But, under current circumstances, the evidence suggests that local control, weighted in favor of those who actually have a personal stake in the enterprise (students, parents, teachers) is the best we can do. Read Full Post >
Their letter is historic. It's the first time that a large number of administrators have spoken out in opposition to bad ideas. It represents hundreds of educators who are willing to stick their necks out, hundreds of educators wiling to speak truth to power, hundreds of educators who put their name on a statement to the state's highest education officials, with this simple message: "Stop! What you are doing is wrong. What you are imposing on us is untested. We believe it will be harmful to our students." Read Full Post >
Despite the manifest failure of NCLB, the Obama administration proposes not to scrap it, but to offer waivers if states agree to accept the mandates selected by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Read Full Post >
Like me, Wendy thinks that the media should not print the names of teachers and their "effectiveness ratings." We agreed that The Los Angeles Times was wrong to do so a year ago. She agreed with me that naming names is fraught with inaccuracy and can only demoralize teachers. Read Full Post >
I know of no other time in our history when thousands of teachers and parents massed on the Mall in Washington to protest misguided federal policies and to demand changes that will truly improve education and help children learn. Read Full Post >
The Parent Trigger should be recognized for what it is: A stealth assault on public education. Read Full Post >
Now is a time to speak and act. Now is a time to think about how we will one day be judged. Not by test scores, not by data, but by the consequences of our actions. Read Full Post >
I will be marching with the Save Our Schools coalition of teachers and parents on July 30 in Washington, D.C. I know you will be, too. I hope we are joined by many thousands of concerned citizens who want to save our schools from the bad ideas and bad policies now harming them. Read Full Post >
Referring to No Child Left Behind, now in effect for nine years, the committee held that there were some school-level effects, "but the measured effects to date tend to be concentrated in elementary grade mathematics, and the effects are small compared to the improvements the nation hopes to achieve." Read Full Post >
This isn't an argument against holding teachers accountable; it's an argument against holding them accountable for the wrong things and in a way that will result in very negative unintended consequences. Read Full Post >
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