Charter performance improving, but still varied
Since Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released a report on charter schools in 2009 that prompted questions about how well these schools were serving students, the sector has continued to grow. In the past four years, national charter school enrollment has increased by 80 percent to 2.3 million students. CREDO’s latest comprehensive report checks […]
School districts grapple with looming fiscal crisis
For decades, public workers, including teachers, have been promised pensions and health care benefits when they retire. As more baby boomers do so, states are starting to pay out – and coming to grips with the fact that they’ve negotiated themselves into a fiscal crisis. A new report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a […]
Teacher job satisfaction at 25-year low
Job satisfaction among public school principals and teachers has decreased in the past five years, with teacher satisfaction reaching its lowest levels in 25 years, according to survey results released Thursday. Only 39 percent of teachers reported being very satisfied in their job, and more than half said they felt under “great stress” several days […]
School districts prepare for fiscal cliff cuts
School districts around the country are worrying over stalled negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff” at the end of the month, which could result in the loss of more than 8 percent of their federal funding. Education advocates and lobbyists, including for the two national teachers unions, are clamoring for a deal – specifically one […]
When the safety of school is attacked
Schools are supposed to be sanctuaries. That refrain has been echoing around the country following Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman shot his way into the building and murdered 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. “I live between the Sandy Hook Elementary School and […]
Ed in the Election: Education became an unexpected star in the campaign
Education may not have topped the average voter’s priority list this year, but that didn’t stop the presidential candidates from making it a focus throughout the long campaign season. As most Americans cast their ballot Tuesday worrying mainly about the economy and the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, both candidates are no doubt hopeful that voters […]
Ed in the Election: Ballot initiatives could transform state education policies
As millions of Americans head to the polls Tuesday, most of the attention will be on the tight presidential race. But there are a number of ballot initiatives across the country that could significantly impact state education systems. Here’s a look at how voters could change policies on school choice, merit pay and more. Check […]
What does loving teachers have to do with foreign policy?
In the final moments of the third presidential debate, a somewhat exasperated moderator, Bob Schieffer, tried to regain control of a conversation that had veered wildly off topic. The original question was about China’s currency manipulation, but after some back-and-forth, Republican nominee Mitt Romney was once again explaining why, despite his love of teachers, he […]
With time running out, teachers push pro-Obama message in swing states
In the swing states of Ohio and Florida, it’s crunch time for teachers unions, which in the final days of the campaign are getting out the vote for President Obama in droves — even though they disapprove of some of his policies. “The arguments have been made,” American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten […]
On the Campaign Trail: Clinton touts Obama’s higher education policies in Ohio
Former President Bill Clinton promised Thursday that if President Obama wins reelection, “nobody will ever have to drop out [of college] again because of the debt problem.” He was speaking at a rally featuring Bruce Springsteen in Ohio, in a major get-out-the vote effort in the swing state by the Obama campaign. Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s surrogates […]
