Monthly Archives: October 2008

Eddie is watching Colorado, but as you know, sometimes I watch bigger events, too. Take for example last night’s vice presidential debate. I have to say from the perspective of reforming schools and helping kids, neither candidate’s answer was very encouraging. First, Sarah Palin: …I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving…. Okay, but how would you help parents with more choices and opportunities? More accountability for schools? Education credit in American has been in some sense in some of our states just accepted to be a little bit lax and we have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It’s not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching…. Greg Forster is down on Sarah Palin’s education reform remarks, and her record. Then there was Joe Biden: …I hope we’ll get back to education because I don’t know any government program that John is supporting, not early education, more money for […]

There’s a great story in the Washington Post today about the positive impacts of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability on poor and needy students in and around our nation’s capital (H/T Joanne Jacobs): Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows. The achievement gap between economic groups, long a major frustration for educators, has narrowed in the region’s suburban schools since President Bush signed the law in 2002, according to Maryland and Virginia test data. In Montgomery County, for instance, students in poverty have earned better scores on Maryland’s reading test in each of the past five years, slicing in half the 28 percentage-point gulf that separated their pass rate from the county average. They also have made a major dent in the math gap. In Fairfax County, another suburban academic powerhouse, such students have slashed the achievement gaps on Virginia tests. Now, my friends in the Education Policy Center tell me that NCLB has some problems and flaws that need to be […]

I know there must be a lot of you out there who heard about the Education Policy Center‘s recent interesting event with Joe Williams from Democrats for Education Reform, but weren’t able to attend or listen online. Or maybe you did hear it, and you want to see more. In either case, you’re in luck. A special episode of Independent Thinking hosted by Jon Caldara is airing this Friday, October 3, at 7:30 PM (please note the scheduling change) and next Tuesday, October 7, at 5:00 PM, locally in the Denver area on KBDI Channel 12. Guests Joe Williams and our own Pam Benigno will discuss the movement to reform education in the Democratic Party and how it might play out here in Colorado. As I pointed out earlier, Colorado is the site of the first state chapter of Democrats for Education Reform, headed by retiring state senator Ron Tupa. Be sure to tune in either this Friday or next Tuesday to Independent Thinking!