(CNN) — Educators have been front-and-center in the politics of Wisconsin as the battle between state workers unions’ collective bargaining and Gov. Scott Walker’s fiscal measures took shape last year.

The day after the recall election in which both the governor and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch retained their seats, education interests are weighing in.  Here’s a sampling of what two education organizations are saying:

From the National Education Association’s (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel:

“Unfortunately, the biggest winner in tonight’s recall election was the corporate cash that funded the campaign of Governor Scott Walker.”

“The good news is that the barrage of out-of-state corporate money did not keep voters from restoring the balance of power in the state Senate.  The election of John Lehman, a former high school history and economics teacher and a retired National Education Association and Wisconsin Education Association Council member, to the 21^st Senate District will restore the balance of power in Madison.”

“Tonight’s outcome takes nothing away from the unprecedented and Herculean effort sparked by tens of thousands of teachers, bus drivers, firefighters, snow plow drivers and other Badger State working families…You slept on the floor of the capitol, and walked the snowy streets of Madison.  You spoke up against Walker’s attack on workers’ rights and unprecedented education budget cuts…”

From the American Federation for Children, an organization advocating school choice:

“Voters across Wisconsin last night affirmed their support for expanded educational options, as school choice supporters were retained in five of the state’s six recall elections…Three of four state senate candidates and the governor and lieutenant governor emerged victorious, affirming strong support for educational options in the Badger State.”

“In the state’s most high-profile race, Gov. Scott Walker, who was champion of and signed MPCP (the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program) joined Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in defeating opponents and ensuring that supporters of educational choice will continue to occupy the governor’s mansion through at least January 2015.”

“The voters of Wisconsin have spoken, and they’ve affirmed their support for leaders who stand in favor of educational options, not special interests,” said Betsy De Vos, chair of the American Federation for Children.

CNN Perspectives:

Read CNN Contributor Bill Bennett’s Opinion: Walker’s win bolsters tea party, weakens Democrats

Read David Gergen’s  and Michael Zuckerman’s Opinion: A victory for curbs on public worker unions 

(CNN) — Admit it. You took one or two of “those” classes in college.

It’s the kind of class that made your parents stop reading the newspaper and glance up at you with that “Seriously?” look. You convinced them that this was part of the college experience and necessary to a well-rounded education.

To be fair, maybe some of these different curriculum offerings might have been required if you had an out-of-the-ordinary major. But we’re going to guess that most of you took some strange classes for fun – and to keep your sanity.

Put yourself on a college campus today and you might be tempted to take some of these actual courses that we found in college catalogs. (Note to incoming freshmen who are registering now for the fall: You didn’t get the idea here.)

Do you find math dull, uninspiring? There’s a new game in town. Consider Basic Slot Math at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (where else?) The class is an offering of the UNLV International Gaming Institute. Even the course description isn’t the stuff of standard algebraic monotony: “How do slot machines produce a profit, or for that matter, how do all casino games produce a profit?” What are the odds on getting into this class?

Popular culture is awash with zombies. At Chicago’s Columbia College, you can take this fascination to an academic level by taking Zombies in Popular Media. Explore “the history, significance and representation of zombies in horror and fantasy texts.” The course demands look pretty intense, so you may want to hope for the zombie apocalypse to preempt the final exam.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a course in Digital Poetry, where you can experiment with creating poetry for wireless access on handheld devices. Flash-animated poems, digital videos and interactive poems are all elements of the syllabus.
Hypertext haiku?
Never thought it could be done.
An approach to try.

Students who major in culinary arts and food service have the added benefit of being able to eat their work. At Austin Peay State University, they can also carve their way to banquet greatness. There’s a three-credit course in Ice Sculpture that includes fundamentals of ice selection, storage, even handling. (Cheat sheet: Forget the Tupperware, think really cold.) And if that career in food service doesn’t pan out, you could always take your talents to Harbin, China, over spring break.

Speaking of taking a break, the University of Iowa offers a course on The American Vacation. It’s a kind of social history course, an examination of the “cultural significance of contemporary patterns” in where we go and what we do when we decide to unwind. Whether you’re into Disneyland or Wally World, this sounds like a diversionary way to delve into American history. Is there a lab for this one? Sign us up!

If you took philosophy classes, you probably focused on topics like logic, ethics, and reasoning. At Georgetown University you can study all those subjects but you can also sign up for Philosophy 194: Hallucinating. In this class, students will examine different aspects of “reality” — from why we believe false things that people tell us to optical illusions. The course description offers questions that will be addressed: “How can we be sure that we’re not mistaken about everything? What kinds of things can we know for sure? What is knowledge anyway?” This is mind-bending stuff. Just thinking about it induces a headache. Why would anyone be obsessed by these things? What if that weren’t a rhetorical question?

A course that seems to make everyone’s annual list of unusual classes is Montclair State University’s How to Watch Television. Fascinated with the antics of real housewives, smooth-talking bachelors, comical office workers and rugged deep-sea fishermen? Fancy yourself a TV critic? Put that hidden talent (and your addiction to all things TV) to practical use as you analyze television and its impact on modern culture. You might discover that you weren’t the only kid who wished his last name was “Walton,” “Huxtable” or “Soprano.”

Feeling smart? Occidental College offers a course titled “Stupidity.” We’re not kidding. Before you congratulate yourself on finding a potential ‘easy A’, read the course description: “Stupidity is neither ignorance nor organicity, but rather, a corollary of knowing and an element of normalcy, the double of intelligence rather than its opposite. It is an artifact of our nature as finite beings and one of the most powerful determinants of human destiny.” Uh…yeah. Looks like it might be worth convincing your Phi Beta Kappa roommate to enroll in this class with you and engage in some ‘collaborative learning.’

Did you take an unusual course in college?  Tell us about it in the comments section below!

(CNN) — The Florida Department of Education has released the results of its most recent statewide standardized tests, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test  in reading and writing.

Results for the FCAT reading tests for grades nine and 10 showed that 52% of those students were reading at or above grade level, virtually unchanged from 2011, according to the Florida Department of Education.

This year’s writing test results, however, revealed a far different story. Writing scores have plunged. Last year 81% of fourth-graders scored a 4 (at grade level) or higher on a 6-point scale. This year, only 27% did.

Last year, 82% of eighth-graders scored a 4 or higher. This year, only 33% did. Among 10th-graders last year, 80% scored 4 or higher, but in 2012, 38% did.

A 4 used to be the score that demonstrated that a student was performing at grade level, but in an emergency meeting last week, the state Board of Education decided to revise that benchmark to a 3.

The board said it didn’t want to lower grading standards but took action while the state looks for reasons why writing scores dropped so much this year.

Possible reasons for the plunge

Critics say that changes to this year’s writing test – changes the state says were necessary to align expectations with more rigorous standards – were pushed through too quickly, and that neither teachers nor students were prepared.

