posted on
Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis:
If you want to understand why supporters of the Common Core are frustrated—OK, exasperated—by some of our opponents’ seemingly unlimited willingness to engage in dishonest debate, consider this latest episode. (Thomas B. Fordham Institute Weekly Gadfly)
On February 6, 2014, I posted my first of three installments regarding the state of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in statehouses nationwide– and even in the US Senate. Reaction to CCSS includes the Huckabee-promoted “rebranding” of the CCSS “product” as well as CCSS investigation, testing delay, and prohibition/voiding. Quite the spectrum of reaction. (Mercedes Schneider’s EduBlog)
We cannot improve education without ”more demanding parents,” President Obama said in his State of the Union address. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently mused that he “wished our biggest challenge” was “too many parents demanding excellent schools.” The authors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld say some parents are more focused on building self-esteem than demanding excellence. (New York Times)
We have all heard Common Core bashing. Statements like the Common Core will “undermine student individuality, teacher autonomy, and mark a dangerous takeover of local control.” Unlike many of the Core-bashing voices, I am a classroom teacher with actual experience teaching with Common Core, and I beg to differ. (Education Week)
New Jersey
State Senate President discusses school funding, state takeovers, and vouchers. (NJ Spotlight)
New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio, after climbing to the top of New York City’s political world by assailing the gap between rich and poor, is now seeking to revive the populist zeal of his mayoral bid for a new campaign: persuading state lawmakers to back a tax increase to pay for prekindergarten. (New York Times)
North Carolina
North Carolina’s teacher pipeline is leaking at both ends. Public school teachers are leaving in bigger numbers, while fewer people are pursuing education degrees at the state’s universities. (News and Observer)