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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with billionaire Bill Gates on Common Core education standards. (ABC News)
New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned on the promise of re-evaluating the practice of co-locating charter and noncharter schools in public school buildings. Critics of charter schools were encouraged; charter enthusiasts feared he would damage schools that served students well. (New York Times)
Mayor Bill de Blasio sailed into office on the winds of a well-run campaign. Then he kept on campaigning, pressing for one overriding goal: a vast expansion of full-day prekindergarten and after-school programs, financed by an income tax on wealthier New Yorkers. Though the tax has always had only a whisper of a prayer of coming true — it needed approval in the State Legislature, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Republicans were dead set against it — Mr. de Blasio pushed on anyway, giving no indication of having a Plan B. (New York Times)
North Carolina
Remember when North Carolina was considered a leader in the south and the nation in education? Remember when once-gubernatorial candidate Terry Sanford, with the support of the business community, ran — and won — on a platform that included an increase in the sales tax to improve schools? Remember when Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, again with the support of the business community, created the More at Four program to support preschool education for children from low-income families, a program that became a model for other states? (Real Clear Education)
Pennsylvania
Every additional star in a restaurant review on Yelp means a 9-percent increase in revenue. One in four Americans chooses a primary-care doctor from online ratings. At Carnegie Mellon University, where I’ve taught for over a decade, anyone can see my student evaluations online and these reviews determine whether I will remain a part-time professor there. Relying on ratings and evaluations of everything from restaurants and muffler shops to doctors and lawyers is now an accepted and essential part of our daily lives. (Tribune Live)
Pennsylvania’s process for approving charter schools pits would-be school reformers against traditional school districts eager to protect their money and enrollments — a situation that isn’t likely to change soon, advocates on both sides say. (Tribune Live)