EDUCATION - Blogs - Independence Institute

Dougco School Board Challenges Union Leaders, May Seek Voters’ Input 0
- August 23, 2012
Believe it or not, it’s been a whole three days since I last shared some thoughts on the exciting goings-on in Colorado’s third-largest school district. An arbitrator ruled that Douglas County leaders couldn’t get back all the tax-funded union leave dollars because they didn’t get a change to the collective bargaining agreement in writing.
So Tuesday […]
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New PDK/Gallup Public Education Survey Results More Helpful in Context 0
- August 22, 2012
Update, 8/22: Intercepts blogger Mike Antonucci makes some incisive observations about the need for better-informed voters while asserting that the PDK/Gallup results are not that significant, noting he “wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot poll.”
It’s late August and back-to-school season, which means it’s once again time for the new Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) / Gallup […]
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Competing with Vouchers, Indiana Public Schools Step Up Marketing Efforts 0
- August 21, 2012
As I told you a couple months ago, the nation’s largest voucher program — enacted by Indiana in 2011 — is growing quickly in both popularity and promise.
In the Hoosier State, more than 8,000 students from low- and middle-income families are taking advantage of the private option provided by the new choice scholarships. And […]
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Accountability, Please? Arbitrator Says Dougco Union Can Keep Tax Funds 0
- August 20, 2012
Ed News Colorado reports today regarding a dispute over publicly-funded teacher union employees, that an arbitrator has ruled in favor of the Douglas County Federation of Teachers (DCFT) and against the taxpayers. At issue is $118,500 school district officials say the union president agreed to pay rather than be accountable for the use of tax-funded […]
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Washington Post Calls for Serious Changes to Teacher Pay and Tenure 0
- August 17, 2012
Real educator compensation reform has grown well beyond being a conservative or liberal issue. We continue to learn more and more about the costs and effects of unproductive pay systems. A couple weeks ago I brought your attention to a possible breakthrough New Teacher Project report called The Irreplaceables — showing how high-performing teachers not […]
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Let’s Respect and Empower Parents with Choices, Not Look Down on Them 0
- August 16, 2012
From the files of “Did she really say that?” comes a post written a few days ago by Diane Ravitch, under the heading: “Do parents always know what is best?” Ravitch extensively quotes a Louisiana teacher, who hardly wins friends and influences people with this opener:
I am tired of this attitude about parents knowing […]
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