On February 28, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved (in a 23-16) vote GOP-backed legislation reauthorizing portions of ESEA. Two bills, introduced by Rep. John Kline (R) of Minnesota, scale back the role of the federal government in education and give states more wiggle room in designing K-12 Read more
The US Department of Education requested its FY2013 budget earlier this month; the key themes for funding are increasing college affordability/quality, “raising up” the teaching profession, aligning job training with workforce demands, and continuing reform. The request includes proposed funding levels for federal programs and agencies for the next ten Read more
A new report from Education First and Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) details how state advocacy groups are working with state policymakers to advance education reforms. To compile the report, PIE and Education First worked closely with Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas Read more
On February 9, the Department of Education announced that ten states received waivers from some of the stringent requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee will now have the opportunity to use alternative methods to improving student Read more
Jack Jennings, founder, president, and CEO of the Center on Education Policy (CEP), stepped down from his roles at the organization on January 31. As part of his retirement, he is releasing two publications. One is the history of the CEP, the other contains some final words of advice on Read more
To serve the dual purpose of encouraging students to achieve more, and save money in education budgets, states are beginning to push students to graduate early from high school through “ramped up” curricula and college scholarship programs. It is anticipated that such policies, which emphasize proficiency rather than seat time, Read more
See below for two upcoming opportunities: “Education 2012: What the Election Year Will Mean for Education Policy” Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Time: 9:00-11:00am EST* *This event can be attended in-person for those in the Washington, DC area at the American Enterprise Institute, but it will also be livestreamed for Read more
It’s that time of year again, when the President makes his State of the Union address to Congress. Rather than watching in silence this year, shake things up by playing State of the Union Bingo, brought to you by the Alliance for Excellent Education! We don’t know yet whether President Read more
Time Magazine has named its picks for the top education activists to watch in 2012. So who are some of these potential movers and shakers (in no particular order)? 1. Catharine Bellinger and Alexis Morin: Two students who founded Students for Education Reform (SFER) in 2009, with the goal of Read more
In a recent article for The Atlantic, Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, reflects on wages and education. Using examples like Japan, Finland, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Tucker claims that until the U.S. finds a way “to educate our future work force to the Read more
The final budget for the Department of Education was finalized late last month, which will take the agency through September 30, 2012. Overall, the Department’s funding was cut by about $153 million over last fiscal year (total funding $71.3 billion), but President Obama was able to fend off the complete Read more
The National Education Association’s (NEA) president, Dennis Van Roekel, recently announced a new action agenda for the nation’s largest teachers union. The plan aims to further the union’s goals of transforming the teaching profession and accelerating student learning, and utilizes proven best practices from teachers across the country. The three Read more
A recent Huffington Post article describes the new education lobby: ambitious, expansive, and mainly created by hedge fund managers and former government officials. In some ways, it is modeled on large, single-issue lobbying organizations like the NRA and AARP. The newer lobbying groups are focusing on teacher evaluations using student Read more
Last month, Jack Jennings of the Center on Education Policy wrote an article refuting the contentious AEI paper claiming that public school teachers are overcompensated and under-achieving (see a summary of this study here). Jennings contrasts the methodology of the AEI study with a study from an impartial group, the Read more
The Center for American Progress has released two new reports that attempt to predict the outcomes of traditional defined-benefit pensions for teachers vs. cash-balance plans. Redefining Teacher Pensions: Strategically Defined Benefits for New Teachers and Fiscal Sustainability for All, by Raegan Miller, argues that since teachers are the single most Read more
In this week’s School of Thought blog, Andrew Rotherham discusses the disparities in public education across the country. If the goal of the Occupy movement is to improve social mobility, then there is “no better example of how the system is rigged against millions of Americans than the education our Read more