You’ve been called a “great guy” by democrats who think you will help them grow school reform.  You’ve “made a lot of progress,” say university types.  You’re the “compromise candidate,” because the unions have endorsed you.

Now comes the hard part.

Frankly, you’re one of the few national education leaders I do not know, which gives me some rare objectivity in the matter. That, and the fact that my organization has no horse in the race, no member group to protect, no current ties to you at all.

So, let me offer some fresh advice about what you can expect – and what might take you by surprise.

1) Everyone will want to claim you as his own.  Allowing them to do so will compromise your efforts.

More “Letter to Arne Duncan, Next Secretary of Education”

Sphere: Related Content

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Key To Better Schools

Washington Post, D.C., December 29, 2008

In key ways, discussion of school reform in the District is missing the forest for the trees. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that reform begins and ends with the city agency overseeing the school district.

School Master Plan Moves Forward

New Orleans City Business, LA, December 29, 2008

Hurricane Katrina created the opportunity for the state’s education leaders to drastically overhaul Orleans Parish’s long broken public school system, opening the door for an unprecedented wave of charter school activity.

Obama Picks a Moderate on Education

Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2008

Considering the reviews from the right and the left, you might be confused about whether Mr. Duncan is a signal that Mr. Obama’s administration is lining up behind the reformers or supporting the status quo.

A Stellar Choice For Education

Indianapolis Star, IN, December 26, 2008

In putting together his Cabinet, President-elect Barack Obama has made some risky choices — but at least one could be a slam-dunk. Obama’s choice of Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as secretary of education looks like good news all around.

Good Teachers Make A Difference — But What Makes A Good Teacher?

Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 27, 2008

Is it the training they get, the certification conferred by the state, advanced degrees earned or years of experience tallied? Or is it something more nebulous? “We’ve been looking into this for a century,” said Adam Gamoran, interim dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Save the Economy: Bail Out Our Kids

Christian Science Monitor, MA, December 26, 2008

The challenge before us is stark: If we do not move significantly more underserved youth to college and ensure that they have the skills required in the 21st-century marketplace, we will face a diminished tax base, a generation that’s undereducated and unemployable, and total erosion of America’s position in the global economy.

End the Education Wars With A New Strategy

Providence Journal, RI, December 28, 2008

As the nation’s leaders make plans to pull troops out of Iraq, they also need to negotiate a truce in the education wars that affect many schools like an emotional dust storm.

Enrollment Down 30,000 At Florida’s Public Schools

Miami Herald, FL, December 26, 2008

Enrollment in Florida public schools has dropped for the third straight year, state figures show. After peaking at about 2.6 million students in the 2005-06 academic year, enrollment is down about 30,000, with more than half of those kids leaving during the past year.

School Choice A Loser In Court Decision

Orlando Sentinel, FL, December 26, 2008

With multiple charter school authorizers comes greater charter school accountability. The creation of the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission was a significant step in attaining that outcome. However, the recent decision…

Volunteering Is A Key To Success In Charter School Formula

Naples Daily News, FL, December 25, 2008

Though charter schools are publicly funded, they are operated by private companies, and therefore don’t have to accept the re-enrollment of every student. As such, some area charter schools have adopted a policy more commonly found in private schools: requiring volunteer hours.

Georgia’s Online Academy Popular, But Is It Effective?

Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 26, 2008

The online charter school started in 2007 and has quietly become one of the largest public schools in the state. It teaches about 4,400 elementary and middle school students from 163 of the state’s 180 school districts.

Private Schools Expect More Financial Aid Requests

Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 26, 2008

Metro Atlanta’s private schools don’t expect a big drop in student enrollment next school year because of the recession. But headmasters say the weak economy will be felt on their campuses. More families will need financial aid. Bulldozers will be silent because construction projects have been put on hold.

Private-School Scholarship Program Off To Slow Start

Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 26, 2008

Georgia GOAL is one of 10 student scholarship organizations created in the wake of legislation approved early this year creating tax credits for individuals and corporations that donate to groups that offer scholarships for children to attend private schools.

Christian Schools On Rise

The Daily Advertiser, LA, December 29, 2008

Christian schools in Lafayette Parish that focus on a Bible-based curriculum have grown rapidly over the past decade with four of the 10 Christian schools founded within the last five years.

Charters Still Show Disparities In Special-Needs

Times Picayune, LA, December 27, 2008

New Orleans public schools had mixed results in bolstering services for the thousands of children with special needs in the city during the past year, according to educators and recent numbers released by the state.

Room For Growth

Times Picayune, LA, December 27, 2008

Thousands of New Orleans children who were trapped in dismal public schools before Katrina have been rescued by a plethora of educational options afforded to them since the storm.

