Amnesty for Delaware Republican defectors

As 2010 rings in all those Delaware Republican who regrettably voted for Obama and / or Jack Markell are invited to come home. Being one of those Delaware Republicans that was lured in by the sweet sounds of change I do have buyer’s remorse. After visiting party headquarters stating my dissatisfaction and concerns, not asking [...]

Markell ignores socioeconomic factors

90 F3d 752 Coalition to Save Our Children v. State Board of Education of State of Delaware ; 1996 Further, the record supports a causal link between these socioeconomic factors and student achievement across the four districts: “There is consistency between the gap in socioeconomic status with the gap in achievement, with Brandywine statistics demonstrating [...]

Reversing the White Flight; Who pays ?

Chicago school reform is a real estate program to reverse white flight Magnet schools are selective enrollment institutions that are free to ignore the children who live in the neighborhood where the school sits, and to take in students from all across the city.  Translation:  white kids.  White kids come fully equipped with white parents.  [...]

Mervin be a man tell the board NO !

Take Arne Duncan’s phony school reform money and run— fast! Leonie Haimson, on the Huffington Post’s website writes:  ‘Arne Duncan’s billion dollar slush fund is designed to reward school districts and states for implementing a narrow set of unproven strategies, based on the deregulatory biases of the corporate world.

Duncan exposed

Finally, the Arne Duncan Chicago Schools reform myth is exposed And those of us, who call the People’s Republic of Chicago, home, know it. Finally, the cardboard school reform of the Duncan era, which followed the smoke-and-mirrors of the Paul Vallas regime, has been officially ‘outed.’ The Consortium on Chicago School Research, a nonpartisan group [...]

Comforting ! Tom Carper supports RTTT

Moderate Senate Democrats Embrace Education Reform “Second, we support expanding the number of effective public charter schools. Like traditional public schools, charter schools vary greatly in quality. We should encourage the replication of the highest-performing public charters and ensure real accountability measures for those who oversee them. We all have charter schools in our states [...]

Race to the clock

It appears Delaware legislators go back into session January 12, 2010. The Race to The Top application must be submitted to Arne Duncan by January 19, 2010. Laws must be change to adhere to Arne Duncan rules. The Delaware legislators must pass legislation allowing school districts to fire teachers if there students don’t meet standard. Also, [...]

Red Clay’s student swap ????

Floore said enrollment is 15,674 a decrease of 36 students from last year, because of the number of growing charter schools. “Red Clay lost 1675 students to charter schools this year, an increased of 199 from last year. This year, the number of students lost to charters climbed back thanks in large part to Odyssey [...]

Washington Post questions Duncan legacy

Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s legacy as Chicago schools chief questioned “Yet questions have arisen this year about the magnitude of Duncan’s accomplishments. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, which represents business, professional, education and cultural leaders, concluded in June that gains on state test scores were inflated when Illinois relaxed passing standards [...]

Arne Duncan’s hype exposed

Chicago nowhere near head of the pack in urban school improvement, report says “It seems that, for all the fanfare attached to the restructuring plan Duncan implemented in Chicago – one he is using as a national model  — the city’s schools still underperform, reports the Washington Post.” “According to the results of a federal [...]