by David Safier I wrote this morning mildly praising a column by Josh Brodesky about the Ethnic Studies program. Though I didn't agree with everything in the column, I was pleased to see it in the Star, especially from someone who doesn't have a dog in the hunt. His defense of the Ethnic Studies program … Read more
by David Safier Josh Brodesky and I have had our differences lately (he said, understatedly), but he's got a column today worth reading about Ethnic Studies. It's not that I agree with everything in the column. It's that Brodesky has some insider understanding — he went to Tucson High and knows the ethnic and educational … Read more
by David Safier This is an interesting observation which, like all observations about education, needs to be stored away and evaluated rather than being accepted outright. That being said . . . As part of a Gates study, thousands of students evaluated their teachers in confidential questionnaires. The students' evaluations tended to agree with the … Read more
by David Safier If you haven't worked in education for decades like I have, you may not have noticed, but it's as predictable as the sunrise. Whenever there's an economic downturn, bad schools are blamed as the culprit and education reform becomes a huge issue. It's no coincidence that the problems with education are making … Read more
by David Safier Imagine you're a parent in Compton, CA, with your children attending a public school rife with all the inner city problems like poor test scores, low high school graduation and major discipline problems. If the principal, district superintendent and teachers' union tell you to be patient, that they're working on the problem, … Read more