Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/14/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

NYC Public School Parents: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would

NYC Public School Parents: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he wouldMe asking the Mayor about class size  in Jackson Heights on Thursday night.For other accounts, see reports of the Mayor's

by mike simpson / 0min 

Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”? | deutsch29

Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”? | deutsch29: Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”?A LynchpinIn December 2010, at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in Washington, DC, former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s test-centric education reforms were featured in the form of ALEC model legislation called the “A-plus Literacy Act,” an omnibus document that includes school and district letter

by mike simpson / 2min 

4LAKids - Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING: Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHINGSTEVE LOPEZ  |  L.A. TIMES COLUMNIST | HTTP://LAT.MS/1H2YLODTeachers and children rally at Stevenson Middle School in East Los Angeles against a proposal, spearheaded by the Broad Found

by mike simpson / 10min 

CURMUDGUCATION: NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation

CURMUDGUCATION: NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation: NCTQ New Report on Teacher EvaluationIt's a big report, over a hundred pages, and I've read it so you don't have to. But that doesn't mean you don't have your work cut out for you here on this blog. Let's get going. Who are these people? The National Council on Teacher Quality's continued presence in the education world is one of the great mys

by mike simpson / 4h 

4LAKids - ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN: “a landmark Opportunity” to achieve 50% charter market-share.”

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN: Explaining “a landmark Opportunity” and how+why “Los Angeles is already well-positioned to achieve 50% charter market-share.”: ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN:Explaining “a landmark Opportunity” and how+why “Los Angeles is already well-positioned to achieve 50% charter market-share.”

by mike simpson / 6h 

Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire - Wait What?

Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire - Wait What?: Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on FireIn “Fiscal flood warning: Nothing but red ink forecast in CT,” the CT Mirror’s Keith Phaneuf reports;Nonpartisan fiscal analysts issued projections Friday that Connecticut, already coping with a significant budget shortfall in the current year, is facing a far worse problem just ove

by mike simpson / 7h 

Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’ - The Washington Post

Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’ - The Washington Post: Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’In recent years the University of North Carolina system — long considered one of the best in the country — has sustained massive budget cuts by the state legislature as well as efforts to force some academics to

by mike simpson / 7h 

CA educators push back against unregulated charter schools that threaten students’ futures « Education Votes

CA educators push back against unregulated charter schools that threaten students’ futures « Education Votes: CA educators push back against unregulated charter schools that threaten students’ futuresTAKE ACTION ›Tell lawmakers it’s time for tougher standards and more oversight and accountability for charter schools. CLICK HERE ›It’s not unusual for parents to see educators when dropping off their

by mike simpson / 8h 

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Testing Stutter Steps

CURMUDGUCATION: PA: Testing Stutter Steps: PA: Testing Stutter StepsPennsylvania may or may not be close to getting a budget, or a temporary budget patch, or a deal to at least pay schools while the full budget continues to circle the drain. The new changes about every three or four hours.But word comes out of Harrisburg that the budget talks also include discussion-- again-- of the use of the Key

by mike simpson / 8h 

Your School Shapes How You Think About Inequality : NPR Ed : NPR

Your School Shapes How You Think About Inequality : NPR Ed : NPR: Your School Shapes How You Think About InequalityAsk yourself this question: Were you aware of inequality growing up?Your answer may depend in part on where you went to high school. Students at racially diverse schools, particularly black and Hispanic students, are more tuned in to injustice than students going to school mostly with

by mike simpson / 8h 

Judge: Phila. schools should heed seniority, hire counselors

Judge: Phila. schools should heed seniority, hire counselors: Judge: Phila. schools should heed seniority, hire counselorsThe Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has won another round in its battle with the School District over seniority and counselor staffing levels.A Common Pleas Court judge denied the district's request to overturn an arbitrator's finding that the district violated the union co

by mike simpson / 8h 

Will President Obama's Education Reformers Own Up to Their Failures? - Living in Dialogue

