New Whiteboard Advisors Education Insider survey out (pdf). Fun look at who the next Secretary of Education might be in a Clinton or Trump administration. Also a lot on higher education policy and testing and a look at what to expect in education attention for the rest of the year.
John Troy on why he works in education.
I have taught in Newark’s district schools for 17 years. Currently, I am in a school that works on behalf of the students. I would love to say that this is a consistent practice; but that is not the case in many schools…
…This is why I am also one of the thousands of Newark’s parents who have chosen to send my child to a Newark public charter school. My son is 13 years old and attends Link Community Charter School…
If you think that hedge funds are the root of all evil you will be happy to see how much education money is going into fighting them. My hypothesis: This debate is like the one that plays out in a lot of dysfunctional states overseas where some external bogeyman (often the U.S.) is constantly trotted out as the real problem basic services can’t be delivered and things are a mess. There’s plenty not to like about finance these days but they’re not to blame for the quality of the schools.
Also, when you read this 74 look at the hedge fund debate it’s impossible to miss how much New York politics drive national education politics these days because of the strong AFT-UFT ties.
New Grad Nation report with data, a look at key challenges, and where the nation is on the 2020 graduation rate goal.
Debate over GMU’s decision to name its law school after the late Justice Scalia. Jay Greene and Mike Petrilli are debating how much test scores should be used to evaluate schools in a choice environment. As I’ve mentioned, among the many ironies in the education conversation today is how it’s school choice that is providing the most robust evidence for critics of test-based accountability.  But they can’t use it because, well, politics.
The Spotlight team is now looking at sexual abuse at private New England boarding schools:
So far this year, at least eight New England private schools have launched or disclosed sexual misconduct investigations. At least five of the probes — at St. George’s School in Rhode Island, Taft School in Connecticut, Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Thayer Academy in Braintree, and Concord Academy in Concord — have led to staff members being placed on administrative leave or fired.
The troubles go way beyond those institutions. At least 67 private schools in New England have faced accusations since 1991 that staffers sexually abused or harassed more than 200 students, the Spotlight Team found through an examination of court cases, as well as interviews with alumni, relatives, school officials, and attorneys.
Do colleges need more skin in the game on higher ed finance?
In this true parable of 2016 I see another worrisome lesson, albeit one also possibly relevant to Trump’s appeal: That in America today, the only thing more terrifying than foreigners is…math.
