The three best education books of 2011

Tricia Tunstall's beautiful new book, Changing Lives: Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema, and...

President Obama should use his constitutional power to Pardon former Senator John Edwards. There, I said it!

I can think of no case more deserving of executive mercy than this one.

A pardon would cause prosecutors to drop the criminal campaign finance case against former Senator, Vice Presidential and Presidential...

The Opportunity

Some of your secondary school students have read The Help and many more will have seen this summer's film adaptation. This creates a critical teachable moment for educators.

This feel-good book and film only makes some people feel good. The more you know...

I'm a big fan of summer. I still have the same "back-to-school" nightmares I experienced as a kid as the days get shorter each August. I think that "Back-to-School" sales before Independence Day are a form of child abuse. I believe that casual neighborhood play, family vacations, scouting and organized...

60 Minutes just aired a two-part story that stands in their grand tradition of breathtaking journalism and exquisite storytelling. The report tells the story of Gospel for Teens, a nonprofit arts organization created in Harlem, NYC by the radio broadcaster, publisher and theatre...

It's sad to watch a once smart and talented man go mad right before our eyes. There needs to be an intervention for Bill Gates. I fear that he has taken leave of his senses and finally jumped the shark.

I have written about Bill Gates and his interest in...

I originally wrote a version of this article in 2007, but the topic is even more timely during today's period of introspection regarding violence, civility, gun control, widening wealth disparities and education reform. Our daily discourse is filled with reckless nostalgia for the good ol' days of the White...

Guess what happens when you're 14, get a night off and have limited entertainment options?

My first job was in 1978. That is if you can consider unpaid rustic indentured servitude a form of employment. I was a fourteen year-old Counselor-in-Training (C.I.T.), aka Staff Helper In-Training, at Camp Turrell,...

Are good teachers being required to behave in miseducative ways based on directives from school administrators?

Dear School Leaders and Policy Makers:

Our university used to boast of a 100 percent job placement rate for MA students with a freshly minted teaching credential. The Class of 2010 faced nearly 100...

As some of you know, I have been writing about school improvement and the political, corporate and ideological forces that have been attempting to claim "school reform" as their own invention for more than a decade for my blog, District Administration...

Shouldn't people bold enough to call themselves "school reformers" be familiar with some of the literature on the subject?

Most of the school leaders who signed last weekend's completely discredited "manifesto," are unqualified to lead major urban school districts. Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein are not qualified to...

Spoiler alert: Don't play the video clips (below) unless you have already enjoyed the annual television extravaganza.

There is a great American holiday tradition that flies under the radar annually. It's not only funny, but heartwarming and wildly entertaining.

Every December 23rd, or the last weeknight before Christmas Eve,

On September 8th, President Obama will speak to American schoolchildren. I got a look at an early draft...

"Dear children of America:

Study hard. Take lots of tests. Obey your teachers. Don't watch television. Don't play video games. Education is your responsibility. Eat lots...

Today, President Obama took his first trip aboard Air Force One and even got his very own souvenir Air Force One jacket. We all know that we should spare no expense to ensure that the President of the United States is safe and comfortable. That's why he has...

A curious cartel of billionaire bullies, power hungry politicians and tough-talking school superintendents wage an eternal battle against social promotion -- for the good of our children of course. Social promotion, a divisive political term with no basis in reality, like partial-birth abortion, is one of the most popular...

I nearly forgot that it was Labor Day until I walked into my local office supply superstore and was assaulted with memories of back-to-school shopping. As a kid, getting new cartoon pencils or bookcovers reduced the horror associated with another school year.

As a parent, I resented buying materials...

Then What?

Slate recently reported on the latest public demonstration of enmity towards public schools and their teacher. Teacher bashing is hardly novel, but what makes this gathering particularly noteworthy is that took place during the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The voucher, excessive testing and privatization fantasies of...

Mission Accomplished!
Although much of what recently elected and newly minted Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin says in her education plan for Alaska, reads like an undergraduate homework assignment, she does express support for something called...

Last Friday I was in Las Vegas for a couple of long needed days of R&R. Fun in the sun was interrupted by a text message from a friend telling me that Tim Russert had died.

I thought to myself, "I wonder if MSNBC will have any news on...

Driving past the local "cash-strapped" high school's humongous color jumbotron the other day (the one in violation of zoning laws and with a larger carbon footprint than Toledo), I was reminded that I haven't written about one of my favorite subjects in a while - summer reading. The jumbotron's ominous...