Five Best Blogs: The Supercommittee & Education

Rick Perry Gives Up the Ghost on the 'Intelligent Design' Lie Gawker: Rick Perry was asked this morning if he believed in evolution, and his answer was surprising. Not because he does not, in fact believe in evolution (it's just "a theory that's out there"), but because he admitted that the alternative to teaching evolution in schools is essentially religious indoctrination. 

Bachmann and the changing Republican education agenda Slate:  It's safe to say that the political era of George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind is now officially over, even as the law's testing mandates continue to reverberate in classrooms across the country. 

Will Congress Sacrifice After School Tutoring Programs to Protect Yacht Owners? Unfinished Business:  Now that the super committee required by the recent debt deal reached in Congress is coming together, it's important to think about the choices our elected officials will have to make.

Poverty and education reform — and those caught in the middle Hechinger Report:  Increasingly, educators and experts are questioning the reformers’ tactics and asking whether the single-minded focus on schools has become an excuse to avoid the hard work of addressing poverty.  

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Teacher of the Year Suspended For Telling Facebook That Gays Make Him Want to Barf Gawker: Let Mister B. get back to making social studies somethingfun, that kids want to learn about, with raps about the Civil Rights movement and crap. 

75 Trillion Reasons Why U.S. Math Proficiency Matters Huffington:  U.S. students rank poorly in proficiency on both domestic and international math exams, a problem that could cost the country $75 trillion over 80 years. 

Your First Amendment Right To Sexy Lollipop Sleepover Shots Jezebel:"Not much good takes place at slumber parties for high school kids, and this case proves the point," begins a decision upholding the right of high school girls to post sexually suggestive, lollipop-toting shots of themselves online without being kicked out of public school extracurriculars.

Mary Ann Zehr Leaves Education Week [to teach ESL] Larry Ferlazzo:  Mary Ann has reported on crucial information and events related to English Language Learners that no one, and I mean no one, else has covered anywhere.