Developing story: Deposit-gate
by David Safier Yes, Deposit-gate. Create a hypenated word with "gate" at the end, and everyone knows what kind of story it is (though, I wonder if people remember that Watergate had nothing to do with Water.) Yesterday I wrote a story about newly elected Rep. Vic Williams (R, LD-26) not returning a $400 rental … Read more
D.C. Charter school successes, at $12,000+ per student
by David Safier Washington D.C. has lots of charter schools, and a Washington Post article says their students are surpassing the regular public school students in test scores. If so, they're accomplishing something that hasn't been accomplished elsewhere, since most studies say charters don't exceed other public schools in student achievement. I don't know how rigorous the … Read more
Iraq Vet Sues Vic Williams for Unreturned Rental Deposit
by David Safier When Tasha Downum returned from Iraq in June, 2008, she took her five year old son, her mother and her grandmother on a two week vacation to Newport Beach, California. Her son had never seen the ocean, and after a year in Iraq's heat and sand, she was looking forward to being … Read more
Educational “establishment” and “reformers” redux
by David Safier A few days ago, I complained about how the media is using the terms "establishment" and "reformer" in the current educational debate. "Establishment" has come to refer to teachers, teacher unions and liberal education profs. "Reformers" is used to refer to people who agree with the Bushies on education — merit pay … Read more
How we can be more like Finland
by David Safier According to Matt Yglesias, in Finland, teacher education programs turn away five applicants for every one they accept, and the applicants typically come from the top half of upper secondary schools which themselves only basically the top half of Finnish primary school graduates (the rest go to vocational schools). Why? It's not … Read more
Stupidest. President. Ever.
by David Safier According to an AP article, Bush was "reflective" during a speech at Texas A&M. Listen to what passes for reflection in this deeply shallow and uncaring man. According to the article, Bush told graduates that "popularity is capricious and what matters is whether they think they’ve done what is right." Not whether … Read more
More on school tax credit suggestions
by David Safier The Citizen ran articles yesterday and today about the public school tax credit. (Here is my explanation about what it is and how to give a donation and get 100% refunded to you when you pay your taxes. Remember, you must make your donation by Dec. 31 to get a credit on … Read more
