Eduwonk

A Pundit Is Born!

arotherham — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:10:45 +0000

Kevin Huffman’s first piece is up, voting starts tomorrow. Keep him on the island!

Update: The polls are open, vote now!

New Dominion?

arotherham — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:35:07 +0000

In the wake of Tuesday’s election there is some speculation that the policy climate in Virginia may become more friendly to charter schools — a change that’s long overdue. Albemarle County is using chartering in some progressive ways but overall the state’s policy is an embarrassment. A panel in Williamsburg will discuss that and what might be next on November 18 (pdf).

What’s In A Blame?

arotherham — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:02:19 +0000

States are responding to “Race to the Top” in different ways. Leading states are thinking about big ideas they can build an application around. States like CA and MI are passing legislation to get in position to compete. And some states are not doing much, presumably reading the draft guidance and deciding it’s hopeless. But in New York, which is hamstrung by a few policies that are at odds with core parts of RTT, it looks like a new strategy is emerging. With the Hoyt bill under attack and bottled up, the blame game for why New York may not get a big piece of the money is starting. Although New York could address its data firewall on teacher-student data and make a few other changes an be in good position, instead right now the inside game seems to be blame the charters for not pulling their weight.

Edujob

arotherham — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:28:03 +0000

Hope Street Group is hiring for an ed policy director. Fun, flexible, and innovative organization, good people.

Elections

arotherham — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:41:14 +0000

What does it mean? Short answer is that rough off-year elections for Dems don’t bode well for No Child Left Behind (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) reauthorization. Only complicates the already tortuous politics because you’re going to have a lot of skittish Dems who either are, or think they are, in marginal seats. They want accomplishments to run on, but want to keep their seats even more! Look for more emboldened special interest groups in that environment.

Toss in the delays on health care and all the oxygen Race to the Top is sucking up, and it’s a tough line-up for ESEA.

Gift Rap

arotherham — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:59:04 +0000

I hope James Kelly and Allen Odden send a nice bouquet of flowers (or in the Shanker spirit a good bottle of wine) to Randi Weingarten. She’s made their new SMHC report, which wasn’t going to get a great deal of attention, into something that people are now really paying attention to!

A Pundit Is Born!

arotherham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:45:52 +0000

Washington Post is sponsoring a contest for punditry. It’s down to the final ten – and if you follow education policy closely one of them will look very familiar to you…Hint: Rhymes with Hevin Kuffman…

So Much For Perestroika?

arotherham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:32:23 +0000

A lot of teachers’ union pushback is emerging on the Hoyt Race to the Top bill in New York.

Every Dog Has His Day…

arotherham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:51:02 +0000

…and today might be Richard Whitmire’s.

All About The Kids…

arotherham — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:49:12 +0000

Bill Turque’s second-day story on the Michelle Rhee – City Council debate is well-worth reading but the most interesting story on what’s happening on education in Washington, D.C. is not even an education story at all - and mentioned the issue only in passing: It was Sunday’s front-page look at Mayor Fenty’s stormy relationship with the city council. A lot of what’s happening keys off of that. Remember, it’s all about the kids!

So when Valerie Strauss goes all Rodney King on the same and asks, ‘can’t we all just get along?’ It’s a nice idea, but the obstacle can be summed up in 140 characters or less. In other words, as often happens in politics, disparate interests with common goals are finding each other in the debate. Does anyone really think the AFT would be so bent out of shape and excited about D.C. Council Chairman Gray if Michelle Rhee were using the same style and tactics to mandate hiring more teachers and raising teacher salaries across-the-board with no changes to the “tenure” rules? Somehow I think we’d be hearing a lot less about process…

Update: Kevin Carey on the niceness meme here.