LWVeducation
by Jean Schiffbauer
In tumultuous times, is it possible to define the ‘public interest’ as something more than a compilation of private and powerful commercial concerns? When schools are public in name only, do we the public even know what is being taught or how? We will run a series of posts on curriculum issues facing our schools. Here is our first post by a long time curriculum specialist at a K-12 laboratory school.Continue reading
Remember the post on Profit Trumps Public Interest? It was the one the National Council of State Legislatures put out on for-profit education management companies. We discovered that National Heritage Academies had some serious problems. Propublica published a follow-up article on the for-profit National Heritage Academies.
Where Does the Money Go?
The Michigan State Board of Education has now asked the legislature to outlaw “sweep contracts” to for-profit companies, but the legislator did not listen. Continue reading
by Bonnie Burn
Bonnie Burn is the past president of LWV of Greater Las Cruces, the leader of their Education Study, author of many of the education reports on www.lwvglc.org website, and architect of the position in its various versions. LWVNM will be considering adopting the position through concurrence at the January board meeting.
This time of the year can make us feel we must run just to keep up with all that needs to be done. On the other hand, we can decide to slow down and enjoy the celebrations. I like these ‘enjoy the moment’ times and will not be posting much for the next week or so.
It will be useful to mull over what is the best use of our blog this next year. The changes in Congress will have an impact on education policy. No doubt states will have more control over how federal funds are spent and how accountable they will need to be. School choice programs will continue and perhaps escalate. Testing is likely to continue, but in what form? The debate over whether choice promotes quality will continue. Stay tuned….send your ideas on how to communicate the issues clearly, concisely, and fairly.
Remember to click the title of the post: Time to Enjoy… and scroll down to send your comments.
Federal officials will tell you that education is a state responsibility, but federal dollars impact state policy.
So, if Race to the Top (RTT)
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
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?
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
Getting Organized
Have you had trouble sifting through so much information? One of our readers suggested we provide a pro and con chart to help structure the issues we post. Then you can search the blog to find examples, citations, and more information about each topic. Seems like a practical idea. See what you think.
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.
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
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.
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?