Education News, Analysis, and Commentary
A reader emails: “I keep checking eduwonk to get your take on the LA dustup (that I think marks a real turning point in teacher accountability), but all I see is a dead fish!” Indeed. Just getting back. Big thanks to Jim Ryan, Sarah Usdin & Neerav Kingsland, Becca Bracey, Hae-Sin Thomas, Tim Daly, Victor …
Guest post by Jim Ryan Finally, what you’ve all been waiting for. All three fish were caught and released recently in Essex, Mass. The first is a striped bass (or “stripah,” as they say up here), and the second is a blue fish (or “blue fish,” as they say up here). (Technical details for those …
Guest post by Jim Ryan Seems one day there’s a story about a new federal funding program, and the next day a story about another round of budget cuts at the state or local level. We should be approaching equilibrium at some point, no? Today and yesterday were about cuts. There’s a story in today’s NYT about …
Guest post by Jim Ryan Ok, I’m done plugging my book; that’s as much marketing as I can stomach. Back to some questions that have puzzled me for a while and that might be of some interest to the rest of you. This is a long post, for which I apologize in advance. The question …
Continue reading “National Standards and School Finance Litigation”
Guest post by Jim Ryan Who would you say is the architect of modern education law and policy? a.) Bill Gates b.) Horace Mann c.) Richard Nixon d.) Andy Rotherham If you guessed “D,” you’re sycophantic. If you guessed C,” you’re correct. Or at least that’s what I argue in a book that officially comes …
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 …
Guest post by Jim Ryan I’m a fan of KIPP schools and impressed by their performance, though I appreciate the points made by some critics regarding attrition and selection. I also admire the goal of KIPP schools to show that demography is not destiny and that all kids can learn. But I’ve often wondered about …
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 …
I’m going to take a blogging break for the next two weeks. But some good things lined up in the interim. Next week a bunch of great folks are going to drop by to guestblog, including fly fishing pinup idol Paul Herdman, D.C. Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso, the Piscalnator, Sarah Usdin from New Schools for …
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 …
Continue reading “More NCLB…Is Milton Friedman Smiling Or Is Bill Taylor?”