Five Best Blogs: Unions, Charters -- Authorizers?

A Much-Needed Charter School Unionization Report EIA:  Charter schools that unionize through employee vote are a rarity, which might explain why such occurrences always get media play. Worrying about this becoming a trend or a movement is a waste of time and emotion.  

Gopher It! Eduwonk: As policymakers innovate with [unions as authorizers] the twin principles of public oversight and accountability for quality must be at the forefront and it’s too soon to tell yet f they will be as these initiatives play out. 

Is School Choice Failing DC? Matthew Yglesias: The trends are positive, especially for younger kids. So the question we should be asking is what's been driving improvements in DC public schools.

Why Education Innovation Tends to Crash and Burn Hessinator: All of this helps to explain why "innovation" is a term of endearment in an Apple store, but more likely to sound like an epithet in the nearest teacher workroom or faculty lounge. 

The Source Behind The Mysterious "Bottom Third" Conspiracy DFER: Di Carlo traces the origins of the claim to two different McKinsey and Co. reports.

Obama's Education Policy Stuck Between Coddling the Rich and Containing the Poor Schools Matter: And so it is that we graduate from "Change We Can Believe In" to four years later, "Change Is." 

What’s not to like about Newt’s education proposal? Fordham:  Oh, yes, he doesn’t suggest killing the federal Department of Education – just “shrink” it and “return power to states and communities. The Department’s only role will be to collect research and data, and help find new and innovative approaches to then be adopted voluntarily at the local level.”