Best Five Blogs: Waivers & Government Breakdown

Obama administration reaches out to education activists Answer Sheeet:  Is this a repeat of the administration’s efforts last summer to blunt criticism by a coalition of civil rights groups?  

Saving Our Schools? Eduflack: If one is serious about school improvement (setting aside whether SOS' agenda can be considered "improvement"), you need to offer a little more than arts and crafts. 

Reform Without Legislation Matthew Yglesias: It’s clever, and since it’s probably not the kind of issue around which congress will organize a massive backlash (compare to, say, the EPA) it just might work. But it should also be taken as another sign of the increasing breakdown of our machinery of government. 

Unemployment Linked to Vasectomies, Chipped Teeth and Substitute Teaching Carolyn Bucior: Following the economic downturn that began in 2007, USA Today wrote that school districts nationwide were flooded with applications from people who wanted to work as substitute teachers. 

When the story is education, Rupert Murdoch gets involved GothamSchools: The same story reported that Murdoch relished his access to Journal reporters, with whom he sometimes discussed education issues.

Confession of a cheating teacher Philly Notebook:  She said she knows she's a good teacher. But she still helped her students cheat. 

The Gates Foundation and the Rise of the Cool Kids Jay Greene:  Whatever the mistakes to date, the Gates Foundation has in my mind has succeeded in serving as a counter-weight to the NEA.