Daily News Roundup—July 6, 2010

EEP NEWS

EEP Signatory Tom Vander Ark  will deliver the closing keynote at BbWorld 2010 (a four-day conference for developers and educators sponsored by the web-based learning tool Blackboard) where he will share relevant stories and insights from his time at The Gates and X PRIZE Foundations, discussing technology, innovation and the future of learning.

Vander Ark also has an interesting post on the new “center” of education reform at EdReformer; giving a very generous shout-out to EEP and many of our allies in the fight for equity in education:  “The new voice of edreform is the dynamic duo of DFER/EEP. With the last reauthorization, we left it up to EdTrust to do the heavy lifting.  This time around the edreform push comes from DFER, EEP, TNTP, NLNS, TFA, the Alliance, as well as EdTrust, not to mention all the former New Schools staffers at the Department.”

National

The debate rages on over on Capitol Hill regarding Chairman Obey’s proposed cuts to President Obama’s signature education reform initiatives.  The Times has a comprehensive analysis of the story, including its many politics angles, ending with our own Joel Klein urging Congress to find the contested $800 million elsewhere, and let Race to the Top “really change the game” of education reform.

Politico adds that “Obey’s own allies on the issue argue that the cut would be destructive and some adjustment will now be needed in negotiations with the Senate and White House."

The proposed cuts are the topic of the week over at the National Journal’s Expert Education Blog with seven responses in thus far, including posts from EEP signatories Lisa Graham Keegan and Chester Finn.

A New York Times editorial warns that the $500 million in cuts to Race to the Top is very “unwise,” believing that the funds to prevent teacher layoffs “must be found elsewhere and that cutting this vital program would dampen a thriving school reform effort.”  Additionally, EdWeek reports that thirteen senators (including CO’s Senator Michael Bennet, an EEP signatory) are urging their colleagues to find another way to finance teacher layoff prevention and leave RttT, the Teacher Incentive Fund, and the Charter Schools Program funding intact.

All this happened as National Education Association (NEA – the country’s largest teachers’ union) delegates took a position of "no confidence" in the use of competitive grants as a basis for ESEA reauthorization, (i.e., Race to the Top) according to EdWeek.  This is big news that was approved by a razor-thin vote at this weekend’s NEA conference.

Also during the NEA’s annual conference this weekend, EdWeek reports that President Dennis Von Roekel called for the creation of a new commission—to be called the Commission on Effective Teaching—that would address "questions that have been avoided for far too long."

EdWeek reports that a handful of districts and two states are doing away with the forced placement of teachers in schools in favor of a system requiring both the teacher and principal to agree to a transfer.

NPR (audio) takes a look at some of the challenges at restructuring America’s schools, in the first of a two-part series on education reform.

The Boston Globe highlights a new study that demonstrates teens benefit from an extended school day, showing more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts.

Andrew Yarrow of the Baltimore Sun pens an op-ed suggesting that we need to resurrect Parent-Teacher Associations and spur real parental involvement in schools across the country.

An op-ed in the NY Daily News highlights some of AFT president’s Randi Weingarten’s successful education reform efforts for teacher effectiveness in Washington, D.C., New Haven, CT, and Colorado.

A quick read from EdReformer: the Three Eras of Education; a summary of the current industrial-era education, what was before, and what’s next.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s remarks to the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools on July 1 can be found here.

From the States

Arizona

From EdWeek (subscription req’d): Civil rights lawyer Khin Mai Aung writes on Arizona's less-publicized spring controversy: the state education department’s citations to districts that hired English-language-learning teachers with Spanish accents.

California

The Lompoc Record highlights The Outdoor Classroom Project at the Hancock College Children’s Learning Center, which is trying to cure urban children of “nature deficit disorder.”

 The Sacramento Bee reports that “last-hired, first-fired” layoff policies hit poor-performing schools the hardest in California.

Maryland

EdWeek reports that Maryland’s Martin O’Malley won this year’s National Education Association’s “Greatest Education Governor” award.

Missouri

USA Today reports that in the largest reform effort of its kind, Kansas City, MO schools will be grouping their students by skill level, as opposed to age starting this fall.

New York

PressConnects reports that teacher centers, which for 26 years have provided training and support for teachers, face the prospect of closing because their funding was left out of the state budget, education advocates said.

Texas

EdWeek highlights a special provision tacked on to a supplemental budget bill this week in the U.S. House that cuts Texas education officials out of the decision-making process that will determine how more than $800 million in federal aid to schools will be spent in the state.

Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post follows Principal Dwan Jordon as he attempts to turn around one of D.C.’s lowest-performing middle schools.

PUBLIC SCHEDULE OF U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN

THE WEEK AHEAD: Monday, July 5 - Saturday, July 11

Monday, July 5

No public events scheduled.

Tuesday, July 6

No public events scheduled.

Wednesday, July 7

Noon-12:30 p.m.

The Secretary will participate in the Department’s “Let’s Read! Let’s Move” summer reading initiative. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is scheduled to attend.

U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W. (on the plaza), Washington, D.C.

Thursday, July 8

No public events scheduled.

Friday, July 9

2:10 to 3:20 p.m. PDT

The Secretary will travel to Seattle, Wash., to meet with community partners, education stakeholders, as well as students at Aviation High School, for a discussion on innovation in education. Sen. Patty Murray will join him.

Aviation High School, 615 South 200th St., Des Moines, Wash.

Saturday, July 10

No public events scheduled.

Sunday, July 11

No public events scheduled.

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Categories: Daily News RoundUp