Press
Schools Key in Harlem Election
(From The Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2010)
By BARBARA MARTINEZ
Basil Smikle Jr. has a lot of ideas about how to address Harlem's most vexing problems, from crime to housing to underemployment, but his biggest asset as he runs for state Senate against Bill Perkins may be that he supports charter schools.
Mr. Perkins, a two-term legislator from Harlem, has outraged the charter-school community with his vocal opposition of the schools.
During a hearing on charter schools that he organized in April, Mr. Perkins said that because so many of the schools serve predominantly African-American and Hispanic children, "there is concern that charters are creating a de facto re-segregationist educational policy in New York City," Mr. Perkins said.
Daniel Clark, field director of a Harlem group called Parent Power Now, said he thinks Mr. Smikle, 38 years old, is a "good candidate," but quickly added that this Senate race isn't about Mr. Smikle. "This is a referendum on Perkins," he said.
He said his eighth-grader was "saved" by a Harlem charter school and that Mr. Perkins "made a big mistake" by opposing the schools. Mr. Clark is working to mobilize parents to register to vote and to spread the word about Mr. Perkins's position on charter schools.
Continue reading "Schools Key in Harlem Election "....
Charter-School Advocates Raise Cap
(From The Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2010)
By BARBARA MARTINEZ
New York would more than double the number of charter schools allowed to operate in the state under sweeping legislation passed Friday after a bitter battle between the teachers unions and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration.
Ending weeks of suspense, legislators settled on a plan that lifts the charter-school cap to 460 from 200, bans for-profit charter operators and preserves most of New York City's policies regarding the schools.
"It was classic Albany sausage-making: at the end of the day everybody got something," said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, which spent millions of dollars pressing legislators to lift the charter-school cap without adding rules that it believed would strangle the charter industry.
State lawmakers first approved charter schools in 1998, when George E. Pataki was governor. Under the new cap, the number of charter-school students in the state could grow to about 125,000 in a few years from about 44,000 currently. If current trends continue, close to 10% of New York City's public school students will be enrolled in a charter school by the time the state hits the higher cap.
Continue reading "Charter-School Advocates Raise Cap "....
May 28, 2010
Policy and Politics Mark Race to the Top Accord
(From New Jersey Spotlight, May 28, 2010)
By JOHN MOONEY
In the end, it was an agreement notable for both its policy and its politics.
After two weeks of negotiations, the New Jersey Education Association yesterday afternoon emailed state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler a letter supporting his bid for federal Race to the Top money, a contentious proposal of reforms in teacher and school accountability.
Although the actual application has not yet been released, compromises appeared to come on both sides, with the union agreeing to new and fundamental changes in how teachers are evaluated and the Christie administration leaving tenure laws mostly intact.
But with only a small handful of states seeing teacher unions support such applications, most of the talking yesterday was left to the NJEA--notable for an administration that has often been in combat with the teachers union through Gov. Chris Christie's first few months.
'Win-Win'
"We were just on the phone with them, and I think both sides described it as definitely a win-win," said Dawn Hiltner, a NJEA spokeswoman who was in on the negotiations.
"It's a collective victory, and hopefully a turning point on our relationship," she said.
Continue reading "Policy and Politics Mark Race to the Top Accord"....
Teacher Pink Slips May Be Latest Proof of Anti-Spending Pressure
(From Newsweek, May 28, 2010)
By PAT WINGERT
Nobody likes the prospect of financially pressed school districts handing out thousands of pink slips to teachers, but Democrats' proposal for a $23 billion bailout attracted so many critics early on that it seemed doomed from the start, despite energetic lobbying by teachers' unions and congressional educational leaders.
With rising taxpayer distress over deficit spending, the idea of pushing through a $23 billion bailout for anyone--even to save an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 teacher jobs--met plenty of resistance from fiscal moderates and conservatives, including the Blue Dog Democrats, many of whom are facing reelection challenges this fall. When a decision was made late Thursday to cancel the House committee meeting called to put funding for the bill into a war-funding bill, the assumption on the Hill, a Republican staffer said, was that "a lot of the Democrats don't want to vote for it either."
There was also a leeriness about an apparent loophole that would allow states to use the money for things other than teachers' jobs, including balancing their budgets. Critics also argued that the growth in teachers during recent boom years had outstripped the growth of students, implying that school districts could afford to do some belt-tightening.
Continue reading "Teacher Pink Slips May Be Latest Proof of Anti-Spending Pressure"....
May 26, 2010
Fine-tuning for Race to the Top
(From The Worchester Telegram, May 26, 2010)
By CHARLES BARONE
Massachusetts missed out on $250 million in federal funds in March under President Obama's "Race to the Top" (RttT) initiative. But the results, in which Massachusetts placed 13th out of the 16 states chosen as finalists and among 41 applicants overall, provide clear guidance about what the Bay State needs to do to reach the winners' circle next time.
Round one demonstrated that federal officials are looking for systemic reforms that will impact student performance across the state school system, not just in isolated areas. With that in mind, first-round results, in which Delaware and Tennessee were the only states awarded grants, indicate that state officials should focus on charter schools, ongoing questions about whether to adopt proposed national academic standards, and improving teacher quality as they craft the commonwealth's new grant application, which is due June 1.
A bill signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in January improved the commonwealth's application by making it easier to turn around failing schools and allowing more charter schools. But maximizing the commonwealth's chances will require additional measures to strengthen teacher evaluations, tie them to compensation, and lift all charter caps.
Continue reading "Fine-tuning for Race to the Top"....
Well-off education PAC eyes Democrats
(From NorthJersey.com, May 25, 2010)
By CHARLES STILE
Advocates for overhauling New Jersey's public education system may soon count on deep-pocketed allies -- hedge fund operators.
Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee that has put hard cash behind its reform crusade in New York State, quietly opened a New Jersey affiliate in February.
Its goal is to peel Democrats away from the grip of the New Jersey Education Association, the powerful teachers union. That will take communication (white papers, radio ads, door-to-door campaigning, if necessary) and eventually investment -- checks written directly to legislators' campaign accounts.
"I haven't identified our top 10 legislators who are for us and our top 10 legislators who are being detrimental," said Kathleen Nugent, the group's New Jersey director. But over time, the group will target "who is supporting their kids and who is supporting the unions."
The national group now has chapters is six states and is stacked with executives of hedge funds -- Anchorage Capital Partners ($8 billion under management), Greenlight Capital ($6.8 billion) and Pershing Square Capital Management ($5.5 billion).
Continue reading "Well-off education PAC eyes Democrats "....
