Wall Street, schools and merit pay
by David Safier A Seattle Times columnist has an interesting thought piece on teacher merit pay, comparing it to bonuses paid to Wall Street execs. If pay for performance is such a good idea, how did Wall Street's bonus babies get us into such a mess? It's a good question, and part of a larger … Read more
G.I. hearts G.N.
by David Safier Where does the Goldwater Institute go for inspiration on the issues of taxation and the cutting government spending? Grover Norquist. That's right. The same Grover Norquist who gave us this bit of wisdom: My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where … Read more
E.D.Hirsch, testing and cultural literacy
by David Safier A few commenters have written about a column by E.D. Hirsch in this morning's NY Times concerning standardized reading tests. The commenters found themselves agreeing with someone who at least one of them has reservations about. Let me weigh in. E.D. Hirsch is the big "cultural literacy" guy. He's conservative in the sense … Read more
Those D.C. test scores
by David Safier This morning I posted about a Nicholas Kristof article praising D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee's "reform" agenda. I noted his statement, "Test results showed more educational gains last year [2008] than in the previous four years put together," and said I would look into possible reasons for the gains. If they're legit, great. … Read more
Reagan: The Great American Socialist
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: In a Truthout Perspective commentary, author Ravi Batra exposes Saint Ronnie Reagan for what he truly was, a Robin Hood in reverse Socialist who redistributed wealth from the poor and middle class to the most affluent Americans. Reagan: The Great American Socialist Socialism has been much in the news for some months. … Read more
Red State Socialism
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: One of my favorite economics bloggers, Jon Perr over at Crooks and Liars blog, posted this provocative report: In just their latest posturing for the 2012 Republican presidential race, governors Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Mark Sanford (R-SC) joined Texas' Rick Perry, Mississippi's Haley Barbour and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal in announcing they would … Read more
Kristof, Rhee and “education reform”
by David Safier I experienced a dozen conflicting emotions as I read Nicholas Kristof's NY Times, column, Education's Ground Zero this morning. I'm on Kristof's side of most issues. When I'm not, I know I can't dismiss him. Today, though, his column has echoes of the ideas conservatives have been pushing about education. Hence, the conflict. … Read more
