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August 30, 2010 by Haley Etchison
Governor hopeful promises to do opposite of incumbent: give money to higher education
Nevada’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid released a budget plan Thursday that promises to reduce state spending by $3 billion without touching education funding.
The document, called “Moving Nevada Forward,” claims Reid will bridge an almost 50 percent state budget shortfall without raising taxes by consolidating state agencies and eliminating government redundancies. But it holds to the candidate’s campaign claims about a plan that would protect state spending on education and use Nevada’s college system as an engine of economic growth.
Reid is banking on that growth to fill in a $500 million gap in his new budget. He asserts that Nevada
View full sizeU.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan (right) speaks during a visit Monday to NYSUT headquarters in Latham, near Albany. Duncan visited the largest the state’s largest union days after New York was awarded nearly $700 million in Race to the Top funds. A round table discussion was held as school administrators from around the state talked about their concerns on education. Listening to Duncan make a point is NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi.Latham, NY -- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today told a coalition of New York State educators who are developing a new teacher evaluation model that they are working in a national spotlight.
The coalition of labor and management represented six school districts, including North Syracuse.
District Superintendent Jerome Melvin, North Syracuse Education Association President John Kuryla and recent past association President Sylvia Matousek were among the group to meet with Duncan for about an hour at the offices of New York State United Teachers in Latham, outside Albany.
“As you guys know, the implications aren’t just for your state or your district, but the country,” Duncan said.
Duncan and the Obama Administration are pushing to have states hold teachers and principals more accountable for student performance, and states, including New York
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IMPACT, the Washington DC teacher evaluation program put in place by Chancellor Michelle Rhee, gives individual value-added measures a 50% weight in teacher evaluation determinations (for teachers who have value-added scores). The magic number for Race to the Top was also 50%. Los Angeles Unified committed to 30% in California’s losing Race to the Top application.
The Economic Policy Institute’s new brief, which details the many concerns with and limitations to current value-added measures, says that 50% is “unwise.” However, despite EPI’s litany of concerns with value-added, the authors, who include Diane Ravitch, Helen Ladd, and Linda Darling-Hammond, conclude that: “Used
EUGENE, Ore.—U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana will deliver a keynote address at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Willamette High School welcoming back teachers and staff of Bethel School District. Later, at 1 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will give remarks at Achieve’s American Diploma Project Leadership Team Meeting in Alexandria, VA at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 2.
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| The Zombies, 1964 |
"I was out of the country this past school year as a Fulbright Teacher, a prestigious program
