Because a tummy tuck improves their confidence. In Buffalo, an old provision buried deep in the union contract covers cosmetic surgery – botox, liposuction, you name it. While teachers enjoy the services free of even a co-pay, the district forks over about $5.4 million annually. (The Post-Standard)

How about “What not to post on the Internet?” Schools across Virginia will begContinue Reading »

It looks like Hawaii has finally reached agreement on a new labor contract, much to the relief of the state and the USDOE who had threatened to pull back some or all of the state’s $75 million Race to the Top grant. The (statewide) district and union have been battling over teacher pay and evaluation provisions for more than a year. The dispute came to a head last summer, when the state announcContinue Reading »

Not exactly a Christmas wish. U.S. Department of Education officials sent a stern letter to Hawaii, blocking access to the state’s remaining Race to the Top funds, because officials there have not made adequate progress. Also, federal folks will visit in early 2012 for an “extensive on-site review.”   (Education Week)

Real experience. Teachers-in-training at the UniversContinue Reading »

We have a winner! Or rather, 9 winners. Today the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced the 9 successful states in the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant competition. North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and California will share a portion of the $500 million pot. For some background on the competiContinue Reading »

This Thanksgiving, those of us following the ESEA reauthorization debate have a lot to be thankful for. Who’d have thought the last few months would be so exciting?

We have a bipartisan (sort of) Senate ESEA Reauthorization bill passed out of the HELP Committee. Depending on your point of view, you could be thankful for a lot of things here: a) that a reauthorization bill has gotten thisContinue Reading »

Turnaround reforms. The Indiana State Board of Education has proposed new rules that would expand state takeovers to more than 100 schools. The state intervened in five schools this year for the first time. (Indianapolis Star)

RTTT apps due Tuesday. Nine states eligible for Race to the Top funds must demonstrate how they will improve STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) educContinue Reading »

Don’t let ignorant politicians impose testing for 5 year olds! It’s happening. Promoted by Testing Zealots in DC & state capitols.

- Tea Party activist Education historian Diane Ravitch, agitating educating her 20,000+ Twitter followers about readiness assessment programs, an optional component of the Obama Administration’s Early Learning Challenge found in 24 staContinue Reading »

My Education Week “Truth About Testing Costs” commentary outlines why the rhetoric about the high budgetary costs of testing is not only overblown, but in many ways counter-productive, because it stifles investment in the very sorts of high-quality assessments that most educators deeply desire.

My inquiry found that states actually spend very little of their per-pupil spendinContinue Reading »

Spend any time listening to talk radio and you’ll hear countless stories about “billions wasted” on foreign aid. Politicians seizing on painless ways to cut the deficit reinforce this perception of massive spending, and Americans believe them: In surveys, they estimate that as much as one out of four dollars spent by the federal government goes to foreign governments.

In fact, the U.S. sContinue Reading »

California Gov. Jerry Brown is one of the most powerful anti-student testing politicians in the country. So, when given the chance to sign into law a new system of education accountability that would place far less emphasis on test scores, what did Brown do? He vetoed it. In his veto message over the weekend he called the bill “yet another siren song of school reform” that “relies on the same qContinue Reading »