There's A Scandal Going On All Around Me

There's a scandal going on all around me. Or at least that's what Kevin DeRosa at D-Ed Reckoning says (Edweek Spins Reading Research). His post argues that EdWeek's story on the WWC report is way too pro-Reading Recovery, and that the requirements for WWC are substantially different from Reading First. And you think I'm too intense and argumentative sometimes. Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Next Stop For Unionized Charter Schools Might Be Chicago

Though Chicago has far fewer charters than many districts and they are all authorized by the district as opposed to the state or a local university or nonprofit, opposition to charters is pretty strong and Mayor Daley's "Renaissance 2010" initiative raises the hackles of many folks who want to retain not only union schools but also local control. So it was an interesting event earlier this week featuring an unlikely trio: the head of the Chicago Teachers Union, the head of the Illinois Education Federation, and Steve Barr, who were all guests of National-Louis University, the Small Schools Workshop, and Catalyst Magazine. You can find audio of the event here. There's a local NPR segment on the meeting (and the current contract negotiations here. You can read some of the attendees' reactions here. Mike Klonsky recaps the event here. Unionized charters would likely meet the opposition of some reformers, and the contract that Green Dot offers would be a problem for some unions, but who knows.

School Life

School officials defend tapping e-mails Boston Globe
No crime was committed when e-mails between Ottoson Middle School principal Stavroula Bouris and technology teacher Chuck Coughlin were intercepted by a school district technician, Arlington officials say.

Do School Cafeterias Make the Grade? USNews
Third graders gobbling down footlong hot dogs and extra-large burgers?

Who decides which children will be tried as adults? Slate
Last week, two 15-year-olds were arrested in connection with the execution-style murders of three college students in a Newark, N.J., schoolyard. Local authorities want to prosecute them as adults. Who decides which minors will be tried as adults?

Porn date leads to teacher's resignation MSNBC
Biagini, who uses a wheelchair, was interviewed on the radio show after returning home, and told the Valley Independent in Monessen that he was ridiculed for his disability and offended by how he was portrayed on the show.

Still Spinning The News On His Way Out The Door

Karl Rove is still pushing NCLB during his farewell tour, even though the stats he cites have been widely challenged and the political support for NCLB has shifted. “Rove said he believes history eventually will vindicate Bush. As one example of the reason, he cited improvements in reading and math scores since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act — a piece of legislation that even leading Republicans now view as flawed."

Meanwhile, Yahoo News dredges up this overview of where other Texans from the early Bush years have gone (Departures diminish Texas flavor at White House). Who's next?

Big Stories Of The Day

Teachers Grapple with Attaining Education Law's Goals PBS NewsHour
John Merrow's series looks at how some of the country's best teachers are dealing with the No Child Left Behind law.

Reading Curricula Don'™t Make Cut for Federal Review EdWeek
None of the most popular commercial reading programs on the market had sufficiently rigorous studies to be included in the review by the clearinghouse. [Reading Recovery did.]

ACT participation hits record USA Today
Most striking, perhaps, is the sharp increase in the number of minority students who take the ACT: 17.6 percent more black students and 23.4 percent more Hispanics than in 2003.

Conservative Scholar Opposes Multiple Measures

Not that letters from academics usually make much difference, especially when they're on the other side ideologically from the folks making the decisions, but here's a letter from Hoover Institute researcher Erik Hanushek from last week that was sent along to me, in which he tells Chairman Miller what a bad idea multiple measures, writ large, are for school improvement. PDF here. Keep sending those letters and secret memos in.

Exploding Playground Wood Chips ... And More

Catching up on the education blogs:

Mike Antonucci thinks that that the NEA may be censoring its own blog (The Mystery of the Missing Link).

Scott Elliott addresses the age-old achievement gap question: Is it racist to track minority group scores?.

The BoardBuzz likes the ACT news: Good news for American high schools.

Eduwonk reminds us that there's a good NYT column to read today: Dillon On Barber.

The AFT Blog derides the notion that the Newark kids might have been saved by vouchers: And vouchers will cure the common cold, too.

Joe Williams has pennant fever: Baseball and Education Reform.

Ed Sector's Elena Silva goes long: School Time Update.

Sherman Dorn slices and dices reauthorization: Multiple issues in multiple measures.

The Hall Monitor tells us about exploding wood chips: Something new to worry about.

NCLB "Coming Through," Says Departing Rove

One of departing Bush advisor Karl Rove's most recent interviews includes the claim that NCLB is "coming through" (Roundtable with Karl Rove Seattle Times). No big surprise there that he'd say that, but it does make you wonder if Rove's departure will have any impact on NCLB reauthorization. Rove had a soft spot for EdSec Spellings, if the rumors are true, and was certainly part of the first administration folks who are likely to be most loyal to the law. Maybe others have already addressed this.

Big Stories Of The Day

Forced to Pick a Major in High School NYT
A high school in New Jersey is requiring students to declare a major as freshmen.

School Districts Find Loopholes in No Child Left Behind Law PBS
School districts are getting around certain requirements of the No Child Left Behind law by setting the bar measuring student progress low in the beginning. PLUS: Failing San Diego Schools Work to Meet Standards PBS

Grants Given for Nonexistent Students Washington Post
The D.C. school system received almost $4 million in federal funds for educating migrant children when it did not have any, city and federal officials said yesterday.

Colleges rant, rail against magazine rankings MSNBC
Colleges are having a hard time quitting the magazine’s annual beauty contest.

Gone Fishing

I'm taking a couple of days off, so there's no morning roundup or obscure links to current events for you here right now. I'm sure you'll do fine without me. I tried to get Brad Pitt and Paris Hilton to cover for me, but they were busy. See you Wednesday Thursday!