“The dramatic drop in writing scores shows that the system is a failure,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association. “The FEA has always opposed and questioned the overreliance on standardized testing,” he wrote on the union’s website.

But state officials say that the system is in transition as it adjusts its expectations of students.

In the state’s press release, Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson said, “We are asking more from our students and teachers than we ever have, and I am proud of their hard work. … As Florida transitions to higher standards and higher expectations, we can expect our assessment results to reflect those changes.”

In this most recent FCAT 2.0 writing exam, there was greater scoring emphasis on “writing conventions” — grammar, spelling and punctuation — as well as “the quality of details”  in students’ essays.

On its website, the state DOE warns against comparing this year’s scores with the previous year’s because of the differences in grading the tests.

Why the scores matter

The FCAT writing test is a 45-minute assessment where students must write on an assigned topic. Fourth-graders write stories on a given subject, while eighth- and 10th-graders write persuasive essays on specific topics.

The test results are used for student and teacher evaluation. Under the state’s “value-added” model for teacher performance, a teacher’s job performance is based, in large part, on students’ testing scores. Grade promotion is also based on FCAT results. In addition, FCAT scores are a factor in determining school grades and whether a school makes Adequate Yearly Progress.

FCAT results are watched by educators and political leaders around the United States. Other states have looked to Florida’s testing to develop their own accountability systems in response to No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top mandates.

But there has also been a backlash in recent years against what has become known as “high-stakes testing.”

Read the story and listen to the podcast: The high stakes of standardized tests

School boards and activist groups across the U.S. have passed resolutions, published studies, promoted “opt out” testing boycotts by parents, and urged elected officials to repeal requirements for school districts to conduct standardized tests.

Florida’s attempt to “grade on the curve” supplies more ammunition for critics of standardized tests, who say that states have come to rely too much on them and that they produce little evidence of learning.

The recent FCAT writing scores and the discussion around what they mean have added more fuel to the fire in that debate.

(CNN) Debit cards, credit cards, saving and borrowing money – you probably learned a lot of what you know about personal finance from your own life experiences.  But in a world of economic uncertainty, rising college costs and social media that can target some of the youngest consumers, financial literacy may be more important than ever for your kids.

So who’s teaching your kids about money?

It’s not likely that they are learning it in school; personal finance is probably not a requirement for a high school diploma in your state.   According to the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy, only four states – Utah, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia – require at least a one-semester course in personal finance for high school graduation.

Several other states require that personal finance be woven into other subjects, like economics.  But less than half of all states require that students take economics.

In fact, most states offer economics and personal finance only as electives.

The 2011 Survey of the States, a biennial report by the Council for Economic Education that focuses on the importance of teaching economics and personal finance, shows that while there has been progress toward more course offerings and requirements in these subject areas since 1998, “the trend is now slowing, and in some cases, it’s moving backward.”

Virginia is one of the latest states to mandate that its high school students take personal finance.  Beginning with this year’s freshman class, students must take at least one credit in personal finance at some point in their four years of high school as a requirement for graduation.

Bradley Weeks teaches personal finance and business at Rappahannock County High School in Washington, Virginia.  He says that his students come to him knowing almost nothing about money. He uses a software-based curriculum with modules that teach about budgeting, housing, insurance and other consumer finance topics to help students get the basics.

Weeks says that his students’ immediate financial questions focus on college.  “They ask, ‘How much money will I need to borrow for college and will I find a job that will enable me to pay that back?’” Weeks says.

How much do kids need financial literacy?

“Kids don’t know enough about personal finance.  Our surveys consistently show that over the years,” says Laura Levine, president and executive director of Jump$tart.

The last National Jump$tart Coalition Survey of High School Seniors and College Seniors, conducted in 2008, says high school seniors had an average score of 48.3%, the lowest recorded, in financial literacy.  College seniors fared a little better, scoring an average 62.2%.

Questions on the Jump$tart survey revolve around everyday consumer issues like spending, saving, investing, budgeting, taxes and even insurance.  One question asked about the kind of insurance that covers damage to your car.  Although old enough to drive, only one-third of the high school seniors correctly identified “collision” from the answers provided.

Experts say children learn money habits from watching their parents, so parents need to start teaching their children about money early on.

While many do try to teach their kids about money, according to Levine, there are many students who need that training from their schools. “We need to get to those kids who don’t get financial education at home,” says Levine.

The payoff

Teaching kids financial literacy pays off in the long run. According to Edutopia.org, teens who receive personal finance education not only manage their money better and have less debt, but they also achieve higher net worth between the ages of 30-49.

And Weeks agrees that kids need to learn personal finance, too.  “I tell them, if you don’t master financial literacy, you’ll be a victim,” he says.

(CNN) Buses, salaries, building maintenance…the costs add up. It should come as no surprise that a free public education is hardly free. An estimated $1.15 trillion will be spent in public elementary and secondary schools this academic year to educate almost 50 million students throughout the U.S. Where does the money come from?  Here are some major sources of funding for public school districts and some challenges to that funding.

The federal government

In the U.S., education is primarily a state and local responsibility.  It varies, but about 10.8% of a state’s education budget is being funded by the federal government this year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That department contributes to states via federal program grants like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus” of 2009), and Title I, which provides financial assistance to schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families.  There are also competitive grants, such as those available under the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program, that revolve around adoption of standards and assessments, teacher evaluation, and turning around low-achieving schools.  The amount of money awarded to states varies based on the states’ willingness to adopt and implement the federal requirements.  Other departments, including the Department of Agriculture, which administers the federal school lunch program, contribute education funding to states as well.

While some state administrators welcome federal help for elementary and secondary schools, critics cite the Department of Education’s requirements as their “strings attached” and view this as an intrusion of the federal government into state control over education.

State and local governments

Although the percentage of federal education funding to states is increasing, the largest percentage of funding for a school district – about 48% — typically comes from its state government, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  The remainder not covered by federal and state governments is financed by local governments.

In general, state and local governments rely heavily on property taxes to finance education. In nine states, property taxes account for almost half the revenue needed to fund education.  The National Association of Home Builders estimates that the average homeowner pays property taxes of 1.04% of the value of their home, or $1,917 per year.

The problem, even in good economic times, is that home values are typically lowest in the communities whose schools need the property tax revenues the most. So states try to minimize the differences among school districts by devising formulas that calculate and distribute state funding more equitably.   In “Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card”, experts argue that in spite of these calculations, many states “do not fairly allocate education funding to address the needs of their most disadvantaged students, and the schools serving high numbers of those students.”

Many states have other sources of revenue that help support school districts, including state income taxes, sales taxes, license fees and other targeted taxes.  In Texas, for example, taxes on gasoline, natural gas, electricity and oil production help to fund schools.  In some states, like Georgia, county voters can and have authorized local sales taxes to fund school projects.  Nevada’s gaming industry generates almost half of its general state revenue.  And lotteries have helped to fund education in 42 states, though some critics argue that most of the proceeds from lottery ticket sales never make it back to the classroom.

The crunch

The housing market collapse in recent years has led to decreases in property tax collection in many localities, both as the number of foreclosures skyrocketed and as inhabited properties lost value.

Likewise, other products and services that fund education have taken a hit during the Great Recession and cost schools precious dollars.  Tourism, incomes and sales have all suffered, resulting in lower revenues to state and local governments that rely on the money.   In spite of claims that the overall economy is improving, there is little rejoicing in school districts.

The ripple effects of the poor economy have been catastrophic for some: Virginia Beach, Virginia, recently told all of its 245 first year teachers that there will not be jobs for them in the fall.  School weeks have been cut to four days in some districts in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. The state of California has issued nearly 20,000 pink slips to teachers resulting from billions of dollars in budget cuts over the past four years. And as class sizes grow due to shrinking staffs, extracurriculars are being cut in some districts, meaning that sports and the arts are among the latest casualties of the lack of education funding.

Atlanta (CNN) – Georgia’s Professional Standards Commission (PSC) has revoked the teaching permits of 67 more educators implicated in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.  Some of the teachers were barred from the classroom for two years; others had their certificates permanently revoked, according to WSB.

The PSC now has 100 cases left to review connected with the cheating allegations.  It has made recommendations for 83 cases so far.  The names of the teachers who have lost certification will not be made public until all appeals are complete.

Earlier this week, an APS tribunal voted to terminate an elementary school teacher.

Another has already been fired, one has retired and 24 have resigned, according to WSB.

Officials are under pressure to make decisions stemming from this case quickly, as the district may be forced to offer contracts to accused teachers who haven’t been let go by May 15.  In addition, implicated teachers whose cases have not yet been addressed remain on the APS payroll, costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars each month.

Read more on the latest developments in the Atlanta cheating scandal from WSB.

(CNN) An investigative report published in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution found indications of standardized test cheating in school systems throughout the U.S.

The seven-month long investigation of testing data examined 1.6 million records from almost 70,000 public schools nationwide. Suspicious score increases, high numbers of erasures and other irregularities were uncovered in about 200 school districts.  The indicators found were similar to those discovered in Atlanta Public Schools, says the AJC.

Atlanta as cheating ground zero

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has broken news before about test cheating.  In 2009, the paper reported “statistically unlikely” test score gains at some Atlanta schools.  A state review determined that some cheating had occurred in more than half of the district’s elementary and middle schools.  About 180 teachers have been implicated in the scandal.

So far, one teacher, Damany Lewis, has admitted to cheating and been fired. Other educators suspected of cheating who have not accepted a “resign or be fired” deal are being brought before a tribunal to hear their cases and determine what actions will be taken.

Former University of Georgia Chancellor Dr. Erroll Davis was named interim superintendent of APS last year. He replaced Dr. Beverly Hall.  Hall resigned in June 2011 after 11 years as the head of APS. She was the recipient of praise and awards for her role in the district’s increased graduation rates and higher test scores.

Officials from APS and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are still investigating what has become known as the “biggest cheating scandal in American history,”  but according to the AJC, Atlanta is not alone in its testing irregularities.

A nationwide problem

According to the AJC, the paper’s investigation does not prove that any widespread cheating occurred, but “it reveals that scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern, like, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools.”

The report says that in nine districts, test scores fluctuated so much that “the odds of such dramatic shifts occurring without intervention such as tampering were worse than one in one billion.”  Houstonschools, the report says, experienced test score jumps two, three or more times than typically seen in one year.  When these students went on to the next grade, their test scores plummeted, so the likelihood that the score increases were due to learning is slim. A spokesman for the Houston school district, however, questioned whether cheating was the cause of all the irregularities that the AJC found.

The AJC says that 196 of the country’s 3,125 school districts had enough irregularities that the odds of these irregularities happening by chance alone are worse than one in 1,000.

The paper’s statistical analysis of test scores red-flagged more than one in six tests inSt. Louis and one in seven in Detroit.  Officials in the St. Louis district have acknowledged the unusual score changes, but say that cheating is not the cause. Detroit officials have said that score increases were due to “better teaching,” according to the report.

According to the investigation, “dozens” of mid-sized school systems, including those in Gary, Indiana, East St. Louis, Illinois, and Mobile, Alabama exhibited “suspicious” tests in high concentrations.

No Child Left Behind and student outcomes

Standardized testing is a key point of No Child Left Behind, the bipartisan federal legislation signed into law ten years ago.

At the heart of the law is is a mandate for accountability and measured student outcomes, derived primarily from state-administered standardized tests that are given annually in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading.

Critics say that the law promotes “teaching to the test” and that it cultivates a climate for cheating, especially when teachers’ and administrators’ jobs and pay are tied students’ performance on tests.

But supporters say that there needs to be accountability for student learning among teachers and administrators, and that reliable, valid testing is one way to establish that.  They call for stricter test-taking measures.

Regardless of the possible reasons behind them, inaccurate test results also erode public confidence in school systems and the credibility of public information.

And experts agree that when cheating happens, it’s the students who suffer.  Schools with inflated test scores may look good on paper and earn praise for their staffs, but low-performing students who are entitled to tutoring and other educational options lose out when their scores don’t reflect their deficiencies.

Read the AJC report: “Cheating our children: Suspicious scores across the nation” here.

(CNN) — The U.S. educational system is facing “a national security crisis,” an independent task force from the Council on Foreign Relations warned in a report Tuesday.

“America’s failure to educate is affecting its national security,” said the Independent Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, which the council launched last year to focus on the problems in K-12 education.

Read the full report: U.S. Education Reform and National Security

Joel Klein, CEO of News Corp.’s education division and former chancellor of New York City’s school system; and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now a professor of political economy at Stanford University’s graduate business school, served as chairs for the task force. Klein and Rice joined a discussion Tuesday about the group’s report at an event in Washington.

Problems in education could undermine the country’s cohesion, the two warned.

“The great American narrative is that it doesn’t matter where you came from,” Rice said, citing the role of education as “one of our cultural democratic institutions” that must be able to deliver opportunity for all.

Klein pointed to a climate of divisiveness among Americans. “There’s a feeling that ‘the rest of us’ are not getting ‘our fair shot at the American Dream,’ ” he said. Since Americans do not share a religion or a culture, education is part of the glue that holds the country together, but many aspects of the current model are not working, Klein said.

Five threats to national security cited

The task force found that failures in America’s education system pose five national security threats, including to economic growth and competitiveness, to U.S. physical safety, to intellectual property, to U.S. global awareness and to U.S. unity and cohesion.

It said that national security is no longer a function solely of military might but is “closely linked with human capital” and that this capital is only as strong as the country’s public schools.

Regarding economic growth, the report said the U.S. education system is not preparing students for the global work force. “Poorly educated and semiskilled Americans cannot expect to effectively compete for jobs against fellow U.S. citizens or global peers, and are left unable to fully participate in and contribute to society,” the report said.

