Best Of The Week (May7-14)

Campaign '08
Dem. Candidates Pilgrimage To NOLA (Again)
EdCheck.Org -- Fact-Checking All The Spin

Site News
We're On NPR!
Russo Bullies Vallas
Latest Huffington Post: "Spellings Pulls A Gonzalez"

Foundation Follies
The Sundance Of School Reform
Can Education Entrepreneurs Crack Public Education?

Greeding First (& Student Lending, Too)
Miller Gets Worked Up At Spellings Explanations
Special Treatment For Spellings
Behind The Scenes: Spellings, Miller, & Kennedy
What About Beth Ann Bryan?

NCLB News
States Complain About NCLB

Urban Education
The Two Pauls In New Orleans
Kool-Aid Pickles, And Cute Drug Names Too

School Life
The Sound Of Cell Phones
One Killed Over A PlayStation At Fresno State
Carseats And School Buses -- A Parent's Confusion

Media Watch
EdWeek Reporter To New Leaders
Vivid Doesn't Mean Accurate
Colorado (Education Blog) Is In The House

From The Huffington Post: Spellings Pulls A Gonzalez

My latest oeuvre from The Huffington Post: Is Education Secretary Spellings The Next Alberto Gonzales? "The only thing saving Education Secretary Margaret Spellings from drifting into Alberto Gonzales territory right now is, well, Alberto Gonzales." As always, please let me know if I've missed anything or gotten it entirely wrong.

EdWeek Reporter To New Leaders

I heard last week that EdWeek associate editor Jeff Archer recently left for a new job at New Leaders for New Schools. Speaking of new jobs, former Philly Enquirer star Dale Mezzacappa was walking around at EWA with the Philly Notebook on her badge, signaling that she's likely to be doing more work for them in the near future. I had the pleasure of meeting reporter Amy Waldman down in NOLA, so I assume that means she's working on a followup to her terrific Atlantic piece. I also heard that somebody is working on a biography of Paul Vallas, or maybe it's a ghosted autobiography. I also ran into Tom Toch, who said that a new piece from him would soon be coming out in The Washington Monthly. Last but not least, I hear that one can't-be-named-yet national reporter is leaving the beat to cover the NYC schools. Crazy, or brilliant.

Colorado (Education Blog) Is In The House

Welcome to Schools For Tomorrow, the new blog from HeadFirst Colorado, the education magazine that describes itself as "education on the edge." Already in its first week, the blog has tackled topics as diverse as the Tough Choices report and the exodus of students from Denver Public Schools. And, lest you think Colorado is some sort of school reform wasteland, remember that Ed In '08 honcho Roy Romer used to be governor there, much-touted outsider superintendent Michael Bennett is pushing hard there (especially on the ELL and charter fronts), and that the Gates Foundation's first major debacle, the failed conversion of Manuel High School, took place there.

UPDATE: I have written for HeadFirst and may do some work for them in the future.

Carseats And School Buses -- A Parent's Confusion

"What the hell is the deal with school buses?," begins this post from Fussbucket (Flying Children). "We spend the first five years of our kids’ lives breaking our backs buckling and strapping them down in the backseat of the car, only to send them off to sit in one of those giant yellow buses without even a rope to hang on to should things go awry."

Special Treatment For Spellings -- From Congress & The Press

The Times (Spellings Rejects Criticism on Student Loan Scandal) and Post (Education Secretary Defends Loans Record) both take it pretty easy on Spellings, whose performance was to my view neither particularly effective or especially believable.

I think that this is in part due to the ongoing tendency in the press to take it easy on her and also because it was mostly Miller and other Dems, not Republicans, who challenged her. This is in a stark contrast to the treatment that, say, Alberto Gonzalez is getting during his Hill appearances, where it is Republicans who are ridiculing Gonzalez as much as anyone else.

You can watch a video of the testimony from yesterday here.

