What We Know
2,300 L.A. teachers face elimination due to budget cuts. Supt. Ramon C. Cortines says he’s still tying to find alternatives. …. Two Miami-Dade moms have begun a hunger strike to protest budget cuts …. Florida State’s Steven I. Pfeiffer says gifted children require just as much attention and educational resources to thrive in school as do other special needs students….Be Nice, Bargain Collectively? Everyone has weighed in on KIPP by now except the one person I really want to hear from: Jay Mathews.
What We Want to Find Out
Was Michelle Rhee serious? “People now are beginning to cast me as the heartless, you know, fire everybody, get rid of everybody,” she tells PBS’s John Merrow. “That is not, in and of itself, the answer, in isolation. But it’s a good start.” …. When was the last time you “accidentally picked up a loaded gun” along with the stuff you take to school? If you dropped it in the parking lot would you still expect to keep your job like one Florida 3rd grade teacher? …. How long before Matthew Tabor has to change the name of his blog? Campaign K-12, the great Edweek blog by Michele McNeil and Alyson Klein is changing its name to Politics K-12.
What We Learned
A British Parliamentarian says dyslexia is a “cruel fiction” cooked up to hide poor reading…. A St. Louis school thinks it’s important to teach black history all year long. That’s why they sent home a flier titled “Why I Hate Black History Month.” Oops…. San Francisco’s school board is thinking of pulling soda machines from teacher’s lounges to “set a good example” for the kids. Joanne Jacobs says “buzz off.”
How We Can Learn More
You missed the Arne Duncan confirmation hearing because you were teaching? C-SPAN has the video here (HT: Eduwonk)…This week’s Carnival of Education is up at the Education Examiner.
