In September 2006, the bipartisan Spellings Commission lamented low college graduation rates, rising student costs, and inadequate information about student learning.
But while the report was correct in its emphasis, it was eventually doomed by the federal government’s limited role in higher education. If colleges are going to be held accountable, states will have to carry [...]
All Posts Tagged: 'Education Governance'
Do What’s Already Being Done
Another Californian Unemployed
California recently announced that over 26,000 had lost their jobs in the month of October. Its unemployment rate has risen to 8.2 percent, one of the highest levels in the country (only Michigan and Rhode Island are worse off). Yesterday one more fell victim to this trend. David Brewer the Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified, [...]
The Competition Effect Emerges
I like the Council of Great City Schools and it’s director, Mike Casserly, but I confess I’m not really sure what he’s getting at here. He’s right that muddled governance and Congressional meddling have done DCPS no favors through the years. But his thesis that the lack of coordination between DC’s three-part arrangement of a [...]
An Important Day for D.C. Schools?
Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty will sign legislation today adding him to the ranks of mayors who have taken control over their cities’ public education systems. The D.C. Council passed the legislation last Thursday. Congress must also approve the law before it takes effect, but is expected to do so with no problems.
I want very [...]
DC Schools Takeover: Probably a Good Thing
It looks like DC mayor Adrian Fenty will be allowed to take over the city schools. As my colleague Sara Mead has written (when she’s not busy in her day job as conventional wisdom-busting provocateur), all mayoral takeovers aren’t created equal–they can be done well, or badly. But specifics aside for the moment, I think [...]
Fun with Hypotheticals
So, if you were a major urban school board, and were trying to fend of a mayoral takeover of the schools your currently control, do you think that failing to submit a budget proposal for the coming fiscal year in a timely fashion, and then insisting at the last minute that you need a much [...]
Lowering Student Loan Default Rates: What One Consortium of Historically Black Institutions Did to Succeed 
College and Career-Ready: Using Outcomes Data to Hold High Schools Accountable for Student Success
03/11/10 | Kevin Carey is quoted on the rising costs of education in The Economist.
03/10/10 | Chad Aldeman's False Fronts paper is quoted on Accuracy in Academia.
03/09/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on Federal Family Education Loan defaults on The Huffington Post.
03/09/10 | Ben Miller is quoted on loan origination on the Firedog Lake blog.
03/07/10 | Kevin Carey calls for a Race to the Top in higher education in a column in The Chronicle of Higher Education.