UPDATE: EdWeek notes Spellings' uncertainty and refusals to take strong action on the Reading First front here.
How much longer will the Congressional Republicans defend her, and when will the press get out from under the Spellings spell?

Big Stories Of The Day (May 11)

New Figures Show High Dropout Rate Washington Post
First lady Laura Bush and national education leaders yesterday unveiled an online database that promises to provide parents across much of the nation the first accurate appraisal of how many students graduate from high school on time in each school system.

For Community Colleges, 'Seduction' in Marketing? Washington Post
Dear Extra Credit: I am writing to tell you about what I call the Montgomery College Seduction.

McKeon Bill to Stress Tutoring CA Signal
McKeon's bill is part of an effort in each party on the House Education and Labor committee to introduce legislation reflecting their core priorities for the final No Child Left Behind reauthorization bill.

The Equity Gadfly Blast -- It's STEM Mania!

Get your morning started by checking out the PEN NewsBlast, which this week includes some interesting articles about how students think of themselves, what moms earn, and this week's favorite -- school bus emissions. Or, go to The Gadfly and check out their take on "STEM mania" and the queen's visit. Last but not least, there's the Ed Trust's Equity Express, below, full of all sorts of "gap-zapping" stories. I guess no one's told them about STEM mania.

Fashion Fun: We're On NPR

No, not really (though we have been in the past). This time, it's the Bryant Park Project, one of NPR's new blog/shows, which covers the Spellings testimony and gives us a shout out over our eye for fashion (and Spellings' repetitious dressing habits). Thanks, Matt!

States Complain About NCLB

States say that they don't have the capacity to implement the school turnaround provisions of NCLB, according to a new national report based on surveys and interviews with state ed officials (link here). There's some news coverage here:  Federal education mandates faulted.

As in the past with this series, I appreciate the information and respect the source, but wish that it didn't rely so much on self-reported data. What do districts, federal officials, and outside observers say about state performance in terms of implementing NCLB?

Miller Gets Worked Up At Spellings Explanations

Wearing a somber black top and pearls, EdSec Spellings endured repeated interruptions, refutations, and harrumphs from a worked-up Chairman Miller in the first leg of this morning's oversight hearing (now on break, video here).

Essentially, Spellings is claiming that the student lending program is complex and not entirely under her jurisdiction, and that taking lenders to court would have been difficult. For show or for real, Miller is lambasting the USDE for not having told the lenders to stop, and pointing out that many lenders did so without going to court.

"Nobody at the Department of education showed up at the front door and said you can’t do this," said Miller, who called Spellings' arguments a crutch, not plausible, and unacceptable. And we haven't even really gotten to Reading First yet.

Kool-Aid Pickles, And Cute Drug Names Too

A Sweet So Sour: Kool-Aid Dills NYT
They are either the worst thing to happen to pickles or a particularly brave new taste sensation, but Kool-Aid dills are now popular in Mississippi Delta.

Drug dealers' gimmicks target kids Dallas Morning News
Pot Tarts. Strawberry Quick. Cheese. The names are cute and hip, but the products drug dealers are peddling with them are deadly nonetheless, according to police who are struggling to keep up with the latest gimmicks aimed at getting young kids hooked on narcotics.

Behind The Scenes: Spellings, Miller, & Kennedy

I love all the infighting and maneuvering that's going on behind the scenes leading up to Thursday's student lending and Reading First hearing. It's so very familiar and delicious. On Tuesday, the USDE announced that its top student loan officer had resigned -- giving Spellings the chance to tell Miller that appropriate action has already been taken on that front. (Nearly everyone associated with Reading First is already gone.) Then she gave some sort of a friendly pre-interview to Andy Rotherham on Wednesday, where she apparently repeats much of her defense from EWA last week -- some of it word for word. On Wednesday, Kennedy's office released its own Reading First report (EdWeek, AP), reminding everyone that it's not just Miller who's on the case -- and perhaps pressuring Miller not to ease up on the gas pedal.

