Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), proposed a “bar exam” for public-school teachers in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week. Modeled after the bar exam for aspiring lawyers, the new test would be intended to produce highly effective teachers. But it would do nothing of …
No more King Arthur stories, kids—you’re going to start reading some information-packed government documents instead! Adding to a number of problems with the Obama Administration-backed Common Core education standards, beginning with the fact that the federal government should not be involved in the business of curriculum standards, is the questionable …
Two Michigan school districts will close Tuesday after hosts of teachers called out sick, apparently to join protests against efforts to pass right-to-work legislation in the state. The school district superintendent in Taylor, MI, a Detroit suburb, said the district would not have enough teachers to fill the district’s classrooms, according …
What can we expect for education policy during President Obama’s second term? From No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers to school choice, education policy will surely heat up in the coming months. No Child Left Behind Waivers. NCLB’s blunt attempt to drive accountability from Washington has resulted in many schools …
Indiana Superintendent of Schools Tony Bennett is one of the country’s great education reformers. As superintendent, he worked to create one of the most expansive voucher programs in the country, implemented merit pay for teachers, and increased transparency of outcomes in Indiana schools. Bennett lost his re-election bid last night …
Numerous education-related amendments, ranging from ballot initiatives and charter school authorizers to spending and collective bargaining reform, are under consideration in the states. It’s not every year that education policy receives so much attention, but America’s ailing education system is ripe for reform. Several initiatives deal with whether to raise …
While 46 states have jumped on the national education standards bandwagon, it’s not too late to hit the brakes. We’ve been down this road before. During the 1990s, the push to nationalize standards and testing reached a fever pitch. There were the infamous national history standards, which were so poor …
President Obama has a new booklet—a glossy, 20-page spread called “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs and Middle-Class Security.” The title is completely Orwellian, since the plan—which is nothing new—would actually kill jobs, harming the middle class. As expected, the “new patriotism” means paying more in taxes for …
The Friedman Foundation has published an excellent report detailing the administrative bloat plaguing our nation’s public schools. The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools shows dramatic increases in teaching and non-teaching staff over the past five decades despite modest increases in student enrollment. As we …
Calls to spend more on teachers are likely to come up in tonight’s debate. More likely still, we’ll hear accusations that Governor Mitt Romney wants to slash education spending by 20 percent. This figure is a reference to the House of Representatives-approved budget, authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul …
