AM News: Grading Obama -- And Rahm Emanuel

Obama’s overhaul of public education Washington Post:  In 3¹ / ₂ years in office, President Obama has set in motion a broad overhaul of public education from kindergarten through high school, largely bypassing Congress and inducing states to adopt landmark changes that none of his predecessors attempted.

Emanuel uses TV and a letter to parents to sell strike settlement Tribune via GothamSchools:  In a political-style TV and radio ad blitz launched Wednesday, Emanuel says "change is never easy" but declares the outcome "the right deal for our kids." The ads are being paid for by a nonprofit arm of a political action committee started by Wall Street hedge fund managers who believe the creation of privately run charter schools is the best avenue to reform.

Texas Politicians Focus on Education, With Eye on Voters Texas Tribune: In the wake of deep cuts in Texas’ public education budget, some Republicans are talking about getting more money into classrooms by raising teachers’ pay.

Tennessee To Withhold Millions From Nashville Schools For Rejecting Charter School HuffPost:  Last week, the Metro Nashville school board disobeyed an order by the state Board of Education to approve an application from the Phoenix-based Great Hearts Academies, which it had already twice rejected.

American Schools Still Heavily Segregated By Race, Income: Civil Rights Project Report HuffPostEdu: According to a new analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, 80 percent of Latino students and 74 percent of black students are in schools where the majority of students are not white. 

College Student Recalls High School Homelessness NPR: "There's so many people who could, you know, be the next Bill Gates and change the world. But because they're poor or they're living in poverty, they're instantly written off because no one thinks they'll make it. I just want to make it."

Research Alliances Link Scholars and Educators EdWeek: Long-term partnerships, rather than one-off studies, may become the new norm for researchers looking for access and districts looking for answers. A forthcoming study commissioned by the William T. Grant Foundation, of New York City, finds more districts are developing long-term, structured relationships with researchers. It says the trend is driven by tight local budgets and an increased federal focus on making education research usable.

National campaign connects students on issue of school closings Notebook: Student activists brandishing coffin-shaped props rallied on the steps of the School District's headquarters Thursday morning to protest nationwide school closings in a campaign called Journey for Justice.

Lunch before 10 a.m.: Schools say they have no choice NBC News: Overcrowded schools and tight budgets have contributed to unusual school schedules where students start class at 7 a.m. and eat their midday meal as early as 8:30 a.m. 

 

Comments

[Bruce]

Current administration policies are leading to marginal improvements around the edges, but other countries are improving faster; and as the NBC News story on school lunches shows, at least some local districts and principals are incapable of managing even routine issues (like feeding students) with competence; so unless there's a change in policy direction after November, the competitiveness and future of America's youth will steadily grow dimmer, and parents seeking to secure a better future for their children will increasingly be left with no choice but to seek it out in the private school market, a pity that will leave millions behind. This is an avoidable tragedy, but the Democratic Party having gone increasingly plutocratic, the working masses are increasingly lacking any champions.