by David Safier This has been going on for over a decade, but it's moving to center stage. Poorly performing — often called "failing" — schools sometimes fire all the people who work there. Then members of the old staff can reapply, if they wish, with no guarantee they'll be rehired. There's a story in … Read more
by David Safier I was thinking about that 1-to-1 teacher-to-bureaucrat ratio the Goldwater Institute has been throwing around. Let's ignore for a moment the ridiculous term "bureaucrat" and just look at the ratio: one non-teacher for every teacher. I thought back to the high school where I taught, outside Portland, Oregon, and started counting up … Read more
by David Safier It's official. According to the Goldwater Institute, the definition of "bureaucrat" includes bus drivers, maintenance workers and food service workers — I think. I got a [kind of] definitive letter in the mail on an official piece of G.I. stationery. Here's the word from G.I. "We believe the term bureaucrat accurately describes … Read more
by David Safier I'm throwing this out as an open question for the comments section. Should there be ways for students to leave high school early, say at the end of their sophomore or junior years? These aren't new ideas, but they're being tossed around again, and not just in academic or educational circles. One … Read more
by David Safier No word from the Goldwater Institute in my snail mail today. Will G.I. admit Matthew Ladner made an error when he wrote our school districts have ""an almost 1-to-1 teacher to bureaucrat ratio"? I guess I'll have to wait another day to find out. I'm reasonably certain the letter will tell me … Read more