Around The Blogs

A quick spin around the edusphere to see what looks interesting: Scott Elliott from Dayton says that there's a Big Obama education plan coming in November.I can't wait, though I'm not particularly hopeful. It's going to take lots more than a new education plan for Obama to catch up to Clinton. The New York Times' newest blog cracks wise about schools' efforts to de-fang Halloween celebrations: "The parade included a devil with no pitchfork, a Power Ranger without a laser blaster and a pint-size Batman who had been told to leave his utility belt at home." (Are We Having Fun Yet?). Reacting to a post I made last week, Kevin Carey from the Ed Sector says that Time writer Cloud's characterization of education research is exaggerated and, frankly, kind of obnoxious: "What a shame that education research doesn't enjoy the pristinely empirical, de-politicized, consensus-rich environment that characterizes debates over tax policy, entitlement reform, and other issues studied by economists like Martin Feldstein."Meanwhile, In These Times has a piece about how a two year-old split within the labor movement has affected union organizing not nearly as much as predicted: Has the Change Led to Wins? Last but not least, the Times has a fun article about parents being asked to pay for kids' Internet games: Pay Up, Kid, or Your Igloo Melts.