The Choice Channel

“A new report provides a fresh reminder of Alabama’s failure to offer parents any form of school choice, including the increasingly popular charter school option. Charter schools are operating in 40 states and the District of Columbia. These independent public schools are exempt from many of the rules and regulations that encumber traditional public schools. Charter schools are designed as alternatives to schools operated under the century-old bureaucratic model of public education.” (10/14/08)

http://tinyurl.com/4f5jax

“This year, the Clayton County School System made history by becoming just the second school system in the nation to lose its accreditation in nearly 40 years. The last time that happened was 1969, with a school system in Duval County, Fla. As disheartening as it was, however, the story doesn’t end with Clayton County. Mark Elgart, who oversees the organization that accredits more than 90 percent of the school systems in Georgia, says that in the past decade, at least one-fifth of the school boards in Georgia have had problems.” (10/14/08)

http://tinyurl.com/5xq4vj

“Out here in California, this was supposed to be the ‘Year of Education,’ at least according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But whatever plans the terminator-turned-governor had in mind to reform education ran aground on the rocks of a sputtering economy and sagging tax revenue. A similar situation faces the next president, especially with the taxpayer-financed Wall Street bailout crowding out federal spending in other areas, including education. Barack Obama, unfortunately, seems oblivious to the fiscal reality he faces.” (10/13/08)

http://tinyurl.com/4c9wfd

“For years, six-figure starting salaries have been the exclusive privilege of bankers, doctors, and lawyers. But now, a New York City charter school called The Equity Project promises to bring teachers into the $100,000-plus-club as well. The Equity Project, which is located in the historically disadvantaged and largely Hispanic neighborhood of Washington Heights, seeks to fundamentally change the paradigm of American public education: By offering its teachers base salaries of $125,000, the school hopes to bring the best and brightest educators into its classrooms—a logical response to the large body of empirical research that suggests that teacher quality is one of the most important factors in students’ success.” (10/13/08)

http://tinyurl.com/3sr2pw

“I’m a high-school math teacher in Seattle. When I hear Mark Emmert, president of the University of Washington, say that this state is ‘at the bottom in the production of scientists and engineers,’ and warn that our graduates ‘will be washing the cars for the people who come here for the best jobs,’ I know what the problem is. It’s math. We are failing to educate our children in mathematics. I know how that came about, and what we can do about it.” (10/11/08)

http://tinyurl.com/3thy3g

“Will financial incentives for teachers help improve students’ performance in the classroom? That’s the crux of the argument over Measure 60, the measure on the November ballot that would establish merit pay for teachers. I offer two views, pro and con. Arguing the benefits of financial incentives is economist Randall Pozdena. Detailing the flaws in the merit pay concept is Jim Buck of the Oregon School Personnel Association.” (10/09/08)

http://tinyurl.com/52oulj

“Slowly, blessedly, the public school monolith is being chipped away by grass-roots reformers. Charter schools, private schools and experimental schools offer millions of smart consumers — parents and their children — genuine alternatives to the broken racket we euphemistically call ‘public schooling.’” (10/10/08)

http://tinyurl.com/3jvlo3

“The most visible — and, because of that visibility, the most criticized — government program is public education. Although it’s a tradition in this country, public education isn’t the only game in town. Private schools of all kinds have long existed alongside public schools — Jacksonville has three. The question often raised is, which provides better education? The answer is, it depends.” (10/08/08)

http://tinyurl.com/3rv3pc

“Julia Gillard, Minister for Education, addressed the Australian Computers In Education Conference, October 1 2008. She talked about the Government’s $1.2 billion Digital Education Revolution strategy being about more than computers for students. She said this was a matter of equity and national economic survival. The minister also mentioned ’sustainability’, but in an economic sense, not environmentally or educationally. The Minister outlined four priorities: universal access to high quality computers; computers must be networked; compelling educational content; and teacher training.

http://tinyurl.com/4l6fxn

“A central tenet of reform mathematics and constructivist teaching is that children should work cooperatively in groups to ‘explore’ and ‘discover’ math and figure out concepts on their own. Reformers say this method makes math interesting and fun and leads to ‘deeper understanding.’ Jayne Sherman, a teacher in Prince Williams County, Va., and parent of four children, said the reform program Investigations in Number, Data, and Space was getting her students to ‘think mathematically’ (Sherman, 2008).” (10/08/08)

http://tinyurl.com/4rse7l