Looks like corporate creep to me...

Indeed, Republican pollsters have advised GOP candidates repeatedly in recent years to avoid calling for the end of the federal Department of Education, largely because it gives the appearance of hostility towards public education, which is thought to be an electoral loser for Republicans. And yet, here we are. Republicans aren't just criticizing public schools, they're overtly calling for the institution's complete elimination. This isn't something they're embarrassed about; these GOP voices are stating the goal plainly, as if there's a genuine appetite among voters to scrap the entirety of the American public education system. All of this, by the way, comes against the backdrop of Republican governors slashing funds for public schools, and even the reinvigoration of the school voucher movement, which has been largely dormant for years.

Dr. Stager recommends you read this prior to the webinar this week...

Calls for shared curriculum for the common standards have triggered renewed debates about who decides what students learn, and even about varied meanings of the word "curriculum," adding layers of complexity to the job of translating the broad learning goals into classroom teaching.

Clearly, another first is called for if we are ever to regain our educational standing in the world: A first step toward finally taking teaching seriously in America. Will our leaders be willing to take that step? Or will we devolve into a third class power because we have neglected our most important resource for creating a first-class system of education?

Once deified, now demonized, teachers are under assault from union-busting Republicans on the right and wealthy liberals on the left. And leading the charge from all directions is a woman most famous for losing her job: the former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.

Because unions fundamentally fight for teachers' rights to have a say in what a democratic education in America looks like, I stand with teachers' unions.

This will be VERY relevant when we discuss the role of special interest groups...

The uprising in Madison is symptomatic of a simmering rage among the nation's teachers. They have grown angry and demoralized over the past two years as attacks on their profession escalated.

In principle, every American citizen has an equal say in our political process. In practice, of course, some of us are more equal than others. Billionaires can field armies of lobbyists; they can finance think tanks that put the desired spin on policy issues; they can funnel cash to politicians with sympathetic views (as the Koch brothers did in the case of Mr. Walker). On paper, we're a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we're more than a bit of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate.

Always tricky when the chief state school officer takes on the governor...

This post nicely summarizes key points from a book that partly informed the way I designed this course.

The Hampton School Board's lawsuit against former superintendent Patrick Russo is back on the court docket. A two-day jury trial has been scheduled for March 21-22 in Hampton Circuit Court. The board is suing Russo for the $102,220 it paid into a retirement account before he resigned in February 2009 to leave for nearby Henrico County Public Schools, where he is still at the helm.

Hmmm...Philip. I wish I had some insight here. This is a contract issue and the worst grade I got in law school was in Contracts class :-)

This is really about the politics of higher ed., but it's an issue that's near and dear to me and my colleagues in the School of Education.

Ruling: Fired D.C. teachers must be offered jobs, back wages Yeah, due process is kinda important...

Because leading schools out of chronic failure is harder than managing a successful school - often requiring more creative problem-solving abilities and stronger leadership, among other skills - the supply of principals capable of doing the work is tiny.

An important read for the week on the role of school boards.

Only if you think achievement and accountability are worth focusing on... ;-)

"This is a game about power, and I think you have a vacuum on one side," he said. "She's concluded - and I think with some wisdom - that there's really no countervailing force that is well-funded, is well-organized. What I think she wants to build is an organization that can really step up and amass political support and play hardball."