Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Race to the Top: Another $4.35 Billion Spent Poorly?

(AEI) That was another $4.35 billion poorly spent. Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the winners of the second and final round of the administration’s heavily promoted and widely cheered Race to the Top school-reform program. Unfortunately, after all the headlines and hullabaloo,...
September 3rd, 2010 | Education | Read More

The Hidden costs of the ASD contracts

By David Boyle Just recently, the Anchorage School Board approved a contract for the Anchorage Education Association (AEA) for the period 2010-13.  We expressed concern at the School Board meeting (May 24th) that the board may not have been informed of the total costs of this contract.  When asked...
August 16th, 2010 | Education | Read More

D.C. teachers pressed to perform

(NCAP) With a new union contract under her arm Chancellor Michelle Rhee, of the the District of Columbia, has fired 241 under-performing teachers. Recent teachers’ union negotiations have given teachers their own report cards, with large raises and the boot on either ends of the scale.  Read...
July 28th, 2010 | Accountability, Education | Read More

New Orleans Schools After Katrina

July 28th, 2010 | Education | Read More

The politics and policy of online education

(Reason Magazine) From the perspective of education reformers and policy wonks, beaten down by a decades-long war of attrition, online education has swept onto the scene with astonishing speed. Paul Peterson, the Harvard education scholar, calls the rate at which the online education sector has grown...
July 27th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Invisible Ink In Teacher Contracts

(Education Next) Across the country, many cash-strapped districts fretting over likely layoffs are eyeing seniority rules as they hammer out new contracts. To the surprise of some district superintendents, contract negotiations are not likely to offer much relief. In fact, when it comes to seniority...
July 23rd, 2010 | Education | Read More

Union power slowing education reform

(The Heritage Foundation) The Senate will soon consider creating a $10 billion “Education Jobs Fund.” The measure has already been included in a war funding bill passed in early July by the House. Union influence and power has continued to prevent meaningful education reform, and another public education...
July 22nd, 2010 | Education, Recent News | Read More

Are Michigan Public Schools Underfunded?

(The Mackinac Center for Public Policy) A common claim by Michigan’s public school establishment and its political allies is that, despite spending $20 billion annually on education, our schools are “underfunded.” Comparisons to other states and to historical funding levels show that the claim...
July 20th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Education Vouchers Raise Property Values in Texas District

(National Center for Policy Analysis) The sudden increase in property values and demand for housing in Edgewood indicates the desire of parents to move into the district’s boundaries in order to qualify their child for the voucher program. While the exact number is unknown, many voucher users attended...
July 18th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Charter schools face uncertain future

(AlaskaWatchdog.org) Facing rising costs and limited room for expansion, Alaska charter schools may soon be a thing of the past. Mary Meade-Olberding, charter school supervisor for the Anchorage School District, said charter schools face a number of district-imposed restrictions that make expansion extremely...
July 13th, 2010 | Education | Read More

Group claims exemption from open records law

(The State) A state education association has asked a federal court to decide whether South Carolina freedom of information laws violate the group’s First Amendment rights. The case centers on whether the South Carolina Association of School Administrators must comply with an open records request....
July 12th, 2010 | Education, Transparency | Read More
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