Will President Obama's Education Reformers Own Up to Their Failures? - Living in Dialogue: Will President Obama's Education Reformers Own Up to Their Failures? By John Thompson.Perhaps because I’m an incorrigible supporter of President Obama on almost every non-education issue, I grasped at straws hoping that his and Arne Duncan’s staffing of the Education Department with former Gates Foundation t

by mike simpson / 8h 

Schools Matter: AERA Concludes the Facts Are Factual about VAM

Schools Matter: AERA Concludes the Facts Are Factual about VAM: AERA Concludes the Facts Are Factual about VAMThe American Education Research Association (AERA) can be counted on to remain irrelevant to research discussions of great social significance.  Not surprisingly, AERA's shrinking membership numbers havecoincided with the org's steady drift into the arms of education reform schoolers and t

by mike simpson / 8h 

Philosophers vs. Welders: Can’t We Have Both? - Education Writers Association

Philosophers vs. Welders: Can’t We Have Both? - Education Writers Association: Philosophers vs. Welders: Can’t We Have Both?There was plenty of levity on Twitter in the wake of Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s declaration that “we need more welders, less philosophers.”(This English major would have preferred he said “fewer” welders, by the way.)Consider this inspired mashup from Pro

by mike simpson / 8h 

School board chief: How to fix the mess we’ve made in Florida’s public schools - The Washington Post

School board chief: How to fix the mess we’ve made in Florida’s public schools - The Washington Post: School board chief: How to fix the mess we’ve made in Florida’s public schoolsIn September Florida’s school superintendents issued a public attack on the state’s accountability system that uses standardized test scores to measure students, teachers and schools, saying that they “have lost confiden

by mike simpson / 8h 

The Anti-Bullying Policies That Are Actually Working - The Atlantic

The Anti-Bullying Policies That Are Actually Working - The Atlantic: What’s the Recipe for an Effective Anti-Bullying Policy?Lots of states have passed legislation targeting this problem, but it can be hard to get kids to take the efforts seriously.At her Moraga, California, junior high school, Rachel Jackson was a safe-school ambassador (SSA), part of a program that trains student volunteers to i

by mike simpson / 8h 

Our Child Is a Girl | An Anonymous Mom

Our Child Is a Girl | An Anonymous Mom: Our Child Is a GirlThe ACLU of Illinois represents the family of a female student denied access to the locker room at her high school because she is transgender. Recently the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights found that the school was violating the girl's federally protected rights. The family has not spoken publicly about this case, seek

by mike simpson / 9h 

Educators hear from advocate decrying school privatization - The Daily Nonpareil - Council Bluffs, Iowa: Local News

Educators hear from advocate decrying school privatization - The Daily Nonpareil - Council Bluffs, Iowa: Local News: Educators hear from advocate decrying school privatizationAmerica’s public school system is under assault.That’s the message public education advocate Diane Ravitch brought to the Council Bluffs-Omaha area as a guest speaker presented by the Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium

by mike simpson / 9h 

Locascio: Cage-busting and feeding the calves —- Teachers as decision-makers - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Guest-columnists

Locascio: Cage-busting and feeding the calves —- Teachers as decision-makers - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Guest-columnists: Locascio: Cage-busting and feeding the calves —- Teachers as decision-makersThere’s an old adage that you can’t make a calf grow by weighing it. Teachers can’t make young minds grow by continually testing them, either. In such cases, excessive focus on measurement can come at t

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Legal Case Unions Fear They Cannot Win - WSJ

The Legal Case Unions Fear They Cannot Win - WSJ: The Legal Case Unions Fear They Cannot WinCan government workers be forced to pay fees to unions? The Supreme Court seems inclined to say no.It has been a difficult five years for government-employee unions, and the Supreme Court appears poised to strike another blow. During the current term, the justices will hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers

by mike simpson / 9h 

YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 11/13/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMTom Torlakson Announces 2014-15 CAHSEE Results - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education)Tom Torlakson Announces 2014-15 CAHSEE Results - Year 2015 (CA Dept of Education): State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Release of 2014-15 California High School Exit Exam ResultsSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that the California High Schoo

by mike simpson / 1d 

NYC Public School Parents: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would

NYC Public School Parents: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would:

My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would

Me asking the Mayor about class size  in Jackson Heights on Thursday night.

For other accounts, see reports of the Mayor's Town hall at ChalkbeatNY and the Daily News.

On Thursday I attended two events -- first in the morning at a briefing on Renewal Schools at City Hall and later that evening, a Town hall meeting in  Queens with Mayor de Blasio.

The City Hall briefing consisted of a long power point from Aimee Horowitz, the Executive Superintendent of the Renewal school program and Chris Caruso, Executive Director of Community Schools.  For more than an hour we listened to all the various programs and services that are planned, with no mention of reducing class size in either presentation.

