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Here’s what educators, advocates, wonks and policymakers are talking about today:
News & analysis
36 college presidents make more than $1m
Robert Siegel speaks with Jack Stripling, a senior reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, about its analysis of executive compensation at private colleges. Among the findings, 36 presidents earned more than $1 million in 2009 — that’s three presidents more than the previous year. (NPR)
Obama meets with college leaders on rising costs
In a private meeting on Monday, President Obama and his secretary of education, Arne Duncan, conferred with a dozen college presidents, mostly from public institutions, and leaders of two nonprofit education organizations, about how to curb the rising cost of college and improve graduation rates. “It was an unusually interesting meeting, and not your usual list of college presidents,” said Jane Wellman, founder and director of the nonprofit Delta Project, which studies college costs. “These were all people who had led institutions that had done something about reducing spending or improving student learning. (New York Times)
Maryland: Hrabowski works to narrow the achievement gap
When Freeman Hrabowski became president of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1992, he made it his mission to close the achievement gap. UMBC now sends more African-African students to graduate school in science and technology than any other predominantly white university in the U.S. (NPR)
Minnesota: Union will help authorize charter schools
A charter authorizer, let’s be clear, is not the same thing as a charter-management organization. It does not act as management or get involved in the operations of such a school. Its main goal is to approve the new schools to open, to monitor them, and to shut them down if necessary if they fail to meet academic or financial benchmarks. Now, to answer the question I’m sure you have: No, the organization won’t be able to give preferential treatment to schools whose staff want to organize. But authorizing with good teacher-management relations appears to be a priority of the body, which is named the Minnesota Guild of Public Charter Schools. (Teacher Beat)
Opinion
Rick Hess and Linda Darling-Hammond: How to rescue education reform
When it comes to education policy, the two of us represent different schools of thought. One of us, Linda Darling-Hammond, is an education school professor who advised the Obama administration’s transition team; the other, Rick Hess, has been a critic of school districts and schools of education. We disagree on much, including big issues like merit pay for teachers and the best strategies for school choice. We agree, though, on what the federal government can do well. It should not micromanage schools, but should focus on the four functions it alone can perform. (New York Times)
Sara Mead: Obama’s education legacy for America’s youngest kids: Too little, too late
When Barack Obama ran for president, he claimed that improving early childhood education would be a hallmark of his education reform agenda. Unfortunately, his policies in office have not lived up to that promise. Over the past three years, other education issues—Race to the Top funds for K-12 schools, Pell grants for low-income college students, and K-12 reforms like Common Core standards, teacher evaluation, and charter schools—have all taken priority and defined the administration’s education agenda, with early childhood education falling by the wayside. (New Republic)