For anyone who saw Waiting For 'Superman' and wants to know what life would be like for a school reformer fighting to give inner-city children their first-ever shot at a real education, this biography of Michelle Rhee is where you need to start. The movie made that fight look tough. The Bee Eater lays out just how tough that can be.
About the Author, Richard Whitmire (Contact him)
In November, former state legislator and science teacher Tom Torlakson became the new state superintendent of public instruction. It is the chief education job in California and it promises to be a hard one as schools grapple with another threatened round of budget cuts.
As a legislator, Torlakson is known to educators for writing a law that afforded extra funding and smaller classes to troubled schools. As educator-in-chief, he kicked off his tenure by calling a state of financial emergency in California schools.
Strickland, SOUTH CAROLINA (TWP)
Strickland Public Schools has been chosen to pilot a new educational program designed to ensure students pass state-mandated curriculum and graduation tests. The program, funded in part by a grant from 21st Century Edutech, formerly known as FallApart Products, will see Edutech’s new line of robot educators being placed in the classroom.
Strickland superintendent of schools Ron Maloney said of the program, “What better solution to the current crisis in education. We need more students to pass robotic multiple-choice tests; therefore, we need some real robots doing the teaching.”
21st Century Edutech, former makers of digital blenders, bra extenders, and cardboard boots, got into the business of designing high-tech educational
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Michelle Rhee left her D.C. schools post only a few months ago, but around the country a conventional wisdom has already settled in: Rhee had the right idea but the wrong approach.
The thinking on the former D.C. Public Schools chancellor goes like this: True, she had to focus on teacher and principal quality, but not exclusively. Yes, she had to close underutilized schools, but not without collaborating. Finding a better way to reward teachers was admirable, but not by riling the unions so much.
I've come to think of this conventional wisdom as Michelle Lite. Improving teacher quality, streamlining schools, giving teachers new pay incentives - all good ideas, but only if done gently, quietly, cooperatively.
The broad embrace of Michelle Lite among politicians is understandable. Who can blame them, especially after Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his reelection bid partly, or even mostly,
I am not quite sure why it took me more than two months to send out this e-mailto my staff, but I thought I would share it with you and encourage you to send a similar one.
Good Morning,
I have spoken to a few people about some recent blog posts I have read about Flipping Instruction or Reverse Instruction. One of the best summaries of the whole idea is in a post from Jonathan Martin, a high school Principal in Tuscon, Arizona. Jonathan’s post was titled
Yesterday was the end of 1st semester. Before I collapsed around 10:30 last night I had all my grades in (except for four students out the last two days whose grades I will update on Tuesday). We are now on a four-day weekend - teachers are on unpaid furlough for Monday. And now, maybe now, I have some time to look back and reflect.
I said I collapsed. I went to bed, and did not finally get up until 8:30 this morning. I am exhausted, and with one brief 10 minute break to get up and feed the cats at 5:20 so they would let me go back to sleep, I was out. I am still tired, even with a cup of coffee and some bagels behind me.
That level of exhaustion, and its causes, are li9ke a flashing red light - I now realize that I must seriously consider whether this should be my last year in the classroom. That is part of this morning's reflection as well.
I invite you to continue reading as I sort through thoughts and feelings from half a year in the classroom.
Saturday, January 22nd 2011, 4:00 AM
The latest salvo in Harlem's space wars between charter schools and public schools is a stencilled poster comparing a charter school to the Nazis.
A misspelled sign on the wall of Public School/Middle School 149 in Harlem reads, "Charter schools are like Hitler, tyrents trying to take what's not thiers!"
Photos of that poster and others critical of Harlem Success Academy, provided to the Daily News by charter school officials, were hung up in advance of a hearing on the schools' space-sharing arrangement this week.
"It's shameful that 631 children who have done nothing wrong...have to be
