Last week Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell called for a two percent raise for Virginia teachers in exchange for lengthening the probation period for tenure from three years to five, adding incompetence (defined as receiving “one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations”) as cause for termination, and streamlining the grievance process. McDonnell put forward a similar proposal a year ago thContinue Reading »

Things that make you go hmmm. Anheuser-Busch will pay the University of Iowa $185,000 over four years to include its logo alongside the university’s logo on merchandise and advertisements. The money, university officials say, will go toward anti-binge-drinking programs. (Des Moines Register)

Black Friday, school-style. This news report describes a frenzied crowd of parents, who camped ouContinue Reading »

The Queen's Jubilee kicks off today!

A teacher firing case in Virginia. This piece provides a behind-the-scenes look at a tenured teacher, who was dismissed because of poor performance, and a fact-finding panel that eventually recommended she be reinstated. (Washington Post)

The fifth year is on them. If students at Indiana State University cContinue Reading »

Last week, Communities for Teaching Excellence released a policy brief advocating for common sense tenure reform. The brief describes what we already know: after a few years in the classroom, teachers in most districts receive tenure, essentially a promise of lifetime employment. While it’s possible for a district to terminate a tenured teacher, the burden in terms of time, cost, and paperwork Continue Reading »

Step one: fact check. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum claims that some California universities don’t offer, much less teach, American history courses. Except a quick search shows that the University of California requires all undergraduates to take an American history course (and in some cases, students even have their pick of time period). (Inside Higher Ed)

A DemocraticContinue Reading »

Don’t make “admin” your username or password, and especially not both. Bender, an alcoholic robot from the TV series Futurama, will head up the District of Columbia school board, thanks to computer gurus, who were invited to try to crack the city’s e-voting system. Once they did, they elected who they thought should be school board chair. (Tecca.com)

One is a loneContinue Reading »

Keeping tabs on higher ed. We’ve said for a long time that higher education needs more transparency; now the NYT joins the chorus. Students and families need more and better data so they can make informed decisions about college costs. Education Sector’s Rachel Fishman explains more about the potential behind the proposed “College Scorecard” here. (New York Times)

BeyonContinue Reading »

$125,000

The salary of teachers at one New York City charter school that denies its teachers tenure and evaluates them rigorously. (60 Minutes)

80+%

The percentage of American public schools that will be labeled as failing under NCLB this year, by Obama administration estimates. (Education Week)

$28.2 billion

The amount of funding that the Pell Grant program rContinue Reading »

Lost amid the controversy last week in which 75 District of Columbia Public Schools teachers were un-fired was the casual nature with which teachers were granted tenure. From the arbitrator’s ruling: