Joe Williams' Blog
March 11, 2009
DFER Response To President Obama's Call To Action
In response to President Barack Obama's speech at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in which he gave his first major address on education policy, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) championed the plan and the President's willingness to make good on the promises he made while campaigning. DFER was an early supporter of President Obama and his Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, because of their commitment to innovative education reform ideas and experience implementing change.
"During the long fight for the presidency Barack Obama made clear that education will be a central focus of his administration," said Joe Williams, executive director of DFER. "He promised to increase funding for charter schools and create a system for rewarding excellent teachers and today he demonstrated that he will fulfill those promises as president."
DFER supports Democratic candidates committed to progressive ideas like charter schools; adjustments in teacher licensing requirements; changes to teacher compensation to reward our best educators; and a renewed focus on early childhood education (in particular, linking early childhood education with charter schools, which usually do not include Pre-K).
"In spite of decades of talk about education reform, the system remains broken," Williams continued. "The Obama administration, with Arne Duncan at the head of the Department of Education, is leading the charge in breaking existing ideological and political gridlock to promote new, innovative and experimental ideas in education."
Posted by Joe Williams on March 11, 2009 7:40 AM
Fast Break In Sacramento
Sorry for the delay in posting this, but special DFER kudos to freshman Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson for taking such a strong first step toward the hoop and making education a top priority in his new administration.
Johnson hosted a fantastic education summit at the Sacramento Museum on Monday with other friends like NYC Chancellor Joel Klein, DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee, former Milwaukee Superintendent Howard Fuller, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and many others.
The summit focused on three areas: accountability for results, teacher quality, and parent choice. On the latter point, Booker inspired the sold-out crowd "not to be loyal to choices, but to excellence." (Sacramento Bee editorial is here.)
Posted by Joe Williams on March 11, 2009 6:57 AM
March 5, 2009
Colorado First State To Recognize That 'Race To The Top' Is, Um, Actually A Race
Or, what if you decided to host a party, but Colorado was the only state that showed up...
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter this week appointed Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien to serve as his hand-picked "Race To The Top" czar, to make sure the state is demonstrating its commitment to meaningful refom so it can qualify for boatloads of innovation funding for schools contained in the recently adopted stimulus festivus.
O'Brien, a member of the DFER-Colorado steering committee, is the perfect person for the job, and you'd have to say that Colorado is poised to be one of Education Sectetary Arne Duncan's top reform-minded posterchildren at this point. (In my Stimulus tournament bracket I have Colorado going all the way to the Final Four.)
Ritter's press release is after the jump. Look for DFER at the big Colorado Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Denver on Saturday night. And even though the whole idea of governors doing anything interesting with education is like, so 1990's, it will be interesting to see if anyone else follows Ritter's lead here.
Posted by Joe Williams on March 5, 2009 12:09 PM
March 2, 2009
By (Almost) Any Means Necessary?
Somehow it doesn't sound as sexy when you throw the "Almost" in there, but it is something that Democrats are having to grapple with right now in a few locations.
Writing in the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, Democratic State Sen. Robert Ford over the weekend explains (along with Rep. Eric Bedington) why he is supporting an Opportunity Tax credit and scholarships in South Carolina for kids to escape failing schools:
We can no longer permit public policy in this state to be dictated by a "one size fits all" education system. We need to address the fact that all children are individuals and may need different ways and techniques to reach their full potential. The good Lord makes us all different, let us embrace that fact and allow parents the options to make sure their children have access to the educational system that best fits their individual needs.
In other words, our goal must be to advance academic achievement by any means necessary, both inside and outside of the current public system. That means empowering parents to find the right school or methods, whether they be public or private schools.
Meanwhile, Virginia's Blue Commonwealth blog is questioning what he calls the "troubling" dogma within the Democratic party which opposes vouchers. His post plays off reports that Democrats in Congress are essentially moving to cut the tiny pilot program which allows low-income DC residents to attend private schools.
The Washington Post, not exactly a propaganda arm of the right, editorializes this morning that it doesn't quite believe Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wisconsin) and other Dems in the House when they say they want to help poor children in the District of Columbia by sending them back to failing DC public schools. The paper writes:
But the debate unfolding on Capitol Hill isn't about facts. It's about politics and the stranglehold the teachers unions have on the Democratic Party. Why else has so much time and effort gone into trying to kill off what, in the grand scheme of government spending, is a tiny program? Why wouldn't Congress want to get the results of a carefully calibrated scientific study before pulling the plug on a program that has proved to be enormously popular? Could the real fear be that school vouchers might actually be shown to be effective in leveling the academic playing field?
DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee gives Sam Dillon her perspective in the NY Times:
“Part of my job is to make sure that all kids get a great education, and it doesn’t matter whether that’s in charter, parochial or public schools,” Ms. Rhee said. “I don’t think vouchers are going to solve all the ills of public education, but parents who are zoned to schools that are failing kids should have options to do better by their kids.”
This whole move by Congress seems kind of silly. Do the beltway Dems really want to be loved by the teachers unions so much they are willing to piss on the futures of a few hundred kids whose families finally seem to be getting something of value from The Man?
Posted by Joe Williams on March 2, 2009 11:42 AM
February 26, 2009
Biden On Schools: "We Expect A Hell Of A Lot More"
The indispensable Politics K-12 blog at EdWeek did its best to crash yesterday's meeting between Education Secretary Arne Duncan and state education chiefs. They weren't allowed in for the whole thing, but they caught enough to pinpoint where the tension is likely to be in the attempts to make sure that the nation doesn't waste this historic opportunity (via the stimulus festivus) to both create new jobs and push/require meaningful reforms.
A few snippits:
"We're going to have a much higher bar than other folks [receiving stimulus money]," Duncan told the chiefs. "We need to create jobs, and we need to get dramatically better."
Biden pledged the administration's continued support-so long as all of this money translates into results.
"This is going to be an education administration," Biden said. "But we want to begin to change the script, demand more of everyone. We expect a hell of a lot more."
Reporter Michelle McNeil then gets to the heart of the matter, asking Duncan how the feds would demand more, and noted that his answer included the word "ask." (Question: Were states and districts politely "asking" for this bailout, or "demanding" it?)
We have some thoughts on how the bar should be raised by the federal government at this historic time in our latest memo on the stimulus festivus.
Posted by Joe Williams on February 26, 2009 8:13 AM
February 21, 2009
Stimulus House Parties: Nothing New
The Manhattan Institute's Pete Peterson offers a snarky view of recent Stimulus House Parties which swept the nation's social and political scene.
But these Stimulus House Parties are nothing new. As a kid growing up in the suburbs in the 1970's, our parents had some LEGENDARY stimulus house parties. Some of my best friends were actually conceived at stimulus house parties.
So the Stimulus Festivus is totally retro.
Make stimulus, not war.
Posted by Joe Williams on February 21, 2009 8:29 AM
February 19, 2009
Racing To The Top: Rhode Island Gets Interesting...
The Providence Journal reports this morning that Rhode Island Education Commissioner Peter McWalters has informed Providence Superintendent Tom Brady that city schools may no longer allow seniority "bumping" to push good teachers out of bad schools.
And before anyone can say, "But wait, what about the teachers contract?" McWalters is making clear those kinds of excuses aint gonna fly.
“I’m saying that seniority is not an appropriate way to manage the assignment of teachers based on what we know in the 21st century,” he said. “It’s no longer about teacher preferences. It’s about whether the teacher is the best match for that particular student.”
Wow.
Posted by Joe Williams on February 19, 2009 1:12 PM
