People in Washington rarely like to admit they’ve been surprised. “I heard that last week,” they will often say when some bombshell hits the newspaper.

Denizens of think tanks also don’t like surprises. After all, their job is to stay in close touch with what’s happening and what’s on the horizon.

Still, there were some surprises for our WashingContinue Reading »

Last week, Education Nation closed the summit with interviews from President Obama and Governor Romney. The candidates seemed to agree more than they disagreed—in fact, Brian Williams asked Governor Romney if he would retain Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education for a Romney presidency. Performance pay was one area where President Obama and Governor Romney were closely aligned. “There should beContinue Reading »

What does it take to get teachers so angry that they are willing to let more than 350,000 public school students go uneducated for days? In Chicago, where striking public school teachers have done just that, it took more than money, although the teachers want more of that, too. What Chicago’s 25,000 teachers are really up in arms about, along with demands to work a longer school day, is a new sContinue Reading »