Note: Alan Blankstein, president and founder of the HOPE Foundation, is back as a guest blogger to share some more of his work to transform public schools. Sustainable leadership is characterized by depth of learning and real achievement rather than superficially tested performance; length of impa... Read Full Post >
A federal appeals court has revived the First Amendment retaliation lawsuit of an Illinois teacher who contends he was fired after raising public concerns about an alleged student threat against him. Read Full Post >
There they go again--trying to divide teachers from their union. Do they really think teachers will choose the unfilled promises of a politician over their union? Teachers know New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is no friend of theirs and that the New Jersey Education Association and the National Ed... Read Full Post >
Today, the 44th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools was released. While the poll shows considerable division reflective of the current polarization in our country, one area of consensus was trust and confidence in our teachers. The report published ab... Read Full Post >
Can you imagine being a pro-public school and pro-union state legislator and have to deal with competing teacher unions as you move legislation that will help all teachers and education support professionals? Louisiana and West Virginia come to my mind as two prime examples. I am sure there are stat... Read Full Post >
The HOPE Foundation has designed an effective formula for transforming schools. Their premise is leadership capacity and school culture are critical to implement any policy or structural change. Teachers embrace their work because it is respectful of them, and it empowers teachers and principals to... Read Full Post >
One of the things that I find incredibly frustrating about the current discussion on teacher evaluation is that it's almost entirely focused on adults, rather than kids. Obviously, "putting adult interests ahead of kids" is a complaint you hear a lot in education reform conversations, and there's cl... Read Full Post >
A consent decree that shields three Los Angeles schools from layoffs because of their young teaching staffs potentially infringes the seniority rights of other teachers, a California appellate court has ruled. Read Full Post >
When I was the executive director of the National Education Association, I often said to the staff that I took full responsibility for their morale. I thought about it every day and with every decision I made. I appointed a design team to assist me with ideas and activities to drive a positive cultu... Read Full Post >
The U.S. Education Department's office of special education will spend up to $5 million on the creation of the Center to Support the Development of Effective Educators to Serve Students with Disabilities. Read Full Post >
