Friedman 2014 Education Survey The 2014 version of The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice’s annual public survey is out, and I will be spending some time over the next few days going through some of the findings. But, let’s start right out by going for the gold – or at least the large amount of…
The Lexington Herald-Leader rightly calls for more openness in the University of Kentucky’s budget meetings. (They could also have added the need for more openness in the General Assembly’s budget process.) Budget negotiations — whether at the capitol or in a university board room often get complicated and messy, which is precisely the explanation that the university cites…
Earlier reported allegations of cheating on COMPASS tests at Louisville’s competitive magnet Male High School have now expanded with new allegations of improprieties, this time during ACT college entrance testing. The Courier-Journal reports in “Male principal David Mike reassigned in ACT inquiry” that former Male principal David Mike has been removed from his position at…
A new report on the quality of teacher preparation programs across the country has been released by the National Council on Teacher Quality. There is also a focused report just on Kentucky. The news isn’t so good. According to the Herald-Leader: “Among the 37 Kentucky programs that were fully evaluated, 10 elementary and 10 secondary…
Opponents of giving Kentucky parents control over where their children attend school claim such policies would result in a lack of accountability. Louisville Rep. Mary Lou Marzian fretted on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” in February that charter schools – which simply are innovative public schools chosen by parents rather than assigned by the system – “have…
There has been a big fight going on in New York City since the recent election of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is certainly not much of a charter school fan. Mayor de Blasio has tried to squeeze charters out of co-locations with traditional public schools in the same building and attempting to limit the…
Wants Common Core out, too Louisiana’s governor Bobby Jindal just issued an executive order taking his state out of the Common Core State Standards testing program known as the Partnership of Assessments for College and Career Readiness (PARCC). In his press conference announcing the order, Jindal also says he will push for his legislature to…
The sad story of school staff members stealing from students keeps expanding. We wrote several weeks ago about instances of school district personnel accused of arrogantly and unlawfully taking money from public school funds. In one case, a federal conviction resulted. Another case is currently under an indictment. Now, the Pioneer News reports in “Woman…
A new survey conducted for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal by Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies reveals some surprising information about how the nation thinks about its public school system in general and provides an interesting hint about what the people who do know about Common Core really think about it. Several things…
We are hearing a lot from some Kentucky educators about how great the Common Core State Standards are. That includes this recent piece, “Educators say Kentucky is on the right track with Common Core standards,” by Herald-Leader intern reporter Matt Young. His article ran a few days ago on June 15, 2014 in the Herald-Leader…