NEA Spells Out Vision of ‘Education Utopia’

By Amy Buffenbarger Asking the crowd to imagine a world in which every student receives a quality public education, National Education Association (NEA) Secretary-Treasurer Rebecca Pringle shared the NEA vision of “education utopia” on May 18, at a meeting of the Education Writers Association (EWA). “The National Education Association believes every student should have access [...]

Florida’s High-Stakes Testing Fiasco

By Tim Walker The already diminished reputation of high-stakes testing took another hit this week with the startling news out of Florida that only 27 percent of fourth graders passed the state’s comprehensive assessment test (FCAT) for writing. That’s a drop from 81 percent the previous year. The scores for eight and tenth graders yielded [...]

Bullying of Teachers Pervasive in Many Schools

By Cindy Long Workplace bullying is on the rise. About a third of American workers have been impacted by bullying in the workplace, either as a target or as witness to abusive behavior against a co-worker. Unfortunately, it’s even more prevalent in the field of education. In a recent survey of medium-sized school districts, 25 [...]

U.S. Competitiveness Undermined By Cuts in Higher Education

By Mary Ellen Flannery When state and federal lawmakers invest in public higher education, it pays off— not just for those college degree-earning students, who will earn much more money over their lifetimes, but also for their country, which will enjoy billions of dollars in additional revenues, concludes a recent report. Unfortunately, the United States [...]

Removing Health Barriers to Student Learning

By Tim Walker One of the few education issues where you can find almost universal consensus is the connection between student health and the capacity to learn. The conditions for health and well-being in many of the nations’ schools, however, are an impediment to learning.  Too many students spend their days in dilapidated buildings with [...]

Survey: The State of Parent-Teacher Relationships is Strong

By Tim Walker According to a new survey, the majority of parents and teachers categorize their relationship as “great” or “open,” although the two groups differ on some specific issues. Communication is key and parents and teachers have different ideas and expectations about how to keep these avenues open. Parenting Magazine and the National Education [...]

You’ve Seen ‘Bully’ – What Comes Next?

By Tim Walker and Anita Merina Since it opened nationwide last month, “Bully” has captured national attention and sparked conversations as moviegoers realize just how serious and prevalent bullying is in today’s society. The film, said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, “has been a jarring wake-up call.” For Deb Crerie, an educator in Virginia, ”Bully” [...]

‘Won’t Back Down’: Parent Trigger Gets the Hollywood Treatment

By Tim Walker This September, just as Oscar season is heating up, the film “Won’t Back Down” will hit the theaters, promising to tell the inspiring story of a teacher and a parent – Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal – who join forces to transform their kids’ struggling school. According to 20th Century Fox, “Won’t [...]

No Education Reform Without Tackling Poverty, Experts Say

By Robert McNeely If many so-called education reformers really want to close the student achievement gap, they should direct their fire away from public school educators and take aim at the real issue—poverty. This was the consensus of a panel of policy advocates and academics that convened recently on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to [...]

Michigan’s Renewal Starts with Reinvesting in Education

By Brenda  Álvarez History has looked favorably upon Michigan, from the booming fur trade of the 18th century to the prosperous copper mining industry of the 19th century. More notably, Henry Ford’s Model T marked Michigan’s legacy as a thriving auto industry, providing millions of jobs for much of the 20th century and for building America’s [...]

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