This Memorial Day there is too much rain and too many interesting news stories not to post a few…
In The Washington Post Linda Perlstein writes that No Child Left Behind is squeezing out science and social studies in favor of reading. Paul Kimmelman and E.D. Hirsch explain — in different essays — why that’s not necessary or even productive.
Don’t miss Patricia Leigh Brown’s NYT look at school in Las Vegas and the challenges they’re facing. Stories here and here. Also don’t miss Jane Gross’ look at single-sex education also in the NYT.
Over at educationnews.org Jimmy Kilpatrick is outraged by this story about embezzlement in a New York school district. He’s got some other interesting links today too.
And, in Los Angeles, the teachers’ union is giving Roy Romer fits (and vice versa). That Romer! He’s probably just hostile to organized labor like all the other teachers’ union critics are right? Oh wait, he’s a former Democratic National Committee chair…hmmm…
Finally, in The Nation Todd Oppenheimer criticizes (a) the E-Rate (more on that later this week) and (b) technology in schools. Note to education technology proponents, when you’ve lost The Nation on a big ticket spending item like the E-Rate, that’s trouble!