Our Woefully Politicized Education Schools
March 15, 2019
Signs at a rally as public school teachers strike for a second day in Denver, Colo., February 12, 2019. (Michael Ciaglo/Reuters) A book that happened to catch my attention long before I was working in the field of higher-ed policy was Rita Kramer’s 1991 Ed School Follies. In it, she showed how many of America’s schools of…
What Rahm Emanuel has done for Chicago
March 15, 2019
RAHM EMANUEL is restless. He swallows an indigestion tablet, buttons a blue cardigan, then paces his office on the fifth floor of City Hall. On February 26th voters will choose between 14 candidates vying to replace him as mayor of Chicago. How does he think his two terms will be remembered? Predecessors let problems fester,…
Texas legislators vote for $5K raise for teachers as strike looms in Kentucky
March 15, 2019
March 5 (UPI) — As Texas lawmakers passed a measure to pay thousands more to teachers, a strike is looming in Kentucky where educators oppose charter schools and tax credit scholarships. The actions are the latest reflections of ongoing labor strife among American teachers over issues like pay, alternative schools and pensions. There have already…
Chief Privacy Officers: The Unicorns of K-12 Education
March 15, 2019
Last month, the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) published a report arguing schools and districts should go the way of other industries and hire a Chief Privacy Officer to oversee their organization’s privacy policies and practices. Page by page, the report explains what a CPO is, why the role is necessary and even…
A D enver high school offered parents the alternative to keep their kids out of a Black History Month assembly. The outrage prompted a policy modification.
March 15, 2019
Parents of students at Denver’s George Washington High School no longer will be given the choice to keep their children from attending individual school assemblies after an opt-out form for a Black History Month event drew community outrage. On Tuesday, George Washington parents were sent an emailed newsletter that referenced the school’s “African-American Heritage Month…
Denver instructors to end strike after school authorities agree to raise pay
March 15, 2019
A South High School student holds up a sign Monday to support teachers’ demand for better pay. Denver Public Schools teachers went on strike for the first time 25 years. (Photo: Kelly Ragan/[email protected]) Denver Public Schools teachers returned to work after the teachers union and Colorado’s largest public school district reached a labor agreement early Thursday. The…
Most current teachers strike launched in Oakland, California
March 14, 2019
By Brendan O’Brien (Reuters) – Some 3,000 teachers in Oakland, California, walked off the job on Thursday in a contract dispute over salaries, class size and a proposal to close two dozen schools, the latest in a series of strikes by U.S. educators that began last year. The Oakland Unified School District vowed to keep…
Teacher Strikes Are Rattling Washington
March 14, 2019
As Denver public school teachers head back to school, ending their first labor stoppage in 25 years, it’s hard to dismiss the impact the nation-wide teacher strikes have had on American politics. As Democratic presidential candidates rush to voice support for the Colorado educators, Denver’s strike marks the ninth major teacher uprising in the last…
Mark Simon: Can the Schools of D.C. Recover from More Than a Years of Failed Reforms?
March 14, 2019
“ Mark Simon, a former teacher and current parent activist in D.C., is hopeful that the District is ready to reverse the failed policies launched by Michelle Rhee in 2007. The district is under mayoral control, which itself is a failed structure that bears no relationship to improving schools. The mayor chose Lewis Ferebee as…
National Education Policy Center: Has the Tide Turned Against Vouchers?
March 14, 2019
The National Education Policy Center asks whether the tide has turned against vouchers. i would argue in response to their question that there was never a tide favoring vouchers except among politicians who took campaign contributions from voucher supporters or who ideologically hate everything public. No public referendum on vouchers has ever endorsed them.…