Free speech on campus and beyond. And here’s Larry Summers saying it’s “Orwellian Paternalism.”
Jim Blew is a great get for the Department of Education if they can pull this off – and another Democrat, which is interesting though as we discussed the other day largely inconsequential in this circus. But, despite that, I’d like to see him serving the country so if it helps his case more then that first sentence is wrong and he’s not a good pick!
I made a Western Michigan quip a while ago on the blog and got some, “what do you mean?” emails. The Times unpacks more of that for you with a DeVos profile that points out that she’s not some sort of robot and has her own take on some things. She got some good reviews this morning – even from skeptics and critics – at the National Charter Schools Conference.
Interesting charter school story. Weird political times for charter schools.
New CREDO data on charter school performance by management/operational structure. The action is in the appendix, read that. A lot of cherry picking going on, the thing with a report like this is you can’t only like the method for the outcomes you like.
Randi Weingarten and Steve Perry debate vouchers and choice. Lively!
Don’t miss this honest piece by Robin Lake on school vouchers.
And this pre-K and charter story from NY got lost in all the political chaos last week. More on it here. Success also won the charter school prize this week – that’s not a metaphor, they won a real prize. And they are going to start sharing curriculum.
NCTQs Kate Walsh on recent moves to jettison teacher tests and credentialing requirements:
While there is good research describing the benefits of matching teacher and student race, let’s remember that those benefits are based on studies involving black and white teachers of otherwise comparable ability. Any benefits from matching race are erased when we no longer make our first priority the effectiveness of a teacher or our best estimates about who will be effective. While it’s uncomfortable to push back for fear of appearing insensitive to real problems of educational inequity, we must insist on prioritizing what’s best for students—having the most skilled teacher.
Nick Melvoin on the issues.
A lot of people know Max McConkey from his work at WestEd, but you might not know he’s an accomplished artist.
Interesting article on benefits for “gig” economy workers. More work in the education field is 1099 work than you might think – and gig economy style workers seem likely to increase as education starts to unbundle more.
A song for every station on the DC Metro, and apparently they are not all the blues.
