Edu Commentary

Via the Education Wonks (not to be confused with the site you’re now perusing) a great actor has died. John Vernon, better known as Dean Wormer in the classic education policy movie Animal House, died last week of complications from heart surgery. Why is he great? Simple: Lasting impact. Apologies to E.D. Hirsch, but isn’t “double-secret probation” basically essential social capital now?

Edu Commentary could also cite other examples from the movie that have found their way into popular culture, including “more than two dozen reports of individual acts of perversion SO profound and disgusting that decorum prohibits listing them here” but will spare you…

This is a pretty cool idea.

You’re going to hear lots of howling about the President’s proposed education budget because it eliminates a slew of programs, and every one has an interest group(s) working on its behalf. Ignore most of the griping. Many of these programs have a dubious record of effectiveness, are more about symbolism than substance, or, in a few cases, are just plain silly. Besides, because most have political patrons they’re not really in jeopardy anyway. In fact, a few are perpetually on the cutting block regardless of whether it’s a Democratic or Republican presidency yet always skate through.

But some are very worthwhile. For instance, the Administration’s decision to eliminate the Gear-Up program by folding it into their high school reform plan is inexplicable. It’s particularly galling in the context of a budget that purportedly “Focuses Resources On Students Who Need Them the Most.” Parts of the Administration’s high school reform plan are meritorious, but it doesn’t make sense to collapse a broader program with a discrete intent, especially one that is now getting rolling, into this new initiative as they’re proposing to do. It couldn’t possibly be because it’s a Clinton-era program could it? Nah, they couldn’t be that petty…

Also, the decision to cut funding for the regional education labs shows that, at least on education, they’re more serious about shoehorning this budget into their deficit pledge than setting policy with it. Besides, shouldn’t they be thinking about ways to better engage the labs (which are admittedly of mixed quality) into No Child implementation?

Important Catalyst Chicago article about intradistrict school finance disparities there. Poor schools often get shortchanged. Not only an issue in Chicago but common in many urban districts.

There is a long running debate in education – particularly intense since the 1983 Nation At Risk report – about whether school quality has much to do with economic competitiveness. It’s a debate often characterized by stridency on both sides. For instance corporate leaders are often quick to castigate the quality of American schools during economic rough patches (remember the Japanese…) and rarely credit the schools when things are going well (remember the late 1990s…) though in reality the schools have not had a direct causal effect on either. On the other hand, too many self-anointed “defenders” of public schools latch onto the overheated rhetoric about competitiveness and the historical fallacies to argue there is no real problem here at all.

A terrific package of Education Week commentaries takes a look at this debate from the general perspective of little linkage (Gerald Bracey), lotta linkage (Eric Hanushek), and the times, they are a changing (Tony Carnavale).

For Edu Commentary’s money it’s this third essay that really nails today’s challenge. In practice, however, we face two challenges. The first is addressing the enormous, and race/income correlated inequities in resources, teacher quality, curriculum, and standards that exist today. The second is the question of increasing rigor overall.

Update: Jay Mathews weighs in.

Interesting article from the LAT, note the parental demand…there must be a message in there somewhere….no?

In particular, charter schools in LA are worth watching because of both their diversity and their growth. Some other cities, for instance Washington, DC and Dayton, OH have a significant percentage of students in charter schools but none the size of LAUSD.

Also, good overview of the state of the charter school movement at 14-years from Fordham’s Chester Finn in Gadfly.

Listening to the San Diego Education Association one would be excused for thinking that everyone in the school system, top to bottom, spent their days hating Alan Bersin and hoping he’d leave. Only problem with their narrative? It’s not exactly the case.

Important Ed Week interview held today with new Ed Secretary Spellings. Only on the web, some lines to read between…

Also, Joanne Jacobs, of the aptly named JoanneJacobs.com, writes to say that her web hosting outfit having some problem so her site may be down for a short time.

A reader writes:

Dear Edu Commentary: Please, more discussions about two bloggers arguing over Dewey and NCLB! What a rush! Next to being horsewhipped, I can’t think of anything more enjoyable! Thanks for killing a Friday buzz. — A disappointed reader



Hey, as Rummy says, you have to read the edublog you have, not the one you might want…

Worth watching this lawsuit in Georgia, it’s loaded with political and legal implications (though probably more of the former). Interestingly, it’s the old lefty strategy for finance equity pioneered by Jack Coons and others. Though this time Edu Commentary doesn’t expect the left-leaning groups to be lining up…