As far as the country’s safety, the report cited a Defense Department statistic that 75% of American youth do not qualify for the armed forces due to the lack of a high school diploma, physical obstacles such as obesity or criminal records. Factors such as obesity and crime cannot be blamed on schools, the report said. But it said that among those who are qualified for the armed forces, many are not academically prepared — 30% don’t pass the military’s aptitude test.

The report said there is a lack of technologically qualified individuals to address cyberthreats to businesses and government. It points out that foreign language and global awareness skills among American students are lacking, jeopardizing military, business, intelligence and diplomatic interests, and it said a failure to learn about global cultures can have “serious consequences.”

The task force also said the American Dream appears to be out of reach for many. “The growing gap between the educated and the undereducated is creating a widening chasm that divides Americans and has the potential to tear at the fabric of society,” it said.

Underlying problems found

Among the factors at the core of the nation’s education problems were a lack of emphasis on civics; failure to teach foreign languages; lack of student proficiency in reading, math and science; differences in educational standards and opportunities for children who live in different states, districts and neighborhoods; low graduation rates; poor academic performance compared with international counterparts; school systems “laden with bureaucracy and inefficiencies”; failure to attract, train and compensate good teachers; and a “mismatch” between student preparation and jobs, according to the report.

The task force commended some efforts at reform, including Common Core State Standards, a state-led initiative by the nation’s governors to provide a “consistent framework” to prepare students for the work force and college, and school choice, which gives parents more options in the education of their children, as well as moves toward accountability and educational leadership. Members also acknowledged that while theUnited States can learn from other countries, it should also build on its strengths in innovation, creativity and competition.

Some dissension among members

The task force findings did not come without some dissension among members. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, commended the task force and said there was “a lot of agreement” on its mission and findings.

“How we use education to reignite America is a really important notion,” Weingarten said.

She said that she did not disagree with giving parents choices, but she questioned some of the group’s recommendations, including what she termed the “opt-out system” when students and parents choose schools. “What happens to some of the other kids?” she asked.

She also said that some education systems – such as Singapore’s – “have more of a public education system than we would ever have” and that the U.S. should consider some of the ways these systems train and pay educators.  She stressed the importance of public education in the U.S. and its responsibilities to all children.

Recommendations suggested

The task force issued three “central recommendations” for improving K-12 education in the United States. These include:

• Implementing educational expectations in subjects vital to protecting national security and urging states to expand the Common Core State Standards  to do so.

• Making structural changes to provide students with good choices and telling states to “stop locking disadvantaged students into failing schools without any options. …”

• Launching a “national security readiness audit” to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and raising public awareness based on “meaningful assessments” and urging a public awareness campaign around this effort.

(CNN)  Last Friday, Florida’s state senate narrowly defeated a proposed “parent trigger” bill.  In more than 20 states, legislatures are considering or have taken action on parent trigger bills, which are designed to empower parents to take action on failing schools by firing staff, transferring students or creating a new school.

How do parent trigger laws work?

State proposals and laws vary, but in essence, if a school fails to demonstrate academic achievement among its students according to predetermined benchmarks (for example, test scores), under parent trigger laws, a majority of parents could determine that some or all teachers and administrators should be dismissed and new staff brought in.  Under some state proposals, action by a majority of parents could close the school altogether or hand over management of a school to a private corporation or organization and re-establish the school as a charter school.

The pros

Proponents of parent trigger laws say that they empower parents, especially those of students in low-performing schools, to be able to turn schools around and provide their children with the best opportunity for a good education. They say it gives parents an option that they currently do not have. Often these parents lack the means to provide other options, such as a better public school or a private school for their kids, they say.

California was the first state to pass a parent trigger law, in January 2010.  The primary force behind its passing was Parent Revolution, which, according to its website, makes this promise to parents: “Organize half the parents at your children’s failing school to demand change, and we will stand with you and empower you to fight for the great school your children deserve.”

Parent trigger bills are usually, but not always, supported by legislators who advocate for school choice. The Florida bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, who told her colleagues that the law was needed to make sure that “every one of our schools is as great as the schools where your grandchildren go… where your children go.”  She added, “We shouldn’t rest until every school is at that level.”

The cons

Some oppose parent trigger bills because they believe that parents are not in the best position to decide education policy. They believe these decisions should be left to elected school boards and local officials. They maintain that the easy part is getting parent signatures on a petition, but after that there is little parent organization to take action on what to do with the school and how to run it. Other opponents of parent trigger laws are against handing over public schools to private corporations, which then turn the school into a charter school and take over its operations.

In Florida, the debate over parent trigger laws has spawned some unusual alliances.  Opponents of the bill included the Florida PTA and some Republican state senators, including Sen. Nancy Detert who called it “an assault on public education” and said it would allow for “privatizing taxpayer buildings.” “The charter people will walk right in and take over our buildings… and I don’t know how you’re going to explain that to our taxpayers,” Detert said in the Orlando Sentinel. 

The League of Women Voters and Parents Across America are among other organizations that opposed the Florida bill.

Testing the law

In California, the first state to adopt the law, the trigger has been applied twice.

Last year in Compton, 62% of parents at McKinley Elementary School signed a petition demanding that the school be converted to a charter school when the majority of students there were not meeting state standards in math and reading.  The school challenged the petition, saying that many signatures were not valid. A bitter court battle has ensued, with the California Federation of Teachers calling the trigger law “lynch mob” legislation.

A similar scenario is developing in Adelanto.  A majority of parents at Desert Trails Elementary School signed a petition demanding sweeping changes to the failing school, but the local board unanimously rejected it based on the claim that one-fifth of the parents who signed it have since revoked their signatures.  Parent Revolution says that rescissions are not allowed and the organization is threatening a lawsuit.  The debate there has been contentious, as well.

Other states are watching California to see how these two cases will evolve.

(CNN) – A report released Wednesday by Excelencia in Education revealed the top colleges graduating Latinos in the U.S.

The report titled “Finding Your Workforce: The Top 25 Institutions Graduating Latinos” included information on public, private and for profit and non-profit institutions graduating the most Latino students.

According to the report, Miami Dade College in Florida awards the most associate degrees to Latinos, while Florida International University, the University of Phoenix, and the University of Texas at El Paso each led in two or more academic levels (including associate, undergraduate graduate, and/or doctoral.)

Education Week has a write-up on the report and some of the trends it reveals, including the prominence of for-profit institutions as the top route for Latinos seeking certificates.

Excelencia in Education is a Washington D.C.-based organization advocating academic success for Latinos. According to the organization, Latinos will represent nearly a quarter of the college age population in 2025, but only 7% of Latinos ages 18-24 had an associate’s degree or higher in 2009.

