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CAT Tracks for February 11, 2011
POLITICS MAKES FOR STRANGE BEDFELLOWS |
...and evidently so does being attacked as "failures" by politicians.
Since we know that Obama-Duncan don't/won't listen to teachers, it's nice to add another group of voices to the growing chorus crying out to "Stop the Madness!"
From the Washington Post...
The Answer Sheet
School board conferees get tough with Duncan
Education Secretary Arne Duncan got an earful from some attendees of a National School Boards Association conference.
According to Michele McNeil of Education Week, Duncan on Monday appeared at the association's 38th annual Federal Relations Network Conference to give a speech and answer questions from the crowd.
That's when, as McNeil wrote, it became clear just "how fed up" some association members are with federal reform policies.
Wrote McNeil: "Among the questions: Why do you continue to focus on incentive pay for teachers when research shows it doesn't work? How is it fair to judge a school district full of students who don't speak English well on an English-only test, for purposes of determining which schools qualify for School Improvement Grants? And — in reference to the Obama administration's focus on competitive grants — Why should children compete for their education?"
When Duncan was asked whether he would give waivers to school districts to avoid sanctions under No Child Left Behind if Congress fails to remove some of the more punitive aspects of the law in time, he dodged the question.
There's more, which you can read here, at Education Week.
By Valerie Strauss
