Heather Horn at The Atlantic Wire notes that there are quite a few folks supporting the proposed $23 million intended to prevent teacher layoffs: Recent worries over the deficit, combined with concerns about education reform, have left commentators wary of further spending on teachers. So the Democratic plan to give $23 billion payout to public [...]
Here‘s what seems to me a pretty sensible approach to homework. Homework, of course. But meaningful homework.
In the disheartening-at-best-tragic-at-worse department, most American students don’t know anything about the fundamental ideas America is based on. (Though they most likely know about the instances when America failed to live up to her own high standards — but that’s a post for another day.) As former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor– who’s out [...]
Today in the WSJ, Miriam Jordan straightforwardly describes what makes a school successful. What works is not a really a secret– high standards, high expectations, no excuses. Jordan looks at two similar kids who went to two different kinds of schools–schools with different philosophies– and the difference that made in their lives: In middle school, [...]
If you’re looking for math with a dose of sarcasm, drop in at the Math Curmudgeon’s blog. While bringing a math perspective into the current more-applicants-than-jobs teacher situation, the Curmudgeon notes that teachers who made the final cut had a test to take. Then they were given a timed writing test to further demonstrate ability, [...]
No sensible person thinks that some basic amount of money isn’t need to operate a school, keep good programs and pay good teachers. The tricky thing is figuring out how much money, how it should be spent and where it should come from. What’s contested is whether throwing more and more money at a problem [...]
There was quite an interesting dust-up in New Jersey yesterday when the governor responded to teacher Rita Wilson’s complaint that she wasn’t getting paid adequately for her education and experience: … borough teacher Rita Wilson, a Kearny resident, argued that if she were paid $3 an hour for the 30 children in her class, she’d [...]
And while we’re speaking of New York, the NY Daily News reported this: Gov. Paterson gave a stunning reason Tuesday for why he can’t persuade lawmakers to boost the number of charter schools: He can’t afford to buy them off. “In the past, governors gave them all kinds of resources in exchange for support for [...]
The NY teachers’ union (UFT) wishes people– you know, the “blame the teacher crowd and the Wall Street Hedge Funds behind them”– to “quit playing politics” with the school children of New York. EdWise has the TV ad that the UFT began running last week in an attempt to prevent the possible $500 million education [...]
Daniel Henninger has a great little video piece about the Cristo Rey schools. He has a column about it in the WSJ as well. (Google “How About a Good Catholic Story” — don’t forget the quotations marks– for the full text.) Cristo Rey is a system of 24 Jesuit high schools that offers a college-prep [...]