If Race to the Top loses, What is Lost? What is Gained?

Federal officials will tell you that education is a state responsibility, but federal dollars impact state policy.

So, if Race to the Top (RTT)children-402166_1280 does lose it funding in the new Omnibus  bill, what goes away?

 

What are the new education priorities in the bill?  A listing from the U.S. Department of Education website gives a list of RTT grant initiatives that may be affected.

 

 

New priorities are set.  School Improvement Grants (S.I.G.) remain.Continue reading

Video of Macke Raymond’s Presentation on Charters

If you would like to watch the video of  Macke Raymond’s speech at the Cleveland Club, you can find it here.  She names some states as having very strong authorizing procedures for charters:  New York, Tennessee, D.C. and Massachusetts.  She stresses the independence of boards.  In Florida, some boards, particularly those that contract with for-profit management companies, are not independent.  The specific reference to market driven reform is mid way through the Q & A part of her presentation.  I have started looking at the strong authorization processes that these states use.  Do any of our blog readers from these states have information to share?

A Time and a Reason for Hope

Do you have times when you wonder if it is possible to change minds and find a better way?  Today I think it is possible.  I read a post sent to Diane Ravitch from Stephen Dyer, a policy analyst in Ohio.  He went to hear Macke Raymond from the Hoover Institute at Stanford explain her study of charter schools.  Near the end of her speech she is quoted as saying that education “is the only industry/sector where the market mechanism just does not work…”  Competition does not drive improvement in education.Continue reading

Step Back, Take Stock

The blog is one month old.  We can celebrate a little.  Thus far we have had 4500 hits on our site, and our subscriber list is growing.  Let people know.

critical-thinking (2)It is also a good time to take a minute and think.   Are we contributing useful information on school reform issues?   What is helpful?  What is missing?  Reflect on the following list and make suggestions.  I will summarize your suggestions and respond.Continue reading

See: FEATURE OF THE WEEK. It is BOLD.

We have posted a  summary of the new Alachua County, Florida’s Superintendent of Schools 100 Day Report on the FEATURE OF THE WEEK banner of the blog.

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Dr. Owen Roberts was appointed to the superintendent position 3 months ago and has spent the time in an intensive review of the district.  How his vision for the county will be implemented is likely to be another one of those fascinating stories.

 

He addresses testing, funding, school equity, curriculum, early education, brain development, as well as parent and community involvement.  Click on the banner at the top of the Home Page of our blog to track this very bold initiative.  It has  those pieces of colored chalk.   We will update the post as new information becomes available.  Who says public schools cannot be innovative?

New Mexico Charter School Power Struggle

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Need Oversight

by Meredith Machen

This is an updated post of the struggle between the Public Education Commission (PEC)  and the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) over proper supervision of charter schools.   The PED is not responding to State auditors’ requests for information following a federal investigation of charters there.  Continue reading

Kentucky Considers Adopting Charter Schools

Kentucky offers us a peek into the process of drafting bills to enable charter schools. billboard-63978_1280

It also helps us understand what is meant by granting greater flexibility to charter schools.  The Pritchard Committee report has side-by-side comparisons of which traditional public schools regulations would change for charters.

Options drawn from other states are presented but not an analysis of the pros and cons for each approach. For example, is it better to have fewer rather than more authorizers?  Are reports of charter vs. traditional public school achievement gains valid? We offer some sources that can enhance the understanding of these issues.Continue reading

Profit Trumps Public Interest?

The National Council of State Legislatures should be commended for bringing together two people with very different views of charter school for-profit management.  On the surface, the webinar: Charter School Networks: Does Profit Status Matter?  seemed to be a reasonable, thoughtful discussion about management issues.

payoffThe discussion was polite.  Responses to questions were forthcoming.   The rationale for-profit status was discussed and management issues were raised.  The fact that both for-profit and non-profit management companies have fiscal management problems was acknowledged.   Yet, the meat of the topic was only alluded to.

If you want to really understand the issues, read on.   Continue reading

Class Size Violations: Does It Matter?

FEA Cites Violations of Class Size Amendment in this short video. There are several ‘work arounds’ to avoid the restrictions imposed by a Florida constitutional amendment in 2002. PreK through grade 3 is limited to 18 students.  The limit for grades 4-8 is 22 and for grades 9-12 it is 25 in core subjects like reading, math and science.  The temptation to manipulate the limits is great in order to reduce cost.  Clearly, there is more to this story. Continue reading