Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, September 21, 2013

9-21-13 Perdido Street School:

Perdido Street School:




Joe Lhota Says Bill De Blasio Wants To "Annihilate" Charter Schools
From the Wall Street Journal:As for education, Mr. Lhota said one of the key differences between the two candidates is their stance on charter schools. “He’s trying to do everything almost to eradicate the charter schools. He wants them to pay rent. He doesn’t want them co-located,” Mr. Lhota said. “Those two items alone will annihilate the charter schools in the City of New York, and that’s absol

The Class War Is Over - The Plutocrats Won
Andrew O'Hehir in Salon:American conservatives love to attack anyone who raises the issue of worsening economic inequality for waging “class war.” Their compulsion to keep repeating that phrase is revealing in itself; it’s like the serial killer in a movie who can’t help returning to the scene of the crime. Because the only class war being waged in 21st-century America is the relentless, all-front


The Fundraising Race Between Bill De Blasio And Joe Lhota
The NY Times reports that de Blasio has a slight lead over Lhota in fundraising since the primary ended.De Blasio has $700,00 in funds, Lhota $500,000.Both candidates have raised similar amounts since the primary ended - de Blasio $147,000, Lhota $144,000.But de Blasio also has $500,000 in funds that were raised for a runoff that he cannot use until January.So the fundraising totals skew how much

Arizona Changes Name Of Common Core Standards
I posted earlier this week about a movement across the country, from Arizona to Maryland, to rename the Common Core State Standards something else in order to try and quash the political controversy that is arising around the implementation of the standards.It seems Common Core proponents think Common Core critics and opponents are too stupid to figure out that all education reformers are looking
Parent Arrested At Public Forum For Protesting Common Core Standards
What was it that George Bush said about why the United States was attacked on 9/11?Oh, yeah - they hate us for our freedoms.I think he means freedoms like these:Robert Small said he wanted to express his dismay over the introduction of a new school curriculum at a public forum Thursday night in Towson, but instead the Ellicott City parent was pulled out of the meeting, arrested and charged with se

Why Did This Politico Story On Education Disappear?
I put a Politico link on my blogroll after Stephanie Simon joined the media outlet to write about education issues.I've never been a huge fan of the site, but Stephanie Simon's work at Reuters was excellent, so I decided if she was going to be writing education stories at Politico, a link to the site was warranted. Last night at 10:52 PM, a story went up entitled "Do U.S. Schools Really Stink
Andy Cuomo And Billy Joel
Coming just a week after Billy and Andy got to ride their motorcycles with the FDNY to the 9/11 commemoration ceremony, the NY Post reports the following on Page Six:We hear...That Gov. Andrew Cuomo will be joining Billy Joel on his boat in Oyster Bay today for the annual Friends of the Bay cleanup. Didn't realize Billy Joel and Andy Cuomo were such good buddies.First the 9/11 commemoration, now t

9-20-13 Perdido Street School
Perdido Street School: Joe Lhota: I'm A Hug-Able Kind Of GuyFrom the Wall Street Journal:Mr. Lhota blamed his poll standing on a brutal primary in which his chief opponent, billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, repeatedly described Mr. Lhota as mean and a bureaucrat. "John [Catsimatidis] was throwing as much mud as he possibly could—I've never met anybody who thinks I'm mean, I've never