More charter schools are poised to open in the City of Rochester. The Rochester school board held a public hearing recently for Exploration Elementary Charter School for Science and Technology. And the State Education Department is reviewing an application for Rochester Charter School for Applied Technology. Locations for both haven’t been selected yet. Exploration Elementary […]
education reform
Posted inNews & Opinion
Anti-testing movement is only the beginning
New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is trying to clarify her position on testing. After some tough words directed at the anti-testing movement a few weeks ago, Elia now says that parents can choose not to have their children tested, but that she hopes to persuade them otherwise. The softer tone is certainly better […]
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Buffalo stews over mayoral control
It was one of the fiercest political debates Rochester has had in recent years. In 2009, the city was embroiled in a divisive wrangle over whether to dissolve the Rochester Board of Education and hand governance of city schools over to then mayor Bob Duffy. The issue sparked protests outside City Hall, led to a […]
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Brizard headed to Buffalo?
Former Rochester schools Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard is a finalist in the Buffalo school board’s search for a new superintendent.
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Cuomo digs in on education reform
Governor Andrew Cuomo continues his offensive on the state’s education system. Two days ago, Jim Malatras, director of state operations, sent a letter to Elizabeth Berlin, acting state commissioner of education. The letter requests a statewide investigation into teacher evaluations, with a particular focus on the school districts in Long Island where the accuracy of […]
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Profits or passing grades?
One of the most common complaints that many teachers and principals make against education reformers is what they commonly refer to as the privatization of public education. It’s a phrase that can take on many different meanings and is often dismissed as little more than a conspiracy theory. But federal and state governments spend billions […]
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New teachers face a hostile environment
Out of the roughly 150 people who attended a community forum last night called “Why Would Anybody Want to be a Teacher Today?” more than half were students from area colleges preparing to enter the tumultuous world of public education. The forum was put on by Writers & Books and partners. The data on new […]
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Supposed reform of Newark’s schools is a cautionary tale
A friend brought New Yorker reporter Dale Russakoff’s article “Schooled” to my attention. Newark, New Jersey’s school reform efforts involving Governor Chris Christie, Senator Cory Booker, and social media’s boy-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is a must read. Russakoff chronicles Booker’s rise from a sharp, post-civil-rights-era law scholar and community activist to Democratic mayor of Newark, and eventually to a […]
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Can parents save the schools?
Few people not directly employed by the Rochester school district are as nimble at navigating local policies, labor agreements, and state education law as Carrie Remis. In 2006, Remis co-founded the Rochester Fund for Educational Accountability, an all-volunteer organization that provided technical assistance and training to parent groups on federal education law (the group has […]
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Senator Flanagan’s early Christmas gift to testing critics
Many parents, teachers, and education advocates may be sighing with relief today. The reason? At least some of their concerns about high-stakes testing, implementation of the more rigorous Common Core curriculum, and teacher evaluations have been heard by New York State Senator John Flanagan. After five hearings, Flanagan issued a report yesterday that might cause […]
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Ravitch on education’s reign of error
It’s a gross understatement to say that Diane Ravitch is a lightning rod for politicians, teachers, and education reformers. Once a marshal of former President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind education law, she later rejected NCLB and the reform model it energized, saying it was completely wrong. Charter school and education reform advocates […]
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What did Rhee know about cheating in DC schools?
This is a corrected version:Nearly 200 teachers in roughly 70 schools appear to have been involved in another widespread city school district cheating scandal. This time, however, the “wrong to right” erasures may have happened during the tenure of the grande dame of education reform: Michelle Rhee, founder of Students First. In a report called […]
