RockTheCapitol: Is School Choice the right formula for Pennsylvania/Taking Note Blog: When the Tea Party Actually Governs/Jay Matthews: Who needs school boards?/thenotebook:YUC report says zero tolerance a failure

RockTheCapitol.com

Posted by By Jan Chaplick at 14 January, at 10:28 AM

Is School Choice the right formula for Pennsylvania

School choice – You either love it or hate it; there seems no middle ground. The same is true for a new school choice plan proposed by Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, (R- Dauphin and York), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D-Philadelphia).

Taking Note, a Century Foundation Group Blog, January 12, 2011

When the Tea Party Actually Governs

by Richard Kahlenberg

The tea party has been very effective in stirring up anger about government programs, but what happens when their adherents actually gain power and begin to govern?  As the Washington Post’s Stephanie McCrummen notes in a front page story this morning, tea party supporters are now running the schools in Wake County (Raleigh), North Carolina.  The result: a long-standing and highly touted school integration program is starting to be rolled back, with likely disastrous results for the children in Wake County.

http://takingnote.tcf.org/2011/01/when-the-tea-party-actually-governs.html

Who needs school boards?

By Jay Matthews, Washington Post January 16, 2011

The Washington region has many school districts. Each has a school board, more or less. (The District's board is going through a neutered phase.) Each board has many members. Each member is being reminded this month, as meetings resume after the holidays, that his job is to endure boredom and verbal blows from the public.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/16/AR2011011603606.html?hpid=sec-education

 

More info on the book by Gene Maeroff noted in Jay Matthews’ blog posting above

Schools Boards in America: A Flawed Exercise in Democracy

http://www.genemaeroff.com/

 

thenotebook, January 13^th,2011

YUC report says zero tolerance a failure

by Dale Mezzacappa on Jan 13 2011

The School District’s zero-tolerance discipline policy does not make school safer, creates a prison-like culture,  costs money - and it keeps students “one minor mistake away from having their life turned upside down,”  according to a new report.