Inky Corbett names huge cast to transition panels/WSJ Ravitch OP-ED/Edweek Ravitch on Gates/Indiana Gazette Dropout Factories on the Decline

Posted on Wed, Dec. 1, 2010

Corbett names huge cast to transition panels

By Angela Couloumbis

Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - Political donors and supporters. CEOs and priests. Republican bigwigs, tea partyers, even a sprinkling of Democrats.

In choosing the group that will advise him on education, Corbett included several staunch charter school advocates. They include Vahan Gureghian, a Gladwyne lawyer who operates the state's largest charter school, Chester Community Charter School in Chester.

Gureghian contributed $250,000 to Corbett's campaign and donated heavily to other Republican campaign funds as well, state records show. Gureghian was also named to cochair Corbett's working group on transportation and infrastructure.

Also on Corbett's education committee: State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, the Philadelphia Democrat who is one of the most vocal proponents in the legislature for charter schools and school choice, and David Pollard and Joel Greenberg, both with Susquehanna International Group.

Susquehanna International's executives - Greenberg among them - gave an astonishing $5 million to Williams' unsuccessful campaign for governor in this year's primary because they liked his stance on school choice, particularly his support for the use of publicly funded vouchers to enable more families to pay for private education.

"When I look at the list of people he's chosen for education, no one jumps out who is an advocate for traditional K-12 education," said Lawrence A. Feinberg, a Haverford Township school board member and cochair of the Keystone State Education Coalition, which advocates for public education.Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20101201_Corbett_names_huge_cast_to_transition_panels.html#ixzz16rKtcHui

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OPINION

NOVEMBER 28, 2010, 7:23 P.M. ET

The GOP's Education Dilemma

By DIANE RAVITCH

Now that Republicans have regained control of the House of Representatives, they must take a stand in the battle for control of American education. The issue today is between those who want to federalize education policy and those who want to maintain state and local control of the public schools.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703326204575617062963162080.html

Education Week Bridging Differences Blog

Bill Gates Listens to the Wrong People

By Diane Ravitch on November 30, 2010 8:58 AM

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2010/11/bill_gates_listens_to_the_wron_1.html

The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, PA)

Posted Tuesday, November 30^th, 2010

Report: 'Dropout factories' on decline in U.S.

ATLANTA (AP)  The number of so-called ``dropout factory'' high schools in the United States has declined since 2002, translating into at least 100,000 more students getting a diploma, a new report shows.

http://www.indianagazette.com/articles/2010/11/30/news/doc4cf5093701215318302253.txt