(CNN) Nearly three-quarters of the nation’s states have now asked the federal government for permission to work around the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Under NCLB (also referred to as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA) states are required to meet stringent goals for student academic performance, including 100% proficiency for all students in reading and math by 2014, a goal many see as unattainable. In September 2011, President Obama announced that the Department of Education would grant waivers to states that could devise “rigorous and comprehensive plans” aimed at improving educational outcomes and accountability.

In the first round of requests, 11 states were granted waivers from NCLB.

According to Education Week, 26 additional states plus the istrict of Columbia requested waivers by the February 28 deadline.  Those states are: Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho ,Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.  The states will be informed of the Department’s ruling on their requests later this spring.

As more states pursue waivers from NCLB, some critics charge that the waivers are undermining accountability  and some say they are ceding state education power to the federal government.

The deadline for states to submit for the next round of waiver requests is September 6.

Want to know your state’s status? The U.S. Department of Education maintains a Status of State Requests chart .

(CNN) – In March 2011, for the first time ever, more than 30% of adults older than 25 had a college degree, according to information released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.  As recently as 1998, less than one-quarter of Americans older than 25 held a degree.

The findings are published in a new report, “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011.” This was one in a series of educational reports released today.

“This is an important milestone in our history,” Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said. “For many people, education is a sure path to a prosperous life. The more education people have the more likely they are to have a job and earn more money, particularly for individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree.”

The Census Bureau also published “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009.” This report reveals that in 2009, 85% of adults age 25 or older had at least a high school diploma or its equivalent. It also states that workers with a bachelor’s degree had median earnings of $47,510, about $20,000 more than workers with a high school diploma, who earned about $26,776, and nearly $25,000 more than those with a GED, who earned $22,534.

The other available reports are:

The “Field of Bachelor’s Degree in the United States: 2009” which provides information on different majors and geographic and earnings data across those fields and “What It’s Worth: Field of Training and Economic Status in 2009,” which looks at the relationship between educational attainment, field of training and eventual occupation and earnings.

(CNN) Last week a deal was reached between the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the state’s Department of Education on how teachers would be evaluated.

The New York Times reports that the deal permits school districts to base 40 percent of a teacher’s review on how that teacher’s students performed on standardized tests (what’s sometimes referred to as “value-added” data), with half of that portion based on the student’s test progress from one year to the next.  The remaining 60 percent of the review will consist of “subjective measures”, including principals’ evaluations and observations.

Like 18 other states that qualified for federal grants under Race to the Top, New York was under a deadline to devise a plan to evaluate teachers, or lose this funding.

After the deal was reached,  Governor Andrew Cuomo is quoted as saying, “It’s a victory for all New Yorkers. Government works, and that makes this state a better state.”

Carol Corbett Burris, principal of South Side High School, disagrees.  In the Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog  she says she “was struck by the lack of logic and fairness” in the deal.  Burris, who was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the state’s School Administrators Association, co-authored “An Open Letter of Concern Regarding New York State’s APPR Legislation for the Evaluation of Teachers and Principals” which has been signed by nearly 1360 principals opposing the use of standardized test scores to evaluate educators.

Veteran educator Gary Rubinstein, in a recent N.Y. Daily News opinion, talks about flaws he sees in the proposed evaluation system. According to Rubinstein, the way that the system is constructed, although they account for less than half of the evaluation, low student test scores can render a teacher a rating of “ineffective”. Under the new system, an “ineffective” rating for two consecutive years can result in dismissal.

Nationwide, there are general questions around the “value-added” approach, including the issue of reliability of some tests and whether teachers of weaker students can be fairly evaluated based on their students’ test scores.

The National Center on Teaching Quality says that more states are moving to include student test scores in teachers’ performance evaluations.  Teachers we’ve spoken with don’t object to being evaluated, but some question whether tying teacher performance to student standardized test scores is the best way to do it. You can learn more about how your state evaluates its teachers by clicking on your state on Newsday’s “State Teacher Evaluation Plans” map.

We want to hear from you, educators and parents:  What do you think is the best way to evaluate teachers?

(CNN) President Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget proposal is full of education initiatives and grants.

The education portion of the 2013 budget outlines three priorities: improving college affordability and quality, reshaping the teaching profession and strengthening the connections between school and work.

The administration is asking for $69.9 billion for the Department of Education, an increase of $1.7 billion, or 2.5%, over last year’s budget.  Among some of the programs funded are Race to the Top, School Pell Grants, the Expanding Educational Options initiative (charter schools and public school choice grants), English Learner education, special education, teacher training and community colleges.

Though this budget is more about political priorities than actual government expenditures — it stands little chance of passing – some in education are applauding, while others are sitting on their hands.

Here’s a sampling of reactions:

From National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel: “President Obama continues to make clear his commitment to students, especially the most disadvantaged, by advocating a deep investment in education and college affordability. The president pushes both immediate support through grants and for innovative changes designed to improve access to higher education.”

From the American Federation for Children: “The American Federation — the nation’s voice for school choice — strongly decries the president’s failure to provide funding to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), which currently provides scholarships to more than 1,600 children from low-income families across the nation’s capital to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice.”

From American Association of State Colleges and Universities President Dr. Muriel Howard: “Again, I applaud the president for his commitment to education and for the fact that he clearly understands that improving America’s current status and future standing depends on our willingness to invest in education. … Many of the president’s proposals still lack the clarity and definition to make them successful and effective. While we concur that controlling costs and seeking efficiencies is important — an area where AASCU institutions have been successful despite dealing with draconian state funding cuts — the emphasis on linking tuition increases to campus-based federal support is troubling.”

From National PTA President Betsy Landers: “National PTA is pleased with the maintained focus on educational success as a driver of economic prosperity. …While the overall levels of educational investment are promising, PTA is alarmed by the lack of recognition for the vital role family engagement in education plays in student success and meaningful education reform. The total omission of any intention to assist states and school districts in building partnerships with parents and families to improve academic achievement does not meld with the administration’s previously made promises to prioritize family engagement as a driver of reform.”

You can read the president’s FY 2013 Budget Request for Education here.

Update: President Obama announced today that ten states have qualified for waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates.  In exchange for this flexibility, the states will implement accountability, raise standards and improve teacher effectiveness.  The NCLB primer that follows was first published last month, on the tenth anniversary of the law’s signing.

(CNN) Ten years ago, on January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.  Since then, the law has been the topic of numerous discussions among lawmakers, educators and parents. Want to know more about it?  If you’ve got five minutes, you can learn the basics of NCLB here. Read on.

Background

NCLB, as it came to be called, enjoyed bipartisan support in its early days. Although it is often associated with President George W. Bush, one of its sponsors was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts. The bill was actually an update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was aimed at supporting disadvantaged students in low-income area schools. ESEA was part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. With Bush’s signature in 2002, NCLB became the most sweeping federal legislation on education, with far-reaching impact in the nation’s schools.

Focus

There are many provisions to NCLB, including sections on safe and drug-free schools and parental involvement, but its intention is to drive and measure student achievement.  At the heart of the law is a mandate for accountability and measured student outcomes, derived primarily from state-administered standardized tests that are given annually in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading.

