Writing in The New Yorker last month, Dale Russakoff had this to say about today’s education “reformers,” personified (in this case) by New Jersey governor Chris Christie and then-mayor of Newark Cory Booker (who is now, of course, one of the state’s U.S. senators): Decades of research have shown that experiences at home and in neighborhoods…
I have no direct knowledge of how Starbucks treats its employees. But, if the bar is that Starbucks treats its employees better than WalMart treats its employees, it does not seem to be a very high bar. I think that even I could leap over it—if not like a gazelle then like a spry hippopotamus.…
Full disclosure, up front: I drink Starbucks every day, Sumatra if you must know, but I brew it at home because I like the affordability factor this option provides me. I have always liked the way Starbucks goes the extra mile when it comes to its employees, especially when I consider the working environment it…
Thus far, the most vocal and sustained criticism of the Common Core Standards being relentlessly promoted by Arne Duncan and the other “reformers” in the Department of Education has come from Progressives—that is, President Obama’s own supporters. Of course, the objection is that the administration has wholly and enthusiastically embraced what was a Republican idea—for…
This is an acknowledgment from a doctoral dissertation in the University Microforms International database: If I had a dime for every time my wife threatened to divorce me during the past three years, I would be wealthy and not have to take a postdoctoral position which will only make me a little less poor and…
President Obama delivered the following remarks at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., commencement ceremony on May 28, 2014. Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, General Caslen, for that introduction. General Trainor, General Clarke, faculty and staff at West…
John Leo at Minding the Campus discusses the issue of discriminatory policies by registered student organizations and claims, “religious groups should have absolute freedom in the process of picking their leaders.” Actually, he doesn’t really believe that, because that’s what I believe. The whole argument over religious student groups is the demand by some that…
In an “Other Views” column in the Chicago Sun Times a couple of weeks ago, Adam Heenan wrote: Most of my lessons prioritize what is relevant to the content and valuable to my students. But this is changing across the country, with pressure either to align current curricula to the standards, or to design different activities that…
On Monday, Starbucks announced that it had agreed to partner with Arizona State University to help its employees earn an online college degree. Working with ASU, Starbucks will make the new college degree program available to 135,000 employees who work at least 20 hours a week. Remarkably, employees will have a wide choice in…
The Plaintiffs’ Teachers Were Not Actually “Grossly Ineffective” This is excerpted from David B. Cohen’s post on Diane Ravitch’s Blog, and the bulk of the excerpt is a passage from a post-trial brief: “I was curious to learn whether the plaintiffs in the Vergara trial actually had ‘grossly ineffective teachers.’ The answer is ‘no, they…