Fred Klonsky: The Story the Chicago Press Won’t Touch
Fred Klonsky writes that in 2007, the Chicago Tribune praised CEO Arne Duncan because he would not be content with principals drawn from the ranks. not Arne! He was looking for superstar principals. Duncan was CEO because he lacked the experience as a teacher or a principal to be a superintendent. The Tribune singled out one of Duncan’s “superstars”: Terrence P. Carter. ““Used to be, as long as
The Day: Was New London Superintendent’s Cover Letter Also Plagiarized?
The Day reports that the language in the cover letter submitted by Terrence Carter to be superintendent in New London contained language identical to a cover letter written by another job applicant in Michigan in 2011. When will this charade end? If he fabricated his résumé and plagiarized his job application and cover letter, what more evidence is needed? Here is an excerpt from The Day: “New L
Peter Greene: What He Learned from the BATs Meeting with Duncan
After reading Mark Naison’s account of the BAT’s meeting with DOE staff and the Duncan himself, Peter Green was delighted that staff at the U.S. Department of Education finally had to listen to teachers that were not hand-picked to be deferential. He noted two important points that inadvertently emerged from the talk. “First, Marla Kilfoyle expressed her concerns about the Department’s new policy
Breaking News: North Carolina Court Rules That Voucher $$ May Flow Before Ruling on its Consitutionality
Lindsay Wagner reports in NC Watch that a judge in North Carolina said it was okay to dispense $10 million for private school vouchers before the courts rule on whether vouchers are constitutional. The far-right legislative leader Thom Tilles said the budget for vouchers would grow by another $800,000. Do you think President Obama or Secretary Duncan will speak out against this diversion of publi
The Best Article About Tenure Ever, Explaining Campbell Brown’s Law
We all know, or should know, about Campbell’s Law. That is a social science axiom that says: “The more any quantitative social indicator (or even some qualitative indicator) is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” The short translation: the more you m
Rick Hess: Why Race to the Top Failed
Among the conservatives who comment on education, Rick Hess is consistently the most thoughtful. I often disagree with him, for example, about choice and for-profit schooling. But I am often impressed by his thoughtfulness and pleasantly surprised by his willingness to question “reform” dogma. Here is a column that is a great example of Rick’s insight. In it, he essentially concludes that Race to
Eva Moskowitz Set to Dominate New York City Charter Landscape
Eva Moskowitz has applied to the State University of New York‘s Charter School Institute for permission to open another 14 charter schools in New York City by 2016, a request that seems sure to be approved. Chalkbeat reports: “If Success’ proposal to open 14 new schools by 2016 is approved by the trustees of the SUNY Charter School Institute, the network will enroll about 35,698 students and c
Jeff Bryant: Will Campbell Brown Replace Michelle Rhee as the Face of “Reform”?
Jeff Bryant wonders whether Campbell Brown will replace Michelle Rhee as the public face of “reform”? Bryant describes the movement as “Blame Teachers First.” Bryant suspects that Rhee’s star is fading fast. Bryant describes her as “education’s Ann Coulter.” The lingering doubts about the Washington, D.C. cheating scandal never dissipate, and John Merrow’s latest blog about the millions that Rhee
Rachel Aviv: How NCLB Harmed Children, Teachers, and the Meaning of Education
If you have not read Rachel Aviv’s “Wrong Answer” in The New Yorker, drop everything and read it now. Aviv tells the story of the Atlanta cheating scandal through the ideas of one man, one teacher, who cared deeply about his student. Step by step, he got sucked into the data-driven obsession with test scores, thinking that if he raised the children’s test scores, it was a victimless crime. He kne
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-29-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: David Berliner Responds to Economists Who Discount Role of Child PovertyErik Hanushek, Paul Peterson, and Ludger Woessmann take issue with David Berliner and Gene Glass’s view about how high levels of child poverty in the U.S. affect our students’ performance on international assessments. In the following post, David Berliner respo