Under NCLB, all schools are striving toward “100 percent proficiency” in math and reading by the 2013-2014 school year. That means that all students must perform to satisfaction on state tests in these subject areas by spring 2014.  Since this provision went into effect, states have set their own benchmarks toward achieving the 100% goal. The yearly benchmarks are called Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

Schools are held accountable for making AYP. If a school fails to make AYP for two consecutive years it is labeled as “Needs Improvement” and school officials must formulate and implement a “turnaround plan” for that school. Schools that remain on the Needs Improvement list for additional years must offer other public school choices and/or tutoring options to their students and parents. Five years on the Needs Improvement list could cause the school to face restructuring, including terminating staff and administration and turning the school over to a private operator.  

Pros and cons

Supporters of NCLB applaud the law’s intent and its attempt to bring accountability into the classroom. There are also those who say that NCLB has resulted in movement toward closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.

Many NCLB opponents are focused primarily on what many call “high-stakes testing.” They argue that the testing mandated by NCLB turns classrooms into test preparation centers and takes time away from subjects that aren’t tested, like social studies and science. They also question the expense of test administration and the feasibility of attaining the 100% proficiency goal. And there are some who say that last year’s school cheating scandals are a byproduct of an education system that leans too heavily on test scores.

Where it stands now

More schools were listed as failing last year than in any previous year since the passage of NCLB. Almost half (48%) of U.S.schools did not make AYP in 2011, according to the Center on Education Policy.

In August 2011, the Obama Administration announced that states can apply for waivers from provisions of NCLB if they meet other federal mandates.   Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said that the goal of the waivers is to provide flexibility for states while maintaining accountability and high expectations.

Critics argue that the issuance of waivers is an end-around move to circumvent a law passed by Congress, and some question its constitutionality. Others question whether the waivers amount to additional federal control of education.

In spite of a bipartisan Senate committee attempt to address changes to the law, Congress did not vote on NCLB in 2011.

(CNN) Penmanship. To grown-ups, the word conjures up memories of coarse sheets of paper with solid and dotted lines — and a pencil so big that you had to practically balance it on your shoulder to practice writing your letters.

For some of today’s elementary school kids, there won’t be any memories of penmanship class.  With classroom time at a premium and the common use of the keyboard, some school districts are abandoning handwriting as part of the curriculum.

But Dr. Laura Dinehart says not so fast.

Dinehart, an assistant professor at the Florida International University School of Education, was examining data collected on 1,000 second-graders and comparing it with information collected when they were in pre-kindergarten.  She and her research team expected to find that early number skills might predict math achievement and that early language skills might predict who would be better readers in second grade.  But they were surprised to find that a 4-year-old’s fine motor writing skill — the ability to form letters, numbers and shapes — was an indicator of stronger academic achievement later on.

What’s just as surprising, says Dinehart, is that the academic achievement by those with better penmanship is seen in both reading and math, and it’s reflected in both teachers’ grades and standardized test scores.  Students who received good handwriting grades in pre-K had an overall “B” average in second grade.  Their standardized tests scored above average in both math and reading.  By contrast, pre-kindergarten students who did poorly on fine motor writing tasks had an overall “C” average and below-average test scores in second grade.

So what does it all mean?

Dinehart said, “We’re glad we found this link and think it’s important. It needs to be looked at in greater depth: What is it about writing that’s predicting later achievement?” Her findings, she says, are raising lots of new questions. She acknowledges that some will say this is about teacher perception that a child who has good handwriting is a smart child.  But, she asks, is there some mechanical connection between fine motor skills and how the brain works? She points out that there is research that shows that kids who physically write letters more easily recognize those letters, compared with kids who use keyboards. “Schools have started to drop handwriting from curriculum, and we don’t know that that is beneficial,” Dinehart said.  “We might have jumped the gun on this.”

Regardless of where the findings lead, Dinehart says that it’s important for preschoolers to spend time practicing handwriting because it’s a very specific motor skill. She encourages parents to provide opportunities for their kids to write with crayons, markers and pencils, and to write with them, just as they read to their kids and count with them. “What we do know is that kids with greater experiences in early childhood do better later on, and writing can’t be discounted from that,” Dinehart said.

(CNN) It might not be the answer to all pedagogical prayers, but some educators say that flipping is an effective way to teach a generation that’s grown up on YouTube. Not familiar with flipped classes?  If you’ve got five minutes, you can learn about the concept right here.

Defining flipping

District Administration magazine calls flipping a type of “blended learning” that is a combination of online and face-to-face approaches.  Flipping capitalizes on technology to allow students to watch online video lectures and explanations of content for homework. Students can replay the lectures several times if they need to to get a better grasp of the material while they are at home. The next day in class is spent doing what is traditionally considered homework – completing assignments like working on math problems, for example – with the teacher as more of a learning facilitator than lecturer. Classmates contribute to the learning process by working together on in-class assignments.

Capitalizing on technology

Technology is the key ingredient in flipping, because students must have Internet access after school hours in order to watch the lessons that educators record and upload. There are many flipped class facilitators online as well as social networks for flipping, like the Flipped Class Network. Instead of creating videos, teachers could assign Internet video tutorials that are already available. One of the most widely watched online teachers is Salman Khan, who started by doing math tutorials for his cousin on YouTube. He has since founded the Khan Academy, which now offers over 2700 instructional videos online.

Benefits of flipping

Educators who have flipped classes say that the practice is beneficial. For example, a recent USA Today article describes how flipping has changed one calculus teacher’s role in the classroom and helped her students perform better on AP tests.  Flipping proponents say that this method allows for more teacher-student interaction, because the teacher is spending more time working with students one-on-one rather than standing at the front of the room lecturing. Flippers report that this approach has had positive effects on both student attendance and academic scores.

Drawbacks of the practice

Critics say that flipping may put kids on the “have not” side of the digital divide at an academic disadvantage. How can you assign students to watch a tutorial online when they don’t have Internet access at home? Some educators also warn that students may not watch the videos at home if they’re not inclined to do homework anyway.

One principal’s story

Tomorrow, we’ll hear from a principal who saw flipping work so well in some classes that he actually flipped the entire school, and he says the results have been amazing. Check back with us.

(CNN) As you read this, somewhere in a gym in a school in Georgia, a student may be stepping onto a scale — backward — to comply with state law. Georgia is one of the latest states to mandate that schools track fitness levels and calculate body mass index (BMI) in an effort to combat childhood obesity, and provide parents with reports on their students’ physical composition and fitness.

Georgia is second in the nation in childhood obesity; one in three children ages 10-17 is considered overweight or obese in the state, according to its Department of Education.  According to Georgia State Rep. Brooks Coleman, the new law is one answer to that problem.  Concerned about a trend toward less physical education and recess in state schools, he helped to sponsor HB 229, also known as SHAPE, the Student Health and Physical Education Act, which was passed by the Georgia Legislature and signed by the governor in 2009. Schools begin weighing and measuring students this month. Physical education teachers will ask children to step onto scales and turn around so they don’t see their own weight.  Their parents will be given calculated information on BMI and fitness levels to share with their kids. Each district will compile its data into a report that is submitted to the governor.

