Has Teach for America Solved the Teacher Conundrum?
Cross-posted with MotherJones.com The Atlantic has a story in its January/February issue promisingly titled “What Makes a Great Teacher?” What indeed? As someone who follows education reform closely and occasionally writes about it, I clicked through to the article, eager to see what the writer, Amanda Ripley, had to say on one of the most puzzling, beguiling, confounding questions in all of education. What I found was far from inspiring or groundbreaking, and to be... Read More
Det News op-ed: ‘Mayoral control isn’t the answer for Detroit schools’
A recent op-ed of mine appeared in one of the big Michigan papers, the Detroit News, not too long ago. It’s about why mayoral control—a bad idea in the first place, I believe—is an even worse idea in a city like Detroit. Education Secretary Arne Duncan came to the Motor City in May to peddle his mayoral-control message to Detroit Public School leaders that, quite frankly, are so shellshocked at this point they might buy into anything for their crumbling city and schools. Hold... Read More
