Legal troubles over state takeover. 101 Birmingham, Ala., school employees, who were either fired to transferred during a state takeover of schools, are suing to get their jobs back. They say the board didn’t approve the job cuts, and that the state superintendent wrongfully stepped in to override its decision. (Birmingham News)

Depressing statistic of the day. “Poor students with practiContinue Reading »

It looks like Michelle Rhee wants to bypass the teacher’s union and link teacher licensure to “effectiveness” as determined by OSSE. The union has already tripped up, in my opinion, by rejecting the principle of the idea and upsetting people like Kevin.

But really, they have a point about the nuts and bolts problems of teacher evaluation in DC. In all the coverage of the DC contract negoContinue Reading »

It’s old news, but, if I were an advocate for teacher unionism, I’d be highlighting this incident till the cows come home as an example of why teachers need protection against capricious firings. Is it any wonder our children don’t know anything about Ancient Greece, Rome and the roots of Western culture? I mean, what better than the profusion of nekkid statues to get kids inContinue Reading »