Friends and foes of Jeb Bush overlook the real reason for Florida's gains
Initiatives such as eliminating social promotion, grading schools and bringing more professional development into high-poverty schools reinforced Bush’s commitment to increasing the achievement of low-performing students, but it was the governor’s drive and forceful personality that convinced schools and school districts to reorder their priorities.
Read More >A genuine and independent choice for Catholic education
It’s time to test that language. I hope that a Catholic school will soon apply to become a Catholic charter school, get turned down, and sue in federal court claiming this rejection is a violation of the Zelman decision. If the Supreme Court logically extended its precedent to Catholic charter schools, then the future of U.S. Catholic education would be secure.
Read More >Are choices in education really less palatable than choices in medicine?
There aren’t many people in the mainstream who would quibble with Scott’s call to allow families of limited financial means equal opportunities to choose the right doctor and to make decisions in consultation with those doctors. But the governor raises a contradiction that school choice opponents seldom address. Why is it appropriate for parents to choose their children’s doctors but not their children’s schools or teachers?
Read More >No Child Left Behind demands we employ every option for poor children
In his Washington Post commentary today on reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is...
Read More >Unions must fear lost membership more than lost teacher tenure
Rick Scott will be inaugurated as Florida’s 45th governor in just eight days, following one of the nation’s closest gubernatorial...
Read More >What accounts for teacher quality? A school's grade provides only part of the answer.
I was skeptical about Florida’s school grading system when it was implemented, but the benefits have been undeniable. Schools and school districts have focused more resources on low-income and minority students and, as a result, these student populations have seen significant improvements in their standardized test scores. But my research suggests Florida’s school grades do not reflect differences in teacher quality between schools. Instead differences in test scores seems to be caused by differences in student demographics and school leadership.
Read More >It's time we redefine unionism for teachers, too
Teacher unions should be raising capital to help teachers start and manage their own schools. They should be demanding that all hiring, firing and compensation decisions be made at the school level so that each teacher’s compensation reflects his or her true market value. And as I wrote here last week, teacher unions should learn from professional sports unions and start advocating for free agency for teachers.
Read More >Children of color are not the only ones empowered by private school options
As the Florida coordinator of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), I am frequently asked by Democrats in other states why...
Read More >Merit pay the LeBron way
The tantrum Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has thrown over the departure of NBA league MVP LeBron James was part of the subplot Thursday night as 7-million viewers watched James return to Cleveland in a Miami Heat uniform. But it is also a reminder that not all unions exist merely to protect an employee’s tenure.
In professional sports unions, free agency is the Holy Grail. Through free agency, individuals can sell their services to the highest bidder. All the sports unions have fought — and continue to fight – bitter battles with team owners for the right to free agency. Teacher unions, on the other hand, have historically fought against free agency. They opose teachers having the ability to sell their services to the highest bidder, but this opposition is illogical in this emerging new public education system
Read More >Improving the old, creating the new
Midway through this week’s National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C., I was reminded of an observation Thomas Kuhn made in his 1962 book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. While researching how scientific fields progress, Kuhn found that during paradigm shifts communities work to improve the old paradigm while simultaneously creating the new paradigm that will render much of the old paradigm irrelevant.
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