Jack Jennings and a Half-Century of School Reform
Much as I respect and admire Jack Jennings, in spite of all his experience in this field, his main tool remains federal legislation, which I’ve come to believe is almost always wielded clumsily in pursuit of nails that either won’t budge at all or end up bent.
School Finance Litigation: With defeats like these, who needs victories?
Last Thursday, Washington’s Supreme Court ruled that the state legislature needs to spend more on education. At first glance, the ruling looks like significant victory for the plaintiffs, but a close reading of the ruling shows that looks can be deceiving.
Terry Moe on Teacher Union Power
Terry Moe talks with Eric Hanushek about his recent book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools.
Unions and the Public Interest
Is collective bargaining for teachers good for students?
Is collective bargaining for teachers good for students?
Rhode Island’s Landmark Pension Reform
Last night, by overwhelming margins, the Rhode Island legislature passed what may be the nation’s most comprehensive state public employee pension reform ever.
A Different Role for Teachers Unions
Cooperation brings high scores in Canada and Finland
Cooperation brings high scores in Canada and Finland
Evaluate Teachers on How Much Students Have Learned
On Tuesday, Nov. 1, a group of parents and taxpayers sued the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to make the district follow the law, by evaluating teachers based on how much their students have learned.
A is for Accountability*; What’s at stake in the ESEA debate**
Liberal reformers and prominent editorial pages are raging mad about the Harkin-Enzi bill’s supposedly weak approach to accountability in its ESEA update. Are they right to be? And is it true that Republicans have become teacher union stooges when it comes to federal education policy?
Views of EdNext Readers In Line With Those of General Public (except on Teachers Unions)
Ed Next readers—or at least those who participate in our polls—are not all that different from the public at large, except that they seem to know more about the issues and are thus more inclined to take a position on them. That’s what we discovered when we asked the same questions of readers as were posed to a representative cross-section of the public as a whole in 2011.
What We’re Watching: GA Supreme Court Strikes Down State Chartered Schools
In this Choice Media TV report, Georgians react to the news that their state can no longer approve or direct funding to charter schools.
Zen and the Art of School Board Maintenance
The problem is that local school boards can’t wait around for the folks who have caused our cancers to cure them.
Taking Failing Schools to Court
The California court’s ruling in Reed v. State of California is a reminder that collective-bargaining agreements cannot trump the constitutional rights of children.
When public education’s two Ps disagree
It’s long been said that public education must achieve both public and private aims. The public, which foots the bill, has an interest in a well-educated populace. Parents—schools’ primary clients—want a strong foundation for their own children. Much of the time these two interests are in perfect alignment. But what happens when they’re not?
Leading the Recovery School District Six Years After Katrina
Since May, the leader of the Recovery School District, the state agency that now runs most New Orleans schools, has been John White, a 35-year-old Teach for America alum who had been serving as a deputy chancellor in New York City.
Trouble in Kansas
Parents in a wealthy district sue to pay more taxes
Parents in a wealthy district sue to pay more taxes
Florida Reformers Got It Right
Hybrid schoolers reap the benefits
Hybrid schoolers reap the benefits
Up With Teachers, Not So Much With Unions
The new Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup survey makes clear that most adults value their children’s teachers.
The Public Weighs In on School Reform
Intense controversies do not alter public thinking, but teachers differ more sharply than ever
Intense controversies do not alter public thinking, but teachers differ more sharply than ever
The 2012 Republican Candidates (So Far)
What they’ve said and done on education in the past, and what they might do about our public schools if elected
What they’ve said and done on education in the past, and what they might do about our public schools if elected
Shouldn’t the Public Sector Share the Pain?
If the right cuts are made, the public sector can remain equally effective but operate in a more efficient manner.
Importing Leaders for Turnarounds
Potentially thousands of leaders capable of managing successful school turnarounds work outside education, in nonprofit and health organizations, the military, and the private sector.
The Army of Angry Teachers — When Success Breeds Failure
The unions succeed by intimidating politicians with their raw power while convincing the public that teacher unions love their children almost as much as the parents do. But when the public face of the teacher unions is the Army of Angry Teachers, they no longer seem like Mary Poppins.
Let’s Talk Education Reform: A GOP candidate’s speech
The Republican presidential field is beginning to take shape, and candidates and maybe-candidates are figuring out where they stand and what to say. Sooner or later, they will need to say something about education. May we suggest a few talking points?
President’s Approval Rating Turns Negative: Not accidentally, bipartisanship does too
Two numbers that have come out since last Friday are depressing the chances for action on federal education policy. Everyone now knows that employment ticked upward to 9.2 percent, but few have noticed that Obama’s Real Clear Politics (RCP) job approval rating, positive for most of 2011, turned negative early Sunday morning.