According to the National Association of School Boards of Education, about a dozen states require some sort of weight recording and reporting as a means of combating childhood obesity. Arkansas was the first state to take measurements and send annual reports home to parents, beginning in 2003.

The CDC says that little is known about the outcomes of BMI measurement and reporting and whether this has a significant impact on weight-related behaviors.

However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that BMI should be calculated and tracked regularly as part of a child’s normal health supervision.

So the question arises:  Who should monitor students’ physical composition data, schools or parents?

Some, like Marietta (Georgia) School Board Member Randy Weiner commend their state for focusing attention on the problem of childhood obesity, but question the mandate for schools to measure students’ BMI. “Parents are responsible for maintaining and keeping track of their child’s fitness level.  The State of Georgia handing a piece of paper to parents stating their child’s BMI level is too high or too low will not make a difference to parents who don’t value good nutrition and exercise to begin with. Not only could this lead to an additional opportunity for students to bully some kids for being too fat or too skinny, it is an unnecessary intrusion by the state,” says Weiner.

Weiner says there are other ways to assess physical fitness, like the Presidential Fitness Test, that don’t require weighing and measuring kids at school.

Coleman says he believes it is one role that government should play. He says, “In the long run, if kids develop diabetes and heart trouble, the government pays for it one way or another.”

We want to know your opinion: Do you think that schools weighing kids and supplying the information to parents is a solution to the problem of childhood obesity?

(CNN) Ten years ago, on January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.  Since then, the law has been the topic of numerous discussions among lawmakers, educators and parents. Want to know more about it?  If you’ve got five minutes, you can learn the basics of NCLB here. Read on.

Background

NCLB, as it came to be called, enjoyed bipartisan support in its early days. Although it is often associated with President George W. Bush, one of its sponsors was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts. The bill was actually an update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was aimed at supporting disadvantaged students in low-income area schools. ESEA was part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. With Bush’s signature in 2002, NCLB became the most sweeping federal legislation on education, with far-reaching impact in the nation’s schools.

Focus

There are many provisions to NCLB, including sections on safe and drug-free schools and parental involvement, but its intention is to drive and measure student achievement.  At the heart of the law is a mandate for accountability and measured student outcomes, derived primarily from state-administered standardized tests that are given annually in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading.

Under NCLB, all schools are striving toward “100 percent proficiency” in math and reading by the 2013-2014 school year. That means that all students must perform to satisfaction on state tests in these subject areas by spring 2014.  Since this provision went into effect, states have set their own benchmarks toward achieving the 100% goal. The yearly benchmarks are called Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

Schools are held accountable for making AYP. If a school fails to make AYP for two consecutive years it is labeled as “Needs Improvement” and school officials must formulate and implement a “turnaround plan” for that school. Schools that remain on the Needs Improvement list for additional years must offer other public school choices and/or tutoring options to their students and parents. Five years on the Needs Improvement list could cause the school to face restructuring, including terminating staff and administration and turning the school over to a private operator.  

Pros and cons

Supporters of NCLB applaud the law’s intent and its attempt to bring accountability into the classroom. There are also those who say that NCLB has resulted in movement toward closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.

Many NCLB opponents are focused primarily on what many call “high-stakes testing.” They argue that the testing mandated by NCLB turns classrooms into test preparation centers and takes time away from subjects that aren’t tested, like social studies and science. They also question the expense of test administration and the feasibility of attaining the 100% proficiency goal. And there are some who say that last year’s school cheating scandals are a byproduct of an education system that leans too heavily on test scores.

Where it stands now

More schools were listed as failing last year than in any previous year since the passage of NCLB. Almost half (48%) of U.S.schools did not make AYP in 2011, according to the Center on Education Policy.

In August 2011, the Obama Administration announced that states can apply for waivers from provisions of NCLB if they meet other federal mandates.   Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said that the goal of the waivers is to provide flexibility for states while maintaining accountability and high expectations.

Critics argue that the issuance of waivers is an end-around move to circumvent a law passed by Congress, and some question its constitutionality. Others question whether the waivers amount to additional federal control of education.

In spite of a bipartisan Senate committee attempt to address changes to the law, Congress did not vote on NCLB in 2011.

With recent statistics indicating that more students than ever are enrolled in charter schools, there’s no end in sight to the ongoing debate over which is more effective in educating our kids: Traditional public or charter schools. A newly released report offers potential talking points for both sides.

On Wednesday, the Center for Education Reform  issued “The State of Charter Schools.”  According to the report, 1,036 of  about 6,700 charter schools – about 15% — have “closed for cause” since the first charter law was passed in 1992. Among the major reasons cited for those closures, according to the report, are financial, mismanagement, academic performance, facilities and district obstacles.

Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, called performance-based accountability “the hallmark of the charter school concept,” in the report, but also noted the importance of parental choice: More than 19 million parents “have had public school choices they would otherwise never have had,” according to Allen. This is especially the case for those who do not have the financial means to pay for a private education, she said.

In other charter schools news this week:

In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill into law that removes the cap on the number of charter schools in the state.  The measure also introduces new reporting and accountability standards for charters.  Charter schools continue to enjoy parental as well as political support on state and federal levels.

In Thursday’s post on The Educated Reporter, writer Emily Richmond focuses on heavy expectations being put upon charter schools. She reports that Chicago is adding 12 more charters in spite of a recent report calling performance at its current charter schools “lackluster.” Richmond asks why having the “luxury” of mandating parent involvement hasn’t translated into more clear-cut academic success. You can read the full post here.

Your thoughts on the topic

Here on the Schools of Thought blog, Steve Kastenbaum’s story “Charter schools: Wave of the future?” generated a lot of discussion. Parents and teachers weighed in on charter schools vs. traditional public schools, teachers’ unions, the “cherry-picking” of students vs. accepting all, poverty and parental involvement. Here’s a sampling of some of the comments from our readers:

Massachusetts has one of the strongest teacher unions in the country, makes little use of charter schools, and is consistently at the top of educational rankings with its students scoring higher in tests across the board. Charter schools are just a new fad in education. They are not needed. (from xpxpxp)

I think the point with that was these schools/students are more likely to succeed because the parents are more involved and that’s a huge factor in a child’s success. (from thenewsjunkie)

Charter schools were established here in the area where I live, and they failed miserably. The premise was good —  more structure, more teacher/student interaction, more expectation of appropriate conduct, etc. That is good, and you would think it would lead to a positive result. Unfortunately, it did not. The school administration soon began to reject certain lottery winners and “create” a student body more to their tastes. (from Sherri)

