YES Prep*, a Houston-based charter management network, has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Houston,” by Houston Business Journal–the first time any public school or school system has made the list. And they’re hiring.

*disclosure: Bellwether Education Partners is proud to claim YES Prep as an organization we work with.

EdWeek’s Christina Samuels flags a Star-Ledger article on high special education spending in New Jersey, noting that the state has a very high rate of out-of-district placements and linking further analysis from blogger NJ Left Behind. While special education has been largely protected from cuts so far, Samuels rightly notes that these costs are something New Jersey and its districts need to deal with as the state faces continued budget woes–and that means casting a serious eye on both out-of-district placements and the disproportionate identification of poor and minority kids with disabilities in New Jersey. Andy Smarick: This is for you.

–guestblogger Sara Mead

Sam Chaltain is always fun to read but I think his riff on “The Lottery” misreads the methods of Gandhi by focusing on a few passages rather than the breadth of his project.

In brief, to the extent it’s possible to answer these questions, I’d argue Gandhi (and for that matter in our country MLK) would have liked the movie and the larger cause precisely because of an appreciation for the power of symbols (think salt, non-violence, how Gandhi lived, etc…), understood that creating untenable tension was the only way to drive social progress even when it offended those claiming affinity or counseling moderation, and, frankly, a habit of siding with the underdog.  And there is an underdog in this fight and it’s not the vested stakeholders no matter how much people want to dress it up.   The film more or less fits in that framework.

For most Americans, the 4th of July means fireworks, backyard BBQs, and desserts shaped like American flags. For education-y types, it means all these things–and also the NEA’s Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly, held this year in New Orleans. (The American Federation of Teachers holds their annual convention in Seattle starting July 7).

The NEA meeting has been getting some press for a divide seemingly on display between the union and the Obama administration’s education policies: No major Obama administration officials spoke at the meeting, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel’s speech strongly criticized the administration’s education approach–going so far as to say Van Roekel and NEA members felt “betrayed,” and on Sunday, the assembly passed a “no confidence” vote on Race to the Top. All against the backdrop of both the upcoming November elections and conflict in Congress over efforts–opposed by an administration SAP and backed by both NEA and AFT–to transfer funding from Obama-supported reform initiatives RTT, TIF, and the federal charter schools program to teacher layoff prevention.

But the story’s actually a bit more complicated than some press accounts suggest: As EdWeek’s Stephen Sawchuck notes, the “no confidence” vote passed by only a “razor-thin” margin, and the contingent from Colorado introduced a new business item calling on the NEA to ““offer technical and expert assistance to continue to support state affiliates participating in the Race to the Top process to ensure a positive implementation that protects education employee rights and jobs, guarantees educator and affiliate participation, and promotes the best practices in education to guarantee that all children have access to a great public education.”

Both Sawchuck and long-time teachers union watcher Mike Antonucci are reporting live on the NEA meeting on their respective blogs (Sawchuck will also be in Seattle with AFT later this week–not sure about Antonucci), providing strong reporting–in very different styles and flavors–well worth reading for nuance and details both substantive and silly.

–guestblogger Sara Mead

The great Sara Mead is going to guestblog for the remainder of this week to keep you informed and entertained.   She’s launching a new blog at Ed Week next week so this is the warm-up.

John Bailey and I are launching Education Insider this month via Whiteboard Advisors. Education Insider is an analytic forecasting service.   To be clear, this product is not affiliated with Eduwonk or Bellwether Education.   But, for Eduwonk readers, the first 20 subscribers who use the promotion code EDUWONK, will receive 20 percent off an annual subscription.

Per all the recent events, Tim Daly pens an important op-ed in the NY Daily News. Snatch victory from the jaws of victory!  See also this story in The Times.

Blue Engine has a new class of fellows...they’re getting traction…and Echoing Green noticed…check them out.

Update: Statement of Administration Policy released late today contains  a veto threat on the rescission provisions.

Update II: The package passed the House with the rescissions intact.

Update III: Even the usually mild-mannered Hope Street Group is on the attack over this. Plus don’t miss Jonathan Alter’s piece on this, a lot of inside baseball that is no longer so inside.  Absolute must reading.

What a weird 24 hours.  First, no one wanted to say that cannibalizing Secretary Duncan/President Obama’s top ed reform priorities was their idea.   Now, people are lining up with Congressman Obey even though you can’t find an editorial board, moderate, or education analyst who thinks this is a good idea. Alyson Klein has great coverage of all the back and forth.

Key political issues:

• The Weingarten v. The White House dynamic bears watching.
• This is a test for reformers, some, for instance Charlie Barone, clearly get that.  Unclear if everyone understands what’s at stake here.  Hint, it’s more than the money for the programs…
• Jared Polis is really stepping out on this issue to protect the charter school funding.  Keep an eye on that.

Substantively, now that the fight has shifted to offsets some of the underlying issues are getting lost.  Mr. Robin Chait has a strong piece at TNR about the proposed Obey cuts. It’s being blasted all over reform-land.  I think I’ve received it at least once for every word of text in it.  It’s great that he calls out the ridiculousness of some of this, but overall I don’t like it so much because (a) he brushes off the possibility of doing something on “last in, first out” or LIFO with these funds as impractical.  In practice, there are plenty of policy mechanisms you could attach to this funding that wouldn’t delay it but would commit states to some action now and/or  moving forward.  And (b) when he writes that “The right is using the pretext of education reform to oppose sensible fiscal policy, and the left is using the pretext of sensible fiscal policy to oppose education reform” that ignores all the left-leaning groups (eg Children’s Defense Fund and others (pdf)) that called for LIFO reform.  Like many education issues, this one isn’t left – right.

That sentiment also minimizes the underlying fiscal dynamic here.  Because of all the built in cost escalators for teacher pay if it takes $10, or $23 billion, or whatever, to stave off layoffs this year, it will cost even more next year absent either a dramatic change in state tax receipts or cost containment strategies.   I’ll leave it to you to figure out which of those is more likely or something Congress can actually influence.  Assuming that teacher ineffectiveness is not concentrated at one or the other end of the salary distribution (which after the first year the evidence says it is not) then not only allowing but encouraging schools to use effectiveness in layoff decisions is not only common sense, it actually helps address the underlying cost problems.  Why? Because it encourages schools to lay off less productive workers not just cheaper ones.   And it’s important to remember that while large districts with substantial annual hiring are getting the attention in many communities the “first out” teacher can still be a teacher with experience and a track record.

Other reading on this worth checking out includes Will Marshall at Progressive Fix and Eliza Krigman at National Journal.