UPDATE: Some more stories:
Four Officials Profited From Publishers, Report Finds Washington Post
House Passes Ban on Gifts From Student Lenders NYT
Federal Student Loan Official Is Resigning NYT

Big Stories Of The Day (May 10)

Copying School Plan a Mistake, Fenty Says Washington Post
D.C. Mayor says the administration made a mistake in lifting sections of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., school system's "strategic plan."

Charter chain shows results, ambitions Dallas Morning News
The preferred term is "promotion ceremony," for the record. But whatever you do, don't call what's about to happen at KIPP TRUTH Academy an "eighth-grade graduation."

Psychiatrists, Children and Drug Industry's Role NYT
When Anya Bailey developed an eating disorder after her 12th birthday, her mother took her to a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota who prescribed a powerful antipsychotic drug called Risperdal.

English Language Learners as Pawns in the School System’s Overhaul NYT
The transformation of a large Bronx high school into small schools has meant the end of adequate English as a Second Language classes for hundreds of students.

The Sundance Of School Reform (or, "What I Learned At The NSVF Summit")

There was no really big news at the NSVF summit in New Orleans, but I did learn some things, large and small: For example, Internet access at the Ritz costs $275 per person but a secret helper helped me out (thanks!).

There was lots of talk about engaging with the public side, but there were few public-sector (SEA, LEA, school-level) folks there to provide a reality check. There was lots of talk about a "diversified provider" model of school district (ie, district plus charter schools). However, no one can really agree on what a "turnaround" school is yet (they're working on it). I still don't understand the difference between venture philanthropy and the regular kind, except that it is younger, whiter, and has much cooler clothes.

What about the people? Well, everybody knew everybody else, except me (well some nice folks did come up and say hi -- Barbara Bennett, for example, and charter schools guru Nelson Smith). Lots of smarts in the room, that much was clear. So far, at least, Steve Barr from Green Dot won't start charters in the Valley, much less outside LA. Rick Hess changes clothes frequently. Ben Wildavsky is grantmaking up a storm in his newish job at Kauffman. New Leaders' Jon Schnur is living down here, temporarily, and just had a baby girl. Thad Nodine (from ISKME) knows all the best hangouts outside the Quarter. Michael Bennett (from Denver) seems to think out loud -- sometimes at length. Temp Keller is looking for a star to run RISE Chicago. It seems like Andy Rotherham is always thinking a mile a minute. Mike Petrilli wants to "swap" AYP for HQT (why not?). Paul Vallas might be John Lithgow's long-lost brother (credit: GT). Nice to see Lincoln Kaplan and many others.

What else? NSNO's Sarah Usdin throws a great Derby Party. Cochon just won a James Beard award for best restaurant in the South (great drinks, too). Crawfish boils on a cool night are a good thing (thanks, ML). Next year, they're going to be in DC.

Big Stories Of The Day (May 9)

Federal Student Loan Chief Will Step Down Washington Post
The head of the U.S. Education Department's student loan office announced her resignation yesterday amid mounting criticism of the agency's oversight of the loan industry.

Government Slow To Address School Bus Emissions CNN.com
Day in and day out, children across the U.S. are riding to school on aging buses, breathing what some activists say is a dangerous brew of pollutants up to five times dirtier than the air outside.

Paying Brave Teachers What They're Worth Washington Post (Mathews)
Eighteen award-winning teachers have come up with a performance-pay plan for teachers. It is full of good ideas...So why am I having trouble accepting the whole package?

Debates as entertainment? Washington Times
The hallmark legislation of the Bush administration, currently up for reauthorization, is No Child Left Behind. Yet, not a single question on No Child Left Behind.

The Two Pauls In New Orleans: What's The Plan?

The two Pauls -- LA state supe Pastorek and incoming RSD supe Vallas (far left and middle, respectively) -- appeared onstage today in what was billed as their first public appearance together, mapping out their plans for New Orleans. Some notable tidbits: Vallas credited Sen. Landrieu for first putting the idea of coming to NOLA in his mind several years ago; Pastorek claimed that the RSD and the Orleans Parish (elected) board were working together now and emphasized the temporary nature of the state takeover. In what might be a hint at the timeframe question that many have asked about, Pastorek also likened Vallas' arrival to a two-year military stint. No one talks about this current year -- it's as if Jarvis never existed.

Dem. Candidates Pilgrimage To NOLA (Again)

Both Clinton and Obama were in town for the Mayors Conference, and Obama did a Saturday school event at a charter school (hint, hint). Apparently his advance folks did a fine job gussying up the library where the event was held with new books and stuffed animals. Gotta love those photo ops. Now comes news that Clinton will be back here for another bite at the apple next week at Dillard University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

One Killed Over A PlayStation At Fresno State

3 Shot By College Student In Fresno Huffington Post
Police searched neighborhoods near a university campus Tuesday for a student suspected of opening fire in an apartment during a dispute over a video game console, killing one person and wounding two.

Can Education Entrepreneurs Crack Public Education?

After all these years, some education entrepreneurs are still struggling with the need to engage with "them" -- the public and political entities that govern public education. You'd be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't). For that reason, the tone was calm, but the challenges presented at the opening NSVF session that just finished this morning in New Orleans were actually quite pointed. Moderated by Andy Rotherham, the session focused on whether and how the education philanthropy community and its beneficiary groups can more so in the future engage with and make a difference in the rest of the education world, rather than working on the margins in single schools, programs, and networks. This challenge brought up issues of scale, human capital, and rhetoric, about which not everyone agreed. Former Virginia governor Mark Warner urged the community to get into the education system rather than just partnering with it or working around it. Denver superintendent Michael Bennett, recently profiled in The New Yorker, detailed the challenges of community engagement and called for reformers to turn charters back on the system as a reform lever rather than continue working on them as an escape valve. Dacia Toll from Achievement First responded that scale was not the problem for her and other charter proponents, but rather quality.

EdCheck.Org -- Fact-Checking All The Spin

There are two great fac t-check sites out there, but we need a third.

The first, FactCheck.org, is already up and running fact-checking the presidential candidates' claims and ideas. Amazing what those guys try and get away with if they think you're not going to know the difference. For this, the site just won 2 Webby "People's Voice" awards in the categories of politics and government categorie.

And now there's a new site, FactCheckED.org, because kids need access to accurate and unbiased information, too. It lists official sources, expert views, and flags potentially biased and unreliable sources.

The third site -- the one that doesn't quite exist yet but gosh and golly if it did -- is called EdCheck.org, and it does exactly the same thing, only focused on sifting through political and advocacy group spin from an independent and unbiased point of view. Come on, someone -- steal this idea.

Big News Of The Day (May 8)

So to speak...

Obama takes US auto industry to task, offers help Detroit Free Press
He said he would add funding to help with the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, increase block grant funding to cities and organize nonprofits to build “innovative mixed-income housing.”

Teen arrested for essay is reinstated MSNBC.com
A high school senior arrested for writing a violent essay for an English class can return to school and will be allowed to graduate with his class, his attorney says.

To raise an alarm, use cellphones? Christian Science Monitor
Colleges weigh text messaging as a tool to warn students of danger, in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

50 Years Later, Little Rock Can’t Escape Race NYT
An Arkansas school district is still riven by racial conflict, and some question how much progress has been made.

Vivid Doesn't Mean Accurate

One of the things that drives me crazy in journalism and in policymaking is what the New Yorker's James Surowiecki calls the "vividness heuristic" (It’s the Workforce, Stupid!): "the tendency to give undue weight to particularly vivid or newsworthy examples." His example is CEOs deciding to downsize based on the few successes that downsizing has created, ignoring the widespread reality that downsizing doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. Try and avoid glomming onto the vivid and ignoring the larger truth. Please.

