Educators Visit Capitol Hill to Lobby for the American Jobs Act

By Tim Walker Cherine Akbari was looking forward to a second year as a social studies teacher at Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Florida. “I had found a job that I was really good at,” she recalls. “I loved making history interesting for students.” But on May 6, she became one of the 1400 [...]

House of Representatives Slashes Education for Low-Income Kids

By Mary Ellen Flannery Almost 200,000 of this nation’s neediest children would lose their slots in Head Start programs, if U.S. Senators opt to approve a draconian federal budget passed by House Republicans last month. On Wednesday, the Senate agreed to approve a much smaller menu of spending reductions to prevent an imminent government shutdown, [...]

“America Cannot Have a Middle Class Without Unions”

By Dennis Van Roekel National Education Association President True fiscal leadership requires creative solutions grounded in the most important needs of the community. So faced with crippling budget deficits, fiscally responsible governors should focus on reforms that create jobs and a long-term agenda for moving their states forward. All of this sounds plausible enough. But [...]

Wisconsin Mobilizes Against Gov. Walker’s Anti-Educator Bill

Federal Budget 2012: Battle Brewing Over Education

By Alain Jehlen President Barack Obama this week presented Congress with a lean budget that focuses scarce financial resources on education, so the next generation of Americans can succeed in the world economy. That’s in contrast to a proposal by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) to make draconian budget cuts in the current [...]

What Teacher Tenure Is — And What It’s Not

By Kevin Hart A recent Time magazine poll asked members of the public how they felt about teacher tenure. And, in the course of a 26-word question, Time managed to perpetuate three myths that educators say are contributing to the public’s misunderstanding over what tenure is — and what it’s not. Specifically, Time asked, “Do [...]

How Should Teachers Be Evaluated? Let’s Ask Teachers

By Kevin Hart Whether you’re chatting at the local barber shop or watching your favorite cable news program, everyone seems to have ideas about how teachers should be evaluated and paid. But one group that never seems to be asked for its opinion on this critical issue is the teachers themselves. It’s a damaging omission, [...]

Must Reads — PDK/Gallup Poll: Parents Want Teachers Supported, Not Sacked

When it comes to education reform under Obama, a majority of Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll respondents say the answer is support for teachers and administrators, not schools being closed and educators fired. Source: PDK/Gallup

Reform Decisions Echo NEA Approach to School Improvement

By Kevin Hart Fire the teachers. That’s become the mantra of many self-proclaimed education reformers, who have tried to blame dedicated teachers for the litany of problems faced at lower-performing priority schools. But as the federal School Improvement Grants process gives lower-performing schools unprecedented ability to fire staff, the overwhelming majority of school districts are [...]

Educators Greet Jobs Funding With Relief, Optimism

By Kevin Hart One day after the House passed and President Barack Obama signed a $10 billion education jobs fund projected to save 161,000 public school jobs, educators across the Internet are reacting with a mixture of excitement and concern about when, or if, they will be recalled to work. Pamela Furtado-Hood, a kindergarten teacher [...]

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