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Education policy maven Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute think tank offers straight talk on matters of policy, politics, research, and reform. Read more from this blog.

Education Opinion

Introducing Your Guest Stars: Junge & Krvaric, Coggins, and Elden

By Rick Hess — October 21, 2011 2 min read
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Hidy, all. So I’m taking one of my quarterly breaks from RHSU for the next few weeks. Happily, once again, I think we’ve assembled a terrific line-up of guest bloggers. They’re all a lot more interesting and accomplished than yours truly, so it should make for a lively stretch.

First up, next week, we have Melissa Junge and Sheara Krvaric. Melissa and Sheara are co-founders of the Federal Education Group (FEG) law firm and are my go-to experts when it comes to understanding how federal law impacts states and school systems. Previously, they served as counsel to a number of state education agencies, districts, and charter schools. This past summer, they penned an AEI Outlook, “Federal Compliance Works against Education Policy Goals,” an incisive take on how federal rules can stifle smart problem-solving. They grasp thorny questions like Title I’s “supplement not supplant” and “maintenance of effort” regs as well as anyone I know (see their 2011 AEI-CAP white paper “An Examination of How the Supplement Not Supplant Requirement Can Work Against the Policy Goals of Title I” for a tour de force on the subject), and--if forwarded to the wrong LEA Title I director--their guest posts could quite possibly melt a brain or two.

The following week, the inimitable Celine Coggins will take the helm. Celine is founder and CEO of TeachPlus, the much-discussed venture that focuses on engaging talented young teachers in policy debates. I’ve been an admirer of Celine’s efforts at least since I was one of the judges on her winning application to The Mind Trust several years back. Before TeachPlus, Celine was a labor management consultant in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and a special assistant to the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education on teacher quality. Oh, and she holds a Ph.D. in education policy analysis from Stanford.

Finally, back by popular demand, Roxanna Elden will be returning the week of November 7. Roxanna guest blogged back in January to rave reviews, with posts such as “Five Words and Phrases that Sound Different to Teachers” going viral. A veteran high school teacher in Miami, Roxanna is Nationally Board Certified and author of the fantastic See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. As I’ve noted previously, “The book is a funny, engaging, practical guide...And, best of all, it features the kind of pander-free straight talk that warms even my icy tundra of a heart.”

Enjoy! And I’ll see you soon.

The opinions expressed in Rick Hess Straight Up are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.