Current Events

Guest post by Jim Ryan Two stories of interest in today’s NYT.  First, there is a front-page story about the mad rush by companies to get federal money for helping to turn around failing schools. As the headline (in the print edition) says, “School Reform Draws Crowd, Not Credentials.”  One company promises to help schools …

Show Me The Money

Guest post by Jim Ryan Thanks to Andy for inviting me to guest blog.  I haven’t blogged much at all, so I apologize in advance if I’m lousy at it.  I’m a law professor at the University of Virginia, and I write and teach about law and education.  I recently finished a book, which will …

More NCLB…Is Milton Friedman Smiling Or Is Bill Taylor?

Over at the TPM Cafe Century Foundation’s Greg Anrig worriedly weighs-in about No Child Left Behind pegged to Michael Winerip’s typically misleading article the other day. Anrig makes two basic points, (1) that NCLB is a conservative victory because it’s eroding support for public schools by making people think the public schools are failing and …

Charter Schools & Rural Ed

Charter schooling can’t solve the all the challenges that rural education faces today, but charter schools could certainly be used more strategically in rural communities than they frequently are.  If you want to learn more about that then join Andy Smarick of Bellwether, Jim Griffin, Todd Ziebarth, School Thomson, and Terry Ryan for a webinar …