Education Reform and Workforce Development

Position

News

• Obama's Climate Image Blurs as He Nears Last Half of Presidential Term
  Sep 9, 2010 — New York Times
  Now, nearly two years into Obama's term, the president's climate image has changed. He is no longer a champion to some, and others are astonished at his administration's unenthusiastic support of a climate bill in the Senate this year. Obama has ranked among the most trusted public officials on climate change in polls.
• 3 years and out
  Sep 8, 2010 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., former U.S. education secretary and University of Tennessee president. She said early results suggested students were holding up. Fekete holds a 3.41 grade point average. "I don't believe they're missing out on anything," Ms.
• A (real) virtual education
  Sep 8, 2010 — The Boston Globe
  By definition, virtual schools are not limited by geographical boundaries. The board imposed restrictive terms that limit the statewide expansion of any district-sponsored virtual school. High school dropouts who want to complete their education but not in a school with teenagers can do so online.
• EDITORIAL
  Sep 8, 2010 — Akron Beacon Journal
  That information offers a crucial basis, the evidence necessary for targeted reforms. With success in the middle school, the district adopted the scheduling in the junior high school. School administrators shouldn't have to worry about making time to implement critical reforms.
• Error on New Jersey's Race to Top forms found too late, panel is told
  Sep 8, 2010 — The Philadelphia Inquirer
  Christie unexpectedly ordered the application altered days before it was due, according to testimony. In the latest application, the altered data resulted in a grade of less than a half-point. Schundler countered that he had given Christie and key governor's office staff correct information that Christie did not use.
• Grijalva
  Sep 8, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Star
  Party has selective amnesia. It's going to be our fault. They share no responsibility." McClung said compromises the Democrats made with moderates in the party reflect, somewhat, on the public's opinion of recent federal legislation. "I think it would have been worse because the American people were against it and that's why a lot of Democrats were fighting back to get it more moderate," she said of the public option in health-care reform. Grijalva hailed the president's...
• Lack of black teachers called challenge for students
  Sep 8, 2010 — The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
  Still, many districts believe they've made progress by adding minority teachers. Most of the district's other teachers, though not all, are black. The intermediate unit manages daily operations for the district, which in 2007 closed its high school. Districtwide, 362 of 424 students enrolled in Duquesne schools are black.
• Letters: Back to School: Grading the Teacher
  Sep 8, 2010 — New York Times
  The flagrant double standard would be risible if it did not carry such serious consequences. Ranjeet Tate Amherst, N.Y., Sept. 1, 2010 • To the Editor: Teaching is a complex profession, and a practitioner can always improve. Teacher union leaders who oppose value-added reporting systems are demonstrating that when forced to choose between protecting the jobs of ineffective teachers and improving educational options for children, their dues-paying members come first.
• SQ 744 opponents say pre-K programs at risk
  Sep 8, 2010 — Tulsa World
  ...conference sponsored by the One Oklahoma Coalition, which opposes SQ 744, included David Blatt, Oklahoma Policy Institute director; Alexander Holmes, chairman of the Department of Economics at the University of Oklahoma; Larkin Warner, regents professor emeritus in economics from Oklahoma State University; and Michael Carnuccio, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs president. The Oklahoma Policy Institute believes the measure will cost $1.7 billion over a three-year phase-in period....
• Candidates debate state of isle education
  Sep 7, 2010 — The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
  Jon Riki Karamatsu used the opportunity to pass out Karamatsu hand fans to audience members. State Sen. Norman Sakamoto said. After several other candidates praised charter schools, Republican state Rep. Lynn Finnegan said she was "surprised everyone is so supportive of equal funding for charter schools.