Public Schools and Charter Schools: Who’s Leaving Kids Behind?

By Alain Jehlen Many political leaders and foundations are pushing charter schools as the key to closing achievement gaps. The U.S. Congress is preparing to take up changes in the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law, and turning more schools over to charter operators may be a feature of the overhaul. So let’s take a [...]

Report Calls For More Experienced Teachers in Low-Performing Schools

By Mary Ellen Flannery When school boards don’t create incentives for experienced, highly qualified teachers to teach in their poorest schools, the kids in those schools are denied the same resources and opportunities to learn that middle-class kids get every day, says a newly report from Appleseed, a national network of public interest justice centers. [...]

Kids on the Move

By Mary Ellen Flannery About 13 percent of American children, most of them poor, Black, or learning English, will switch schools four or more times by eighth grade – a record of disruption that almost certainly limits their opportunities to achieve, according to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report, commissioned [...]

After-School Programs Prove Key to Closing Gaps

By Mary Ellen Flannery When the last bell rings at Van Buren Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the real “work” begins – that is, the after-school apprenticeships in fields as far-ranging as Mexican dance and community action. This is not school, plus two hours. It’s not the same books, desks and assignments but more [...]

Obama Promotes Education to Meet “Our Generation’s Sputnik Moment”

By Kevin Hart Saying that a changing economy and increased global competition had created a “Sputnik moment” for America, President Barack Obama encouraged increased investment in public education with a focus on career and college readiness in his State of the Union address this evening. While acknowledging a need for fiscal discipline and strategies aimed at [...]

Educators to Policymakers: Please Step Into My Classroom

By Kevin Hart During this evening’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama is expected to lay out a series of initiatives designed to make the United States more competitive, including a focus on improving public education. America’s educators are eager to contribute their ideas to the cause. As part of the “Please Step [...]

NEA President Shares Thoughts on NCLB With Washington Post

By Dennis Van Roekel first appeared in Valerie Strauss’ The Answer Sheet Nine years ago this week President George Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act that: a. Stunted the creativity and critical thinking skills of American public school children b. Prevented teachers from tapping into the full potential of their students [...]

Sidelining Play in School Shortchanges Children

By Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel, and Beth Taylor Excerpted from Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground, with permission of the publisher. Once upon a time, before education was mandated and became a public responsibility, children witnessed and participated closely in the daily life of home and community. In the process, [...]

NEA President, Education Secretary Talk School Reform

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today joined NEA President Dennis Van Roekel for a classroom visit and roundtable discussion on school reform at G. James Gholson Middle School in Landover, Md. It is one of four schools in Prince George’s County that is using a U.S. Education Department School Improvement Grant to boost academic [...]

Report: Teacher-Led Reform Helping in California

By Amy Buffenbarger A new report out today finds a 50 percent better academic growth rate at nearly 500 California schools, and all of it is the result of successful union-led reforms put in place as the result of a lawsuit by the California Teachers Association against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In August 2005, the California [...]

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