May 7th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Eduwonkette is the pseudonym for an as-yet unidentified education blogger who “takes a serious, if sometimes irreverent look at some of the most contentious education policy debates”. Eduwonkette posts on her eponymous blog at Education Week.
Over the past month, the education world has wrangled over the legacy of A Nation at Risk. Some love it. Others hate it. But all have argued that the report itself changed the face of American education. Writing in USA Today, Greg Toppo bestowed the report with human agency, “Twenty-five years ago this week, Americans awoke to a forceful little report that, depending on your point of view, either ruined public education or saved it.”
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May 6th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Leo Casey is Vice President of Academic High Schools in United Federation of Teachers in New York City. He is a frequent contributor to Edwize, the UFT Blog.
Criticizing A Nation At Risk is akin to spearing fish in a barrel. A document filled with extravagant hyperbole and vast unsupported generalizations, it is a target rich environment. There is little question that it has not aged well in the twenty-five years since it was published.
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May 6th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
When you ask Ohio Governor Ted Strickland who has left an indelible mark on who he is today, he’s quick to answer.
“The most important influences in my life have been teachers.”
“Teachers have incredible power and monumental influence. What’s most important…is that (teachers) need to be respected by the government.”
Governor Strickland has begun to speak publicly about his 6 point plan to improve the educational system in the state of Ohio. Officially unreleased at this point, his plan leaves no student—or teacher—behind. Strickland recently spoke exclusively to The CEA Voice about his 6 point plan.
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Posted in Middle Schools, Charter Schools, High Schools, Elementary Schools, Privatization, Labor, Vouchers, Ohio Education Association, Professional Development, Faculty Representatives, Columbus City Schools, NCLB, CEA | 2 Comments »
May 5th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Ed Muir is Assistant Director of Research for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and a frequent contributor to Let’s Get It Right, the AFT’s blog.
Fewer Talking Points, Less Accountability Run Amok, but Fewer Standards Too
What if a nation at Risk hadn’t happened? My first thought is that there would be hundreds fewer education reports and analyses and that the quality of much of the remaining writing would increase dramatically. That’s simply because A Nation at Risk, with its sweeping critique, has served as a crutch to education writers everywhere who need a good launch-point for their argument about schools, whatever that argument may be. And, sadly, in recent years, that’s what the report has become: simply a talking point rather than a call to meaningful or sustained action.
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April 30th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
The blogosphere has been awash recently with posts about the 25th anniversary of “A Nation At Risk” (ANAR). For the uninitiated, ANAR was a report received by President Ronald Reagan that American schools were lacking compared to other nation’s educational systems. Without reform, the report said, American students would be in a race– for the bottom.
The CEA Blog has been fortunate enough to acquire a slightly used Flux Capacitor and retrofit a union-made car for the trip of a lifetime. We asked a number of edu-bloggers the question “What would the American educational landscape be like today if A Nation At Risk were never released?” and loaned them the time machine. Their trips produced interesting posts; they’ll begin popping up next week.
Posted in High Schools, Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, Best Practices, High Stakes Testing, NCLB, CEA | No Comments »
April 28th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) recently released “Sizing Up State Standards 2008″, a report that analyzes the content standards written by individual states. Ohio’s K-12 Math and Science standards were ranked as “model” standards, but English and Social Studies weren’t ranked. You can read what AFT wrote about it on their blog, or download (PDF) the whole report.
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April 23rd, 2008 by Philip Hayes
The Southfield Board of Education in East Lansing, Michigan voted recently to place pink slips in the mailboxes of all of the district’s bus drivers, aides, maintenance workers and custodians– over 350 union jobs in total.
The district isn’t leaving those positions unfilled, however. In the same vote, they decided to privatize those jobs, outsourcing them to two for-profit school service companies.
The Michigan Education Association’s affiliate that represented the employees (SMESPA) presented a package to the board that would have cut costs to the district by approximately $18 million over the three years of the pact and created cost-sharing between the union and the district. Despite this extremely generous offer, the school board still voted 5-2 against the proposal.
For more information, click here.
Posted in Privatization, Labor, CEA | No Comments »
April 15th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Welcome to the Carnival of Education! This is the 167th carnival, and the second time The CEA Blog has hosted this wonderful collection of rantings, musings, quotations, ideas, thoughts, inspirations, realizations and the like. The 168th edition will be hosted by the Education Wonks; email them at owlshome {at} earthlink {dot} net, or use this handy submission form. Yes, for those of you wondering, the picture is a snapshot of our fair city. Without further ado, click on the jump below and…. let’s Carnival!
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Posted in Best Practices, Labor, Middle Schools, High Schools, Elementary Schools, NBCT, NCLB, National Education Association, Professional Development, Faculty Representatives, Columbus City Schools, High Stakes Testing, CEA | 6 Comments »
April 14th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Posted in Middle Schools, High Schools, Elementary Schools, Ron Clark, Best Practices, Columbus City Schools, Member Events, Professional Development, Faculty Representatives, CEA | No Comments »
April 10th, 2008 by Philip Hayes
Talking about working for economic and social justice is one thing, but the AFL-CIO has a proven track record. They have brought about substantive change that benefits working families. The AFL-CIO has been able to effect change at the local and the state level through grassroots activism and supporting progressive candidates.
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