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Commentary
An interesting game is being played by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), the major sponsor of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and by others who claim that ESSA both reduces federal control and restores some state and local control. ESSA does allow states some leeway on how they
Commentary
Shrewd philanthropists and investors have helped to portray "school choice" in the form of publicly-funded charter schools as the kind of education reform that will finally satisfy the goal, starting with the authorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, of increasing the academic performance
Commentary
Not much smarter than the dumbest students they will teach, it seems. But the answer really depends on the "research" we read. If this National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) publication is to be accorded the status of research, we may accept one of its many
Commentary
Amazingly, the Common Core project was sold to state boards and school administrators as "state-led." (See, for example, here.) Even so, it was never designed to be accountable to the states that presumably promoted it despite the well-known fact that the federal government pays for only about 8
Commentary
When the concept of accountability burst upon education policymaking in the latter half of the 20th century, it sounded like a good idea. It went something like this: If the government gives the public schools money, it should be able to expect something in return showing that the public schools
Commentary
Many parents have been tweeting to President Donald Trump to withdraw his support for charter school champion Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education and to propose a different kind of nominee for the U.S. Department of Education. The problem for these parents is not that both DeVos and the
Commentary
Who are the most powerful influences on students' academic achievement? Teachers? School administrators? D.C. Beltway policy wonks? Foundation officials? Civil rights organizations? Most people with common sense would point to children's parents. Whether or not they grew up in a family (i.e., not in an
Commentary
Many of the parents who have been active in combating Common Core and its many tentacles in the past six years are expressing amazement at the appointment of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. One such parent, Jenni White, Education Director of Reclaim Oklahoma Parent Empowerment (ROPE), posted a long