Finally I got a chance to speak.  I asked Ms. Horowitz: "In which renewal schools are class sizes reduced this fall, to what levels, what resources and strategies are being used, and how was the list of schools selected?"  

My question followed from the DOE claim to the state  last December and again this fall, in their Contract for Excellence presentations, that they would be focusing their "Class Size Reduction planning efforts on the School Renewal Program."   This was a repeat of questions that CEC members and I have been asking DOE officials for months; without any response. We already have heard of several Renewal schools this year where class sizes have risen to 27 students per class in Kindergarten, 31 in 1st grade and 35 or more students in high school. 

Ms. Horowitz replied that there was no separate list of Renewal schools slated for class size reduction, and that all 94 schools were expected to lower class size by use of their increased Fair Student funding and help with "programming." When I asked if that meant we should see smaller classes in all of these schools when the data is released on Monday, she nodded yes, but then said "proper class sizes."  I followed up with an email asking her what  she means by "proper class sizes", but I am not hopeful of a substantive reply. 

Later that evening, I attended the Town hall meeting in Jackson Heights where Mayor de Blasio fielded questions about NYC Public School Parents: My frustrating Thursday: DOE's evasions and the Mayor's refusal to reduce class size or admit that he ever said that he would:

Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”? | deutsch29

Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”? | deutsch29:

Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”?

A Lynchpin

In December 2010, at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in Washington, DC, former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s test-centric education reforms were featured in the form of ALEC model legislation called the “A-plus Literacy Act,” an omnibus document that includes school and district letter grades, publicly-funded vouchers for private school attendance, corporate tax credits for donating money to voucher programs, alternative teacher certification, social promotion ban, and merit pay for teachers of Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

A corporate reform smorgasbord.

In the background and drafting notes for this piece of ALEC model legislation, the first point discussed involves “school and district report cards and grades” (see page 46 of the previous link).

The drafting notes include an important acknowledgement: Applying A-B-C-D-F letter grades to schools and districts is the “lynchpin for the reforms.”

A lynchpin is something vital to an enterprise. In this case, the enterprise is the reduction of the value of education to test scores and the resulting privatization of public education when those easily-manipulated, high-stakes test score outcomes indicate failure. The use of letter grades (as opposed to numbers or some other rating system, like a star rating system) to foster the effects of such test-centrism is that letter grades draw greater public and media attention.

Indeed they do.

Behind the letter grades are the test-score-dependent formulas used to arrive at those letter grades. So, high test scores become important for both public school and district survival, including school and district funding.

In the end, students and parents become pawns as schools vie for higher letter grades and increased funding associated with securing and retaining students who produce high test scores.

The above leads me to a discussion I had this weekend with one of my nephews. He Graduating Early “A Stupid Idea”? | deutsch29:

4LAKids - Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING:

Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

STEVE LOPEZ  |  L.A. TIMES COLUMNIST | HTTP://LAT.MS/1H2YLOD

Teachers and children rally at Stevenson Middle School in East Los Angeles against a proposal, spearheaded by the Broad Foundation, that would move half of L.A. Unified students into charters over the next eight years. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

14 Nov. 2015 | 10:00 AM  ::  The more you hear about attempts to improve the nation's schools, the sorrier you have to feel for the kids.

After years of "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top" initiatives, national test scores dived deeper into failure and mediocrity in the last reading. In a stunning reversal, the Obama administration, a tireless champion of more and more testing, is now whistling a different tune.

There's too much testing going on out there.

Arne Duncan, Obama's education secretary, said his conversations with countless educators have made him realize "how much time testing and test prep are taking from instruction."

Translation: Instead of testing, let's try teaching.

It couldn't happen too soon in test-oppressed California, where recent headlines tell a sobering story about achievement, or lack thereof.

"California test scores in the cellar," said one. "California test scores among worst in U.S.," said another.

Recently released statewide Common Core test results were no better, and L.A. Unified students scored below California averages in disturbing fashion. In math, three-fourths of LAUSD students did not meet state standards. In English, two-thirds were underwater.

So what's wrong in Los Angeles?

The first problem, which never gets enough attention in the school-reform debate, has nothing to do with schools. LAUSD is a district made up primarily of poor children, and to be fair to district administrators and teachers, this presents daily challenges that are unknown to more affluent districts.

