Category Archives: Funding

Pure Serendipity: Thinking Outside the Box

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outside the boxReading Freakonomics (by Steven Leavitt and Stephen Dubner) was supposed to be a lark for me.  You know, perusing fun ideas. There are certainly some of those.  Who would believe, however, that the book was full of information about educational reform!  Now the title of the book really makes me smile.

Some interesting data about Chicago schools may explain U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s thinking.  For some students, there really is a problem that no one can solve alone, and it is the culture of some schools that inhibits learning.  Is it better to help a few to leave a bad situation than to do nothing?  Or, do you take on the whole problem knowing you do not have the resources and capability to solve it?  People will be hurt; children will be lost either way.  What would you do?  Leavitt’s data makes you think out of the box.

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One of Two Florida Voucher Lawsuits Thrown Out

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One of the two Florida voucher lawsuits was thrown out today by Judge Charles Francis.  Faase et al vs. Scott et al was dismissed once before and then refiled.  The new version was deemed to be legally insufficient to sustain a finding of ‘special injury’.  This complaint was based on SB850 which was alleged to have been passed by the legislature using ‘log rolling’ strategies to combine bills to expand the tax credit scholarships and create new accounts for students with disabilities.  Click the LAWSUITS banner on the Home Page of this blog for more information.

A Christmas Gift

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education-390764_1280A Leaguer knows that consistently sharing information has an impact.  Nevertheless, it is reassuring to find evidence that people are listening, reading, and thinking about issues we believe are important.  Today the Editor of the Gainesville Sun described his Education on School Reforms.  He cites his sources and includes our work.  See how he puts together the issues.

The New Year is approaching.  Make a resolution to regularly get the message out.  Some one will be listening who can help.

Sweeping the Money Under the Rug?

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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.

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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→

Charter Schools: Pros and Cons

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Step Back, Take Stock

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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.

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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→

Profit Trumps Public Interest?

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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?

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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→