George Will reflects on Education Lessons We Left Behind with a history lesson on education and education reform in the 25 years since ’A Nation at Risk,’ including: Sen. Moynihan’s prescience down the years, the "seismic" Coleman report, the rise of teachers’ collective bargaining, the birth of the U.S. Department of Education, Chester Finn’s take on No Child Left Behind, and what it’s all meant for our nation and our kids. Conclusion: "A nation at risk? Now more than ever. "

Jeanne Allen looks at the twin roles of information and choice in turning back the tide of academic mediocrity in the United States. The most fundamental form of family involvement in children’s education is parents’ ability to choose their children’s school. Informed school choices are enabled by reliable data on school performance. Good school choices are enabled by the availability of good choices in schools. "To do that, we must continue to uncover what works and what does not….  There is work to be done."

White House Summit Will Highlight Religious Schools
New York Sun, NY, April 24, 2008
President Bush will highlight the increasing alarm over the plight of the nation’s inner-city Catholic schools today with a summit at the White House.

Re-reading ‘A Nation at Risk’
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 24, 2008
Twenty-five years after “A Nation at Risk” warned about the "rising tide of mediocrity" in U.S. public schools, the landmark federal report seems strangely prophetic — and eerily descriptive of some of Los Angeles’ woes today.

Clueless in America
New York Times, NY, April 22, 2008
At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.

Charter Bill Irks District
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, April 24, 2008
New legislation that gives state-appointed charter schools more access than ever to local education dollars has riled Decatur city school officials so much that they want an opinion from their attorney.

Strickland Owes Clarity On Education
Columbus Dispatch, OH, April 24, 2008
Strickland then demonstrated that he fully intended to keep his promise to the teachers union when he unveiled his first biennium budget. He called for an ironclad moratorium on charter schools…

With Its Charter School Struggling, Union Should Be Learning
New York Daily News, NY, April 24, 2008
Many school reformers were unhappy when the United Federation of Teachers, the local teachers union, opened its own charter school in East New York back in 2005. I was delighted.
(Hat tip to Whitney Tilson.)

Magna Charters
Philadelphia Daily News, PA , April 24, 2008
The School Reform Commission’s decision last week not to renew the Germantown Settlement and Renaissance charter schools showed that the SRC…has gotten some backbone when it comes to its 61 charters.

Bill Likened To Voucher System Fails Passage
Tulsa World, OK , April 24, 2008
A bill to give tax credits to corporations and individuals who pay the tuition of low-income students attending private schools failed in the House on Wednesday.

Bill Would Give Parents More School Choice
News10, CA, April 24, 2008
A Sacramento-area legislator has introduced a bill that would allow parents whose children attend low-performing schools to transfer their kids to another school or receive a tax credit.

Four More Southern California Charter Schools Are Certified
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 23, 2008
The schools were added to a list, now up to 73, of "certified charter schools," singled out for their adherence to high academic, fiscal, ethical and governance standards.

"’Nation at Risk’: The best thing or the worst thing for education?" asks Gregg Toppo in USA Today. Good question, and an interesting article. Toppo reports on some of the policy developments that came in the wake of that report’s denouncement of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in education - things like a rise in federal education spending, and what Paul Houston of the American Association of School Administrators denounces as "a cottage industry of national reports by people saying how bad things are." But what about the kids? What’s happened to them in the 25 years since "A Nation at Risk" raised the alarm? (A look in on the topic 10 years ago - 15 years after the initial report - offered continued cause for concern.)
 
So, in a nod to the rigors of AP and the rhetoric of Reagan, we ask:
Are our children better educated now than they were 25 years ago? In your answer, discuss issues such as assessment, accountability, access, choice, funding, teacher quality, curriculum, standards, or other education efforts and issues and their relative relevance to the question.

‘Nation At Risk’: The Best Thing Or The Worst Thing For Education?
USA Today, April 23, 2008
Twenty-five years ago this week, Americans awoke to a forceful little report that, depending on your point of view, either ruined public education or saved it.

Choice Surges Despite States’ Fiscal Woes
Education Week, MD, April 22, 2008
…the school choice movement is gaining some ground as legislatures advance proposals that would indirectly funnel taxpayer money to families who want to send their children to private schools.

Charter School Movement Wins The Education War In District
D.C. Examiner, D.C., April 23, 2008
The war between the charter school movement and D.C. public schools is over. Charters have won, if victory means that charter schools are thriving and here to stay.

Arizona Educators Can Learn From Florida
East Valley Tribune, AZ, April 23, 2008
Startling statistics show that with abundant school choice and systemic education reform, Florida’s Hispanic students already eclipse the average academic performance of many states.

School Choices For Special-Needs Kids Is Matter Of Appeal
Tucson Citizen, AZ, April 23, 2008
In a state such as Arizona, where citizens value their independence, it is inconceivable that the state constitution would favor a bureaucrat’s right to choose a child’s school over the right of parents to pick the best learning environment for their child.

Charters Are A Lever For School Reform
Record-Searchlight, CA, April 22, 2008
Charter schools are the best thing to have happened to the public school system in over a century.

No Child Left Behind Faces Changes
New York Times, NY, April 22, 2008
Unable to push education fixes through Congress, the Bush administration is taking its own pen to the No Child Left Behind law.

Failing Schools
Evansville Courier & Press, IN, April 22, 2008
With charter schools, failing to meet standards means the charter could be revoked. If that contract isn’t fulfilled, action is taken. Shouldn’t the same be true with traditional public schools?

Views Mixed On Private-School Bill
Tulsa World, OK, April 22, 2008
Rural lawmakers are skeptical about a pending bill to help low-achieving urban students attend private schools, the bill’s House author confirmed Monday.

UFT Charter School Leader Will Leave After Clash With Teacher
New York Sun, NY, April 22, 2008
Three years later, "oasis" remains the goal, but nearly everyone involved concedes the school isn’t there yet.

Minner Clears Way For Single-Sex Charter School
News Journal, DE, April 21, 2008
With a ceremonial stroke of the pen, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner today signed legislation that clears the way for Delaware’s first single-gender charter school to open.

Pay Incentive Can Lure Teachers To Poor Schools
San Jose Mercury News, CA, April 21, 2008
Last week, the Senate Education Committee took a small but monumental step when it passed a bill providing districts with a way to pay higher salaries to math and science teachers in troubled schools. The full Legislature should approve it.