The second problem is that in L.A. Unified, it's rarely clear who's in charge, and that's certainly the case now.

The last superintendent, John Deasy, was shooed out of office in part because of his own blunders and the unresolved question of who was captain of the listing ship — Deasy or the school board. And there are signs that board members, terrorized by Deasy for so long, never recovered from their PTSDeasy.

The current superintendent, Ramon Cortines, is a temporary fill-in and lame duck who wants only one thing for Christmas: his retirement papers.

And the search for a replacement is a peculiar and naturally contentious spectacle, part public but mostly private, involving a private consulting firm. Because you can never hire too many outsiders while schoolhouses deteriorate and bean counters warn of a projected $333-million deficit in a district with a shrinking enrollment.

Complicating the search for a new boss is a lack of consensus as to what kind of superintendent the district should go after.

A visionary?

A crusader?

A baby sitter?

You'd almost have to scratch anybody naive enough to want the job, especially if a flak jacket and Humvee are not part of the package. The new superintendent will be rolling straight into the crossfire of a raging war between charter school champions and charter school foes.

That's not a new conflict, but the stakes got higher when The Times' Howard Blume broke the story of a massive $490-million plan — mapped out in secret — by billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and other self-anointed saviors of the American way. They'd like to funnel no less than half of LAUSD's schools into charters, rescuing them from the rusted machine of district bureaucracy and politics.

The teachers union, which would lose busloads of its members and much of its clout, is militantly aggrieved and philosophically opposed to what it calls the corporatization of public schools. The union contends with reasonable logic that a dramatic multiplication of charters — not all of which are necessarily a better alternative — would drain money from non-charters, leaving many of the district's poorest students in the lurch.

Broad, I should note, isn't the only local billionaire making headlines for claiming to know what's missing from local school options. David Geffen, apparently unimpressed with the public and private school offerings in West L.A., last week pledged $100 million to establish a private middle and high school on the UCLA campus for the children of UCLA staff and others, with financial aid for 40% of the students.

It's a lovely gesture but part of a rich-get-richer narrative, if you ask me. UCLA has a $2.2-billion endowment as it is. Geffen made his fortune in music and film, and after The Times' 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Pop Quiz: WHAT’S WRONG WITH L.A. UNIFIED’S LEADERSHIP? Answer: JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING:

CURMUDGUCATION: NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation

CURMUDGUCATION: NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation:

NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation

It's a big report, over a hundred pages, and I've read it so you don't have to. But that doesn't mean you don't have your work cut out for you here on this blog. Let's get going. 

Who are these people? 

The National Council on Teacher Quality's continued presence in the education world is one of the great mysteries of the reformster era (or maybe just one of the great con jobs). This "national council" includes a staff composed almost exclusively of former TFA folks and professional bureaucrats and a board of directors that contains no teachers.

Let me say that again-- this group that has declared itself the arbiter of teacher quality for the country has no career teachers in positions of authority. None.

They have been an excellent tool for reformsters, which may be why their funders's list is a who's who of reformy money (Gates, Broad, Walton, Joyce, and even Anonymous). Like other heavy-hitters (or at least heavy cash-checkers) of the "non-partisan research and policy organization" world, they specialize in putting a glossy figleaf of research study paper over the big ugly naked truth of reformster advocacy.

Their particular brand is about assaulting the teaching profession with a concern trolling spin. From their mission statement:

We recognize that it is not teachers who bear responsibility for their profession's many challenges, but the institutions with the greatest authority and influence over teachers. To that end we work to achieve fundamental changes in the policy and practices of teacher preparation programs, school districts, state governments, and teachers unions. 

In other words, teachers suck, but it's not their fault, poor dears, because they are helpless, CURMUDGUCATION: NCTQ New Report on Teacher Evaluation:

4LAKids - ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN: “a landmark Opportunity” to achieve 50% charter market-share.”

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN: Explaining “a landmark Opportunity” and how+why “Los Angeles is already well-positioned to achieve 50% charter market-share.”:

ELI BROAD’S COVER LETTER TO HIS CHARTER PLAN:

Explaining “a landmark Opportunity” and how+why “Los Angeles is already well-positioned to achieve 50% charter market-share.”

Hello Connecticut? Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire - Wait What?

Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire - Wait What?:

Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire

In “Fiscal flood warning: Nothing but red ink forecast in CT,” the CT Mirror’s Keith Phaneuf reports;

Nonpartisan fiscal analysts issued projections Friday that Connecticut, already coping with a significant budget shortfall in the current year, is facing a far worse problem just over the horizon: nearly a $2.3 billion gap in state finances over the next two fiscal years.

The legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis is projecting a $552 million deficit in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2016. And finances are on pace the following year to run $1.72 billion in the red….

It was only 48 hours ago that Governor Dannel Malloy was quoted in the Hartford Courant claiming;

“…a shortfall of “a couple of hundred million dollars” needs to be kept in perspective, the Democratic governor said.

“These numbers aren’t that big, folks,” Malloy told reporters Thursday at a news conference at the state Capitol.  “We’re talking about a $20 billion budget. That’s 20 thousand million dollars. We’re talking about finding a couple of hundred million of dollars in cuts. It’s a relatively small number versus the entire expenditure.”

He added: “I know it all gets reported as a crisis. This is not a crisis.”

Here at Wait, What?, the blog post about the budget read,  Making Sh*t Up – the New Normal in American and Connecticut Politics.

Just last year, as the 1^st term governor sought to convince voters to give him four more years in office, Malloy said there was not deficit and if re-elected he would not proposal or accept tax increase if re-elected;

“We won’t have deficits. We don’t have deficits.” – Malloy – CT Mirror – Feb 4, 2014

“We really don’t have a deficit.” – Malloy – CT Mirror – August 4, 2014

“There won’t be a deficit. And there won’t be tax increases, because I’m taking that Hello Connecticut?  Ah, our Fiscal House is on Fire - Wait What?:

Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’ - The Washington Post

Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’ - The Washington Post:

Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’

In recent years the University of North Carolina system — long considered one of the best in the country — has sustained massive budget cuts by the state legislature as well as efforts to force some academics to change their priorities. Now there is a new challenge: the appointment of Margaret Spellings, education secretary under President George W. Bush, as system president. The move — by a Republican-dominated governing board — is being attacked by students and faculty as a political move that will damage the state.

Spellings was chosen last month to run — starting in March 2016 — the system of 16 universities, with 222,000 students. She will earn enough to put her in the top range of college presidents: a  $775,000 base salary for each of five years in a contract that also gives her deferred compensation of $77,500 annually and potential performance bonuses, and use of a presidential home.

She was selected by the system’s Board of Governors, which had forced out Tom Ross, who was tapped as president in 2010 when Democrats controlled the legislature. Ross — who had a long academic career, unlike Spellings — was believed to have been opposed to the budget cuts and other priority changes being sought at UNC.

The News & Observer reported in August on e-mails showing that conservatives expressed delight when the board voted on Jan. 16 to oust Ross (who earned a base salary of $600,000 in his final contract year):

That day, several supportive emails and messages arrived in the inbox of board Chairman John Fennebresque. “John – this is certainly good news,” wrote U.S. Rep. George Holding, a Republican from Raleigh. “I know you will find a great replacement. Best, g.”

The selection of Spellings was so controversial, even within the governing board, that its chairman, John Fennebresque, resigned a few days later. According to NC Policy Watch, “just three days after she was hired, the chair of the UNC Board of Governors announced he was resigning from the board, following calls from his colleagues to step aside as a result of the acrimonious search process and the jumbled dismissal months earlier of Spellings’ predecessor, Tom Ross.” Fennebresque had, NC Policy Watch reported, said with tears in his eyes after Spellings was appointed that he  hoped she would prove to be a great UNC leader.

Spellings oversaw the initial implementation of No Child Left Behind when she was education secretary under Bush, from 2005 to 2009, and she currently is the head of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. While education secretary, she convened the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which in 2006 released a report with controversial recommendations, including a call for colleges and universities to focus on training students for the workforce and supporting research with commercial applications. She also served on the board of directors for the Apollo Group, the parent company of the for-profit University of Phoenix, which paid her more than $300,000 for her involvement.

The choice of Spellings has sparked savage criticism by students and faculty, who have said that she is not a suitable president for the vaunted UNC system and that she was chosen as a political move because she is likely to accept Naming of Margaret Spellings as UNC system president called ‘a disturbing new low’ - The Washington Post: