Joe Williams' Blog
June 25, 2009
Courage Grips Rhode Island Legislature (Race To The Top Heats Up As The Ocean State Jumps In)
A week after Rhode Island legislators stripped funding for a new, innovative "mayoral academy" charter school and days after Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that the Ocean State would have some 'splainin to do when it applied for federal Race To The Top funds because of it, the Legislature voted very early this morning to put the cash back in.
Huge win for Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee, who has been a warrior pushing this issue for the last few years. Another win for Duncan, who has shown again that he's serious about the Race To The Top.
Special kudos to House Majority Leader Gordon Fox for his leadership on this issue. (There are lots of great quotes from him in the Pro Jo story linked above. Thanks also to Representatives Kenneth Vaudreuil (D - Central Falls) and Nick Mattiello (D - Cranston) spoke forcefully on the floor about the need for a Race to the Top strategy with excellent charter schools at it's center.
Posted by Joe Williams on June 25, 2009 5:24 PM
June 22, 2009
DFER Unveils New 'Ed Reformer Of The Month' Feature
Starting this month, DFER will harness the collective support of education reformers nationwide by rallying behind one candidate for office whose support for education reform efforts is exemplary.
If thousands of DFER supporters give $25 or more, it will provide these carefully-selected politicians with a significant level of financial support in their races for elective office. At the same time, this kind of fundraising help will send a clear message across the spectrum that reform is valued.
Our first DFER Education Reformer of the Month is United States Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado.) Find out more about Sen. Bennet on the June contribution page.
Please join other supporters around the country in supporting Sen. Bennet as June's DFER Education Reformer of the Month.
Posted by Joe Williams on June 22, 2009 12:05 AM
June 20, 2009
More Big Mo In Ed Reform
Good stuff coming out of Connecticut, where ConnCAN's Alex Johnston reports that after seemingly losing an important teacher certification reform bill in the Legislature two weeks ago, a bipartisan group made sure it passed in a special session. Now the bill -- the most significant overhaul of Connecticut teacher certification laws in more than 20 years -- goes to the Governor's desk for her signature in time for the coming school year. This bill improves teacher quality by doing three crucial things: allowing experienced teachers from other states to teach in Connecticut, keeping Teach for America on a path to growth, and removing roadblocks keeping excellent math and science candidates out of the classroom.
Also, Milwaukee's first crop of TFA corps members reported for duty this week. The edu-political dynamic in Brew Town will suddenly get a lot more interesting.
Will the good reform vibes make their way to Rhode Island, where funding for the first Mayoral Academy charter school is going to need a strong push in the final days of the Legislative session? Race To The Top implications?
Posted by Joe Williams on June 20, 2009 8:00 AM
June 18, 2009
The Race Is On In Tennessee
Tremendous news coming out of Tennessee today, where the Legislature approved a major charter school expansion bill. The bill, which significantly expands both the number of charter schools allowed in the state and the number of students who can qualify, had been killed previously by Democrats in the House.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave the expansion bill new life when he informed Tennesseans that the state had jeopardized $100 million by showing such non-reformist tendencies.
Congrats to everyone involved in making common sense prevail.
The Commercial Appeal coverage is here.
Posted by Joe Williams on June 18, 2009 9:38 PM
June 17, 2009
NEW! DFER's Race To The Top Issue Brief Series (Updated)
The U.S. Education Secretary's $5 billion "Race To The Top" Fund, as included in the federal stimulus package, represents a historic opportunity to establish clear reform priorities and to back them up with signifiant resources to bring change to America's schools.
Click below for some concepts that DFER supports as part of the Race To The Top competition between states:
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #1 - Public Charter Schools and High Quality Pre-K (June 17, 2009)
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #2 - Unleashing Innovation In America's Schools (June 18, 2009)
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #3 - Enhancing Entry Points To The Teaching Profession (June 19, 2009)
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #4 - World Class Standards and Assessments (June 22, 2009)
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #5 - Growing Innovative Charter Schools (June 23, 2009)
-- Race To The Top Issue Brief #6 - A Great Teacher For Every Child (June 24, 2009)
Posted by Joe Williams on June 17, 2009 12:29 PM
June 9, 2009
Press Release: Real Democrats Support Charter Schools
In response to Education Secretary Arne Duncan's announcement that grants from the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" fund will be reliant on the effectiveness of state's public charter school policies, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) championed the plan and the President's willingness to make good on the promises he made while campaigning. Central to DFER's mission is convincing Democrats that supporting public charter schools is good public policy."The word coming out of the Department of Education today is that the administration has the chops for being real change agents. Secretary Duncan is poised to withhold Race to the Top funds from states that don't have effective charter school laws. The irony is that so many of the state legislatures dragging their feet are controlled by Democrats. Its time for Democrats to wise up and realize that supporting public charter schools is the right thing to do."
"When Democrats, who have historically been proud supporters of public education, are the ones standing between the families we claim to represent and the public school options for which they clamor, we have to re-examine our priorities when it comes to schools."
"There is no shortage of evidence, in places like California, New York, Boston, and elsewhere, public charter schools have shown they aren't killing public education. In fact, public charter schools are leading the charge to save public education and delivering results. Successful school models like KIPP, Achievement First, Green Dot, Aspire, and others provide proof points nationwide for what is possible in our schools. These public charter schools are offering parents the kinds of schools they want for their children and kids the education they deserve. President Obama and Secretary Duncan get it. It's time for the rest of our party to figure it out."
Posted by Joe Williams on June 9, 2009 12:16 PM
June 1, 2009
Racing To The Top, Seriously
I live in a state (New York) that just assumes it is at the top of everything. But unless Education Secretary Arne Duncan includes some special criteria requiring sheer arrogance in the Race To The Top sweepstakes, it will be hard to see how we can show we are doing anything particularly special to respond to the president's call to get our act together on education reform.
Compare our "We're Freaking New York, So Fund Us" approach, to what we see in Colorado, where Gov. Bill Ritter actually appointed a Race To The Top Czar to make sure the state wins outright in the battle for the most reform-friendly state.
The drumbeat from Duncan and his team on this race has been hard to miss: Despite widespread criticism that they couldn't possibly be serious about having merits trump Congressional district politics,they seem... serious!
And people are picking up on that fact. There's suddenly a lot of exciting action out there around the country on this stuff:
-- In Illinois, both the House and Senate over the weekend responded to Duncan's criticism of the state's charter school laws by passing a major charter reform law. SB 612 goes to the Governor's office. The law doubles the charter cap, eliminates a geographic cap and sets up a 6 month process to design an independent authorizer for charters in Illinois.
-- In Rhode Island, State Education officials on Friday approved the first of an exciting new kind of charter school which would be operated by suburban mayors. Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee won support for the mayoral academy concept from the General Assembly in 2008, but had to wait for the state Department of Education to review his proposal in order to open the elementary school this fall in Cumberland. (Disclosure: I am on the board of the flagship school, which will be run by Democracy Builders, the CMO that runs Democracy Prep in Harlem.)
-- In Tennessee, after Duncan suggested to reporters that a recent move to kill charter school legislation by a bloc of Democrats in the Legislature could cost the state $100 million in Race To The Top funds, some electeds are now having second thoughts. Remarked House Democratic Caucus Leader Mike Turner in the Tennessean: "No one has said a word to me about this... Obama ought to call us and tell us this stuff. If he would have called us and told us this, we might have had a different outlook."
And I am hearing that at least one state is on the verge of proposing some sensible "smart cap" legislation.
The race is on.
Posted by Joe Williams on June 1, 2009 6:07 AM
