education issues. The editorial board is generally a supporter of keeping Deasy, that is true. But it does not stand behind him “no matter what.”
John White: Ignore Governor Jindal!
State Commissioner John White says Louisiana will NOT drop Common Core or the PARCC tests. John Whiite issued this statement: Jun 18, 2014 BATON ROUGE, La. – The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the Louisiana Department of Education today reaffirmed that the state will implement the Common Core State Standards, as well as grade 3-8 test forms and questions developed b
Louisiana: Governor Jindal Drops Common Core and PARCC
Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal held a press conference today to announce that the state is dropping its participation in PARCC and Common Core. He directed the state board to develop its own standards and assessments.
Ed Fuller: The Failure of the NCTQ Rankings
Ed Fuller, a professor of education policy at Pennsylvania State University, analyzes the many flaws of the NCTQ rankings of teacher education programs. His is the most thorough and devastating critique of these ratings. He strips them of any legitimacy. Read his blog here. Read his full critique in the Journal of Teacher Education here. What’s wrong with the NCTQ report: says Fuller, almost ev
Massachusetts: Don’t Lift the Charter Cap
From: Citizens for Public Schools in Massachusetts: Update: Senators to Vote Tomorrow on Charter Cap Bill! We’ve learned that House Bill 4108, which would, among other things, lift the cap on charter schools in so-called “underperforming districts” is scheduled to come up at a caucus of Democratic senators Thursday (that’s tomorrow) at noon. Votes can still change after that, but if you have a
Peter Greene: How to Always Have Ineffective Teachers
Peter Greene says that corporate reformers have discovered the secret to generating an endless supply of “ineffective” teachers: just keep proclaiming that teachers are ineffective if their students get low scores. “In the wake of Vergara, we’ve repeatedly heard an old piece of reformster wisdom: Poor students are nearly twice as likely as their wealthier peers to have ineffective, or low-perform
Good News: West Babylon School Budget Passes In Landslide!
Last week, I posted Dave Cunningham’s excellent response to an editorial writer at Newsday who voted against an increase in the budget of the West Babylon public schools in Long Island, where his own daughters got a great education and went on to outstanding colleges. The budget went down to defeat, and a new vote was scheduled for June 17. Because of Governor Cuomo’s tax cap of 2%, school distri
Special Education Funding for Charters in Pennsylvania is a Rip-Off
This is a report on charter school funding in Pennsylvania, especially the effect of excess special education funding for charter schools. It was distributed by the Keystone State Education Coalition. The KSEC writes: “Each time charter schools skim marginal need special ed students out of public school districts, they artificially cause the average special ed cost to spiral higher for the next
Eva’s First Graduating Class: Not One Passed Entrance Exam for Selective High Schools
Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News reports that Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter school celebrated its first graduation from middle school, with disappointing results. Although Moskowitz has boasted for years that her schools had overcome the achievement gap and that all her students are high performers, Gonzalez pointed out two inconvenient facts: 1. The graduating class started wit
Shocker: Obama Administration Proposes “Race to Top” Model for Indian Tribal Schools
In a bold effort to reorganize the tribal schools run by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Obama administration proposes a competition for funding based on Race to the Top. “A revamped BIE, as envisioned in the proposal, would eventually give up direct operations of schools and push for a menu of education reforms that is strikingly similar to some championed in initiatives such as Race t
The Day Michigan Killed Public Schools and Started Over
This is a fascinating bit of history. This short article tells the story of one day in 1993 when Michigan eliminated all funding for public schools and started the system that exists today. The new system was the work of Governor John Engler, a staunch advocate of school choice. Looking back 21 years, it is hard to conclude that Michigan’s choice system has improved education. Districts continue
Professor: How NCTQ Restricts My Reading List
Katherine Crawford-Garrett, a professor of literacy at the University of New Mexico, found out recently just how powerful the National Council on Teacher Quality is. As a professor in a university, she thought she was free to assign the books of her own choosing. that’s academic freedom, right? As she describes below, she was recently summoned to the dean’s office to hear a critique about her read
Beardsley: Vergara Machine Planning to Sue in Other States to Break Tenure
On her blog VAMboozled, Audrey Beardsley reports that the Vergara machine–lawyers, PR firm, and big-time cash–is going on tour, planning to file lawsuits in several states, including New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, Idaho, and Kansas. You really have to wonder why billionaires and millionaires take pride in attacking the job rights of teachers.
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 6-17-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: What is NCTQ?With the release of the NCTQ ratings of teacher preparation programs, this is a propitious time to review its origins. It was created by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute. It floundered, then was rescued by a grant of $5 million from Secretary of Education Rod Paige in the early days of the Bush administrati