Next Stop: New Schools In New Orleans

I'm down in New Orleans at the New Schools Venture Fund annual summit -- the Davos weekend of education, some would say. (Others would say it's the convening of fancy suits out to destroy public education, starting with NOLA.) So far, everyone's been nice to me, and I did have to beg to get an invitation, but of course that won't stop me from biting the hand that feeds me if the self-importance level gets too high (or my sugar level gets too low). So far, I've seen NLNS's Jon Schnur, tanned but not rested, he tells me, run into Lincoln Kaplan and Ben Wildavsky who I last saw at a Spencer Foundation event last summer, and many more who did not want to be named.

Russo Bullies Vallas

Never afraid to say what he thinks, know-nothing Alexander Russo calls incoming NOLA superintendent Paul Vallas "a little bit of a bully" in USA Today -- among other things (His challenge: Rebuild New Orleans' schools). Check it out.

Greeding First: What About Beth Ann Bryan?

A few DC insiders have written me saying that Sec. Spellings conspicuously left one name off the list when she basically hung out to dry all of those who were "responsible" for the Reading First fiasco at last week's EWA meeting: Beth Ann Bryan. Bryan, currently a lobbyist with Akin Gump, was a senior advisor to Paige and, according to some, was Spellings' plant in the Department and the contact person for Susan Neuman.

Here she is, pictured with Sandy Kress right after the passage of NCLB. Maybe this is just more Austin-Houston feuding (talk about the Hatfields and the McCoys). Bryan came into the Administration in early 2001 after having served as GW Bush's education policy advisor in Texas. Her current client list according to OpenSecrets is here. She's apparently on Miller's list already, but I hadn't seen her name in the press. Comment or email me if you know more, one way or the other, or have other information.

The Sound Of Cell Phones

"As the police cleared the bodies from the Virginia Tech engineering building, the cell phones rang, in the eccentric varieties of ring tones, as parents kept trying to see if their children were O.K.," opens this searing reflection on violence and gun control Adam Gopnik in last week's New Yorker (Shootings).

Big News Of The Day (May 7)

Whistle-Blower [Jon Oberg] on Student Aid Is Vindicated NYT
The whistle-blower’s story opens a window, lawmakers say, onto how the Bush administration resisted calls to improve oversight of the student loan industry.

Lieberman: More education funding needed Ct Post
For 100 percent of the nation's students to be proficient in reading and math as required by the No Child Left Behind law, the federal government has to cough up 100 percent of the funds it promised when it enacted the standards.

An Angry Mother's Battle for Information Washington Post
Many parents who complain about information blackouts after they report a problem with a teacher soon give up efforts to learn the truth. Not Dawn Henderson.

Torn From Parents, a Top Speller Vents His Anger, Letter by Letter NYT
Kunal Sah hopes that winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee will help bring his parents back from India.

Best Of The Week (April 30-May 4)

Posts Of The Week
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Spellings Denies Early Involvement In Reading First

Campaign 2008
Education Shut Out (Again) During Debate
What If Presidential Candidates Break Out Of The Mold?
Can $60 Million Make A Difference?

On The Hill
Executive Privilege Over Reading First?
Redacted Reading First Emails
Head Start On The Move

Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups, & Foundations
Joe Williams Joins Newish Pro-Charter Group
Think Tanks All Dressed Up & Nowhere To Go?
Is The Education Trust Too Influential?

Urban Education
School-Level Control Still Under Attack
Vallas To Run (Part Of) NOLA School System
Who's Got The Best School & District Data?
Is School Reform Getting Too Corporate?

Teachers & Teaching
Covering Teachers Unions -- A Balanced Perspective?
Do Teachers Hate SES As Much As The AFT?
Drunken Pirate Sues Over Denial Of Education Degree

Media Watch
Reversals Of Fortune / Media Messups
Teacher Magazine Goes Online-Only (Sort Of)
Who's Got The Best School & District Data?

Blogwatch
The Ideal Education Blog
Best Of The Blogs (Das Blog)
Student Terrorists & More

Site News
This Week In Education On The Huffington Post
This Blog Is Better Than Grad School