TeacherJay's EduBlog » school funding

The BioBus

teacherjay — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:13:41 +0000

The BioBus, a rolling science laboratory, could help to bring hands-on science education to underfunded programs. You can help the bus to keep rolling with just a few clicks. [...]

School (District) Size

teacherjay — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:08:40 +0000

Although conventional wisdom tells us that small schools and small districts are the best way to go, that may no always be the case. Last week, the Open Education blog posted an article on the school district consolidation taking place in Maine. I ahve experience with large and small school districts beign measured by student population [...]

No More Gifted Students

teacherjay — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:24:03 +0000

There are no more “gifted” students… at least not in Montgomery County, Maryland. Officials at the school district of one of the most affluent suburbs in the nation have voted to drop the label that many parents have fought hard to get for their children. This post takes a quick look at what gifted education [...]

Head Start Falls Further Behind

teacherjay — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:23:56 +0000

In an Op/Ed in the New York Times published a week ago, contributors Douglas J. Besharov and Douglas M. Call go on the offensive against the Head Start program and what they see as a lack of progress. Without providing a clear argument as to what is causing the failings of the program they criticize [...]

(Economically) Stimulating Students

teacherjay — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:36:50 +0000

On Feb. 10, I watched President Obama speak in a town hall meeting in my home town (on TV, I wasn’t one of the few who could stand in line for 24 hours to get tickets) and my local newspaper reported on it. People are out of work and many are losing their homes in [...]

Opposition to Zero to Five Plan

teacherjay — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:23:59 +0000

As mentioned in a previous post, there are those out there that are opposed to Obama’s agenda on preschool education. Although many of the arguments are solidly formed and to be expected, there are a few out there who seem to get public education confused with propaganda.

While I would welcome healthy debate from those opposed to [...]

Obama on Preschool Education

teacherjay — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:57:25 +0000

The new president has talked a lot about what he wants to do to change public education. I first mentioned some of his ideas in a previous post, but over time I will be writing a bit more to explain what he has said, or in some cases, pledged to do. This time, the focus [...]

ELL Students to Have Day in Supreme Court

teacherjay — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:29:33 +0000

The State of Arizona has been ordered by a federal judge to increase funding of programs for English-Language Learners (ELLs) or else face fines up to $2 million per day. Reported by Education Week, the case will soon be heard by the US Supreme Court. The situation has gotten so complicated that even Ken W. Starr [...]

The American Dream and the Public Schools

teacherjay — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:31:19 +0000

Jennifer Hochschild and Nathan B. Scovronick teamed up to show the ways in which the public education system advances, but also hinders, the ability to pursue the “American Dream”, in their 2003 book The American Dream and the Public Schools. After first coming up with a definition of what the American dream is, they explore what Americans [...]

Whatever It Takes

teacherjay — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:05:51 +0000

As an editor of the New York Times Magazine, Paul Tough is also a leading author on the issues of poverty, education, and the achievement gap. This new book takes a look at the idea Geoffrey Canada, the President and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, has for improving the success rates of African-American students, who, through [...]