If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Arne Duncan demonstrates a breathtaking lack of awareness about the effects of Race to the Top (RTTT). Far from being chastened by what is going on in schools around the country, the Secretary is doubling down on his test-driven offensive. A look at some of the things he said is eye opening.
The Educational Achievement Authority is an experiment that has failed. Legislators are considering a bill to expand it from its current 15-school version in Detroit to a statewide district that takes over the "bottom 5 percent" of schools. This system must be abolished completely, certainly not expanded statewide.
By addressing the large gaps in high school graduation rates between white students and students of color, the nation could see large fiscal gains while improving the lives of millions of young Americans.
There should always be a conversation, an engagement, between officials like this and people on the ground.
Instead of results, we have gotten rhetoric, and our children have fallen further behind. It is time we adopt policy solutions that match the depth and complexity of the problems and address them head on.
What will no doubt ensure our children's success, and what is provided in early education, is greater access to creative learning through the opportunity for more imaginative play.
As a mom whose son's growth and well-being is reliant on publicly funded benefits, I am deeply concerned about these sequestration cuts. But as a citizen, I'm absolutely infuriated by the way in which our society mishandles the dangers our children face.
The latest example came late on Good Friday when an Atlanta grand jury indicted 35 teachers, administrators and principals under laws meant to target the mafia.
The United States does not currently produce enough qualified workers to meet the demand for STEM employees. The current STEM pipeline is woefully insufficient.
One of our great American leaders, Congressman John Lewis, has been celebrated in the news quite a bit recently.
Early childhood education is one of the best investments we can make in America's future. Now is the time to redouble our efforts, not cut back. Doing right by our youngest children is essential to America's middle-class promise. We look forward to working together to make it happen.
House Education Panel On School Safety On Wednesday, members of the House Education & Workforce Committee mulled over ways to keep schools safe in light of the horrific Newtown, Conn. elementary school shooting, reports Politics K-12. Witnesses told the committee that "school resource officers, additional guidance counselors, and professional development for educators can help schools head off tragedies," the blog reports. But there was next to no conversation about gun control. Hmmm.
This past September, New York's public schools introduced a new discipline code keeping in line with an emerging federal policy initiative that seeks to reduce the "disparate" rate of minority incarceration in this country.
Chicago Full-Day K? In the midst of much bitter infighting over school closures in Chicago, Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett are announcing an initiative that is perhaps aimed to quell the melee: all CPS schools will have full-day kindergarten, reports the Sun-Times. "The change will make full-day kindergarten available to 30,700 children next fall -- 4,200 more than this school year," the paper reports.
Arne Takes The Stand As we reported yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan faced both praise and skepticism yesterday as he testified befo...
Happy Waiver Day! Today, the Senate's Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the No Child Left Behind waivers, featuring none other than U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the big cheese himself. Catch our preview here.