I’ve worked in public schools, both suburban and urban. Believe me, charter schools are the best way to go. Anyone with kids, do your kids a favor. Send them to charter schools. Don’t waste your time with public schools. (from Stayone)

If you notice the people who oppose charter schools have ulterior motives, they will talk about privatization, they will talk about how teachers’ jobs will be affected, they will say it’s a huge conspiracy to undermine public education. But as a parent, my vested interest is not political or financial. My priority is children. (from CIP parent)

I am a teacher… and I work in a public poverty school in Indiana. Last year, our school outperformed most every other elementary school in the country. We were one of one hundred schools that have “closed the achievement gap” in education. Most of our staff is part of the teacher’s union. I take so much offense to these comments from people saying that public school teachers or teachers’ unions members don’t care about the kids. That’s pure nonsense. (from Danny)

I teach in a public high school (math and science). We have to accept every student that comes our way and we’re under great pressure not to flunk even the worst students due to a complex state formula that cuts funding when a student doesn’t graduate on time or drops out. The same formula also penalizes us for poor test scores. There is a quirk in the formula that allows schools that graduate less than 30 students per year to avoid both of those penalties. The three competing charter schools in our district all graduate less than 30 per year, so there is no accountability for them. Their lottery system does randomly let students in, but they are allowed to set a bar that if the students can’t perform to a certain level, they are released and then become our problem. My fellow math teachers and I once compiled state test scores for a five year period and discovered that if we eliminated the bottom 5% of our students, our school’s scores would improve by 20%, but we can’t do that like the charter schools can. (from Dave – Michigan)

Public schools have failed miserably. Teachers, once underpaid and unappreciated became a strong union and like all unions have become a cancer. Do away with board of ed and teachers union. The charter schools are excelling way past public schools and all your excuses and denials won’t change that. (from DeeNYC)

Charters are very much needed! They offer a choice to students, and in many cases alleviate over crowding at traditional public schools. Listen, some kids don’t do well in a giant building with 1700 kids. Some kids need a smaller setting. The teacher to student ratio in charter schools typically is much lower that traditional schools. Charters offer extensive instruction in areas traditional schools may not — math and sciences for example — or the arts. Choices are a good thing. Open your mind. (from JoJo)

At Schools of Thought we will continue to cover this topic and look forward, as we always do, to hearing your opinions.

(CNN) Today the White House announced that nine states – California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington – will each receive a portion of $500 million awarded in the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.

Thirty-five states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico submitted proposals in the competition, outlining their plans to increase access to high-quality, early childhood education for low-income families. According to the Department of Education, the number and list of winners were determined by both the quality of applications and the funds available.  Each of the winning nine states will receive a different grant, depending on state population and proposals.

According to Jon Schnur, executive chairman and co-founder of America Achieves, the winning plans focus not only on academic outcomes, but on social and other skills important to early childhood education and development.  Schnur points out that this is a “watershed moment” because the states are acting on evidence of quality learning practices and their proposals were the result of bipartisan planning and action.

Professor Sharon Lynn Kagan, co-director of the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University, says this was an incredible competition with high quality submissions. She cites the announcement today as “extremely significant” because “it says that early learning is important.”

According to the CEP, an estimated 48% of American schools are not making Adequate Yearly Progress, or what is known as AYP. This number is an all-time high and up from the previous year’s estimate of 39%. The most recent data was collected in the 2010-11 school year and the report notes that these are just estimates provided by the states. The official numbers will be released next year.

Under NCLB, states are required to set proficiency goals for students through testing or other performance assessments and report those metrics to the Department of Education. The ultimate objective is to meet the NCLB goal of 100% proficiency for all students in math and reading by 2014.

In September, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that states could apply for waivers as a way to offer some flexibility regarding NCLB. That action has been met with both praise and criticism from policymakers, educators and parents.

Read the Center for Education Policy’s full report on AYP Results for 2010-2011.

(CNN) For students at the University of New Hampshire, dogs, home-baked cookies and even an organized scream may be part of the college finals experience.

To help reduce exam stress, the university brings dogs into its Dimond Library to interact with the students. The dogs are from ElderPet, a volunteer service organization that began as an Applied Animal Science project at UNH in 1982. The group helps to promote the human/animal bond through animal therapy and assistance for senior and disabled members of the community.

Having dogs available for students is part of the university’s “Frenzy-Free Finals” this week. The dogs are not allowed in some areas of the library like the Special Collections section, but they will find a spot to sit and students will go and sit next to them. Assistant dean for library administration Tracey Lauder says that last year, students were coming up to the desk and asking ‘Are the dogs here yet?’ She says that the dogs are great with the students and provide a study break for them, a chance to ‘let go’ and forget about the pressures of exams for a few minutes.

Student Taylor Frarie takes a break with a study buddy.

The library also hosts a cookie break on reading day; asking faculty, staff and parents to supply home-baked cookies for studying students. There’s also a “Primal Scream” in the library’s grand foyer, when students walk away from books and notes for a few minutes and let out an extended, resounding community yell. You can see video from previous screams here. It’s loud, but according to those who have participated in the past, a pretty good way to release stress.

And that’s not all – chair massages, yoga and meditation are all available at the university’s library during finals.

Lauder sees the stress-relief measures as important factors in the focus on student achievement. “The library strives to provide the resources students need for academic success – whether it be a book, video camera, digitized media or a gluten-free cookie and cuddle with a dog,” she says.

And along the way, there will be lessons learned (no pun intended).  Have you ever thought you knew – but were afraid to ask — what AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) means? Are you wondering how to make the most of a 30-minute parent-teacher conference?  Are you a teacher who is being challenged to
meet the needs of a greater student population with fewer resources?  Are you a student who is weighing the pros and cons of a college education?  Well,
stay tuned.  These and other questions will be addressed in Schools of Thought.

In addition, a student’s educational experience often includes those life lessons that aren’t components of the curriculum. Our kids learn from participating in extracurricular activities like sports, clubs and service.  But they also learn about life from challenges that they might face daily, such as relationships, family
problems, bullying and financial concerns. There are teachable moments and opportunities for learning there as well. Our team of journalists, educators, parents and guest bloggers will address these issues, too.

And we’ll attempt to provide some insight into the bigger questions confronting education: How do we convey knowledge that the next generation needs in order to take its place in a world of new economic and social realities? How do we do our best, as educators and parents, to guide our students through their life challenges?

As a parent and former teacher, I know (and you do, too) that no one has all the answers.  We can find a lot that’s right – and wrong – with how we educate our kids.  But in our search for answers, there could be aspects of different educational experiences that offer solutions for your school, your child or you. There might be something you see here that gets you thinking, ignites an idea, nudges you to offer a comment.  We welcome your thoughts and story ideas at  SchoolsofThought@cnn.com or send us an iReport.

Which brings us full circle to what Schools of Thought is –an exchange of information, experiences and ideas. After all, isn’t that what education is all about?

– Donna Krache, editor

Read the official announcement.