Must-Read Philadelphia Inquirer article about teacher quality in urban schools…based on student accounts. That No Child Left Behind emphasis on ensuring that poor kids get good teachers sure is a terrible idea that progressives must resist tooth and nail!
The Chicago Tribune also urges attention to this problem and highlights Teach For America as one option.
The Star-Tribune says current “steps and lanes” pay schemes must go. And The Washington Post’s Karen Chenoweth offers some sensible advice to parents learning whether particular teachers are “highly qualified.”
The Washington Post weighs in on controversy over $13 million in federal funding for DC public schools that was supposed to accompany the DC voucher plan but is now being held up by Congressional appropriators who argue the district doesn’t have a plan to use the funds. Maryland teachers unions are seeking to derail plans for a graduation exit exam in the state. More commentary on Bill Cosby’s remarks, from NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund President Theodore Shaw. The Education Trust releases a disturbing new report on college graduation rates. Newsweek also takes a look at why students are taking longer to graduate from college. NYT reports on the response to Gov. George Pataki’s proposed school funding plan to meet court-ordered mandates to improve funding equity in the state and for New York City schools in particular.
And, you can listen to a talk radio discussion of teacher pay and the Denver pay-for-performance pilot here. Click on the May 25th show.