GOP spin on NYC schools

Posted by helen at 10:04 AM

John McCain (or his ghostwriter) spun an impressively bold segue from public-school reform to private-school vouchers in this editorial in the Daily News. Touting the Mayor and the Chancellor, along with Rev. Al Sharpton, as visionary ed reformers, McCain cites their efforts as evidence of school failure -- anyone else miss the logic here? -- and promises private- and religious-school vouchers as his vision of public school reform.

Read Sharpton's praise for McCain here, if you're curious.

Even with the spin, the editorial asks a big, legitimate question: Sharpton, Klein et al are at the forefront of the Education Equality Project, which defines education as an essential civil right for all Americans. Barack Obama, whose daughters attend private school, hasn't yet weighed in. As the AFT-endorsed candidate, we'd welcome his views.

Education Secretary Spellings to pow-wow with...Jon Stewart

Posted by helen at 12:05 PM

With the real news slowing to a winter-molasses trickle, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings takes time out of her busy schedule to appear today on Jon Stewart's Daily Show. We wonder when New York's own doubles act, Chancellor Joel Klein and Rev. Al Sharpton, will take their Education Equality Hour from web radio to the tv studio.

For staunch statisticians (and civic-minded parents), Eduwonkette digs deep into math "progress" today -- with ELA on deck for tomorrow. Short take: Gaps in race-based scores, which we asked about here and here, could persist for decades, long after Klein, Sharpton, Spellings et al have folded their big tents and decamped from education leadership.

Big Picture: Two New Initiatives

Posted by helen at 8:12 AM

This week marks the launch of two new initiatives that share strikingly similar aims -- improving school outcomes for high-need urban kids.

The first report, produced by a superstar task force at the Economic Policy Institute, aims to address shortfalls of NCLB's test-driven strictures by turning attention to the whole child, especially the socioeconomically challenged. Schools have long stood in loco parentis, despite mixed feelings and lean resources; this project endorses stronger engagement and a bigger investment in children's development (social, emotional, academic, everything) from the earliest years. It's a stance that's hard to argue, and reminds some of Geoffrey Canada's groundbreaking Harlem Childrens Zone.

The second, headed by the unlikely alliance of Chancellor Joel Klein and Brooklyn's own Rev. Al Sharpton, the Educational Equality Project, was announced yesterday in Washington, DC. (A roster of notable participants include Newark mayor Cory Booker and DC Schools Chief Michelle Rhee.)

This effort reframes the guaranteed right to public education as the pressing civil rights issue of the 21st century -- a point made even sharper in the context of vastly different graduation rates for urban students of color, compared with white and Asian peers: Although grad-rate gaps are narrowing slightly, about half of all African-American and Hispanic high school boys in New York City won't graduate.

The end of the school year is always a time for taking stock and planning for the future. Executing those plans, and achieving lofty goals dearly held, is the challenge that awaits.