Monday, January 7, 2013

Michelle Rhee's Report Card On State Education Policies Draws Union Ire

Michelle Rhee's Report Card On State Education Policies Draws Union Ire:


Michelle Rhee's Report Card On State Education Policies Draws Union Ire

NEW YORK -- Louisiana is ranked number one on an education score card. The Bayou State's surprising achievement comes thanks to Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst organization, which on Monday released its first annual report card of states' education policies. The results are notable because Rhee's effort doesn't measure student performance, it looks instead at what StudentsFirst calls states' environments for passing laws to reform education.

Rhee's version of education reform favors school accountability; charter schools; teacher evaluations that rely, in part, on students' test scores; private school vouchers for some students; a policy known as a "parent trigger," which lets parents take over failing schools; and handing mayors -- not school boards -- the reins on education. Rhee graded the states mercilessly, giving almost 90 percent of them grades lower than a C; and 11 states