Wondering what that $100 you sent in to StudentsFirst a few months ago is doing to help fix the schools? Some tidbits in a recent USA Today story include the news that the Michelle Rhee organization is active in 11 states [my best info is the list includes FL, MI, OH, NJ, NV, ME, TN, and IN plus GA, NY, MN], features reform priorities including private school choice [eek, vouchers!] and candidate endorsements [TBD, far as I know]. There's over $1 million in funding raised [Broad but no Gates yet, far as I know], a staff of 21 and more than 220,000 members. The goal is $1 billion over five years, not annually – a much easier target to hit and a fraction of what other stakeholders (read unions) spend on education advocacy. Meanwhile, I'm still looking for a side-by-side comparing key provision in any or all of these "reform" bills [FL vs IL, anyone? IN vs. WI?]. Of course the proof is still in whether these efforts generate real reform and better results for kids. Passing legislation is the easy part, really.
Isn't Students First going to afflict us with its presence here in California? That's surprising, since it seems to have a home base in Sacramento.
Posted by: CarolineSF | May 06, 2011 at 00:34 AM