Charter Schools’ Problems Surfacing

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 29, 2008

When an unusual coalition of Republicans and Philadelphia Democrats led by State Rep. Dwight Evans joined forces to pass a law bringing charter schools to Pennsylvania, they spoke in glowing terms about this “innovative” alternative to troubled public schools.

‘Cyber’ Charters A Special Challenge

Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 29, 2008

The first online charter schools began educating students in their homes a decade ago amid considerable controversy. Several school districts and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association filed lawsuits, challenging their legality.

Correcting Misinformation About Charter Schools And Their Funding

Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 28, 2008

Virtual schools are public schools — and they’re highly accountable to the public — perhaps more so than traditional public schools. Charters can be revoked and schools forced to close if they perform poorly.

Springfield Lawmaker Vows To Fight Voucher Attempt

Columbia Missourian, MO, December 25, 2008

A former Springfield educator now serving in the Missouri House says she’ll fight any attempt by the GOP-controlled legislature to set up a school vouchers program.

Offer Vouchers for Special Education: It Would Save Money and Improve Quality

New York Daily News, NY, December 29, 2008

With the financial crisis compelling Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and other officials around the state to make cuts that have the least impact on services to which we have become accustomed, now is the time for them to give a special-education voucher program a second look.

New York’s New Choices Raise Stakes for Middle School

New York Times, NY, December 25, 2008

As the Bloomberg administration has created hundreds of new schools, centralized the admissions process and publicized the options, there is a wave of panic among many parents of fifth graders facing the next step.

Blame-Charters Crowd Needs Lesson In Competition

Indianapolis Star, IN, December 29, 2008

More than 1,000 students, according to a recent Indiana University study, are on waiting lists to attend charter schools in Indianapolis. Across the state, the market for charters has grown from zero six years ago to about 50 schools today.

Michigan Achieves E-Learning Success

The Grand Rapids Press, MI, December 27, 2008

Virtual education in Michigan is generating some big bandwidth buzz nationally. The state has the country’s second-best online education program, according to the first-ever national survey of online learning policies and practices.

Lifting Cap On Charter Schools Would Allow Them To Cherry-Pick Students

Grand Rapids Press, MI, December 28, 2008

Lawmakers should not approve an amendment by Sen. Wayne Kuipers that effectively lifts the legislative cap on Charter Schools, as The Press has proposed

Charter Plan Offers Classroom Ideas For All Schools

Gloucester Daily Times, MA, December 29, 2008

It’s clear that there are now some storm clouds gathering over the charter school movement across the state — let alone over a proposal for a Gloucester Community Arts Charter School.

Idaho Charters Face Hurdles Finding Homes

Deseret News, UT, December 28, 2008

In a state that has embraced alternatives to the traditional classroom, 31 public charter schools have found themselves setting up shop in everything from a former plant nursery and pet store in Coeur d’Alene, to a strip mall in Garden City and former athletic center in Boise.

Scramble Is On For Magnet Slots

Los Angeles Daily News, CA, December 28, 2008

Parents have analyzed test scores, toured the campuses and narrowed down their options, and with the deadline just days away, all that’s left is to file that application.

Tulsa Board Should Have Nixed Charter School Suit

The Oklahoman, OK, December 26, 2008

TULSA’S school board members had a great opportunity last week to swallow their pride and back off a misguided lawsuit targeting charter schools. Instead, they’ll keep playing Scrooge.

School Choice Can Work

The Capital-Journal, KS, December 27, 2008

I am writing about consumer-driven school choice: allowing parents and students to determine where to receive an education. There is one chief reason why the public higher education system works and why the K-12 system doesn’t: competition.

Charter Schools Tackle Challenges Head-On

The Commercial Appeal, TN, December 26, 2008

Memphis’ charter schools are doing a fantastic job quenching that thirst for knowledge and putting the tools for success in the hands of our city’s youngsters.

Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A Test for School Reform
Washington Post, D.C., December 23, 2008
Every politician and appointee seems to have all the answers to our public schools problems. It amazes me how few of these people have actually taught in those schools.

New Education Leader Must Focus on NCLB
Duncan Wrong Education Choice
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 23, 2008
Along with admiration for Arne Duncan’s impressive reforms while Chicago’s school chief, Barack Obama has also expressed respect for his inside jump shot. As predicted, the president-elect last week tapped Duncan, his close friend and basketball buddy, to serve as his education secretary.

Will Arne Duncan Be the Bold Education Reformer Obama Needs?
December 23, 2008, Huffington Post, NY
It’s been like a crowded basketball court these past couple of weeks for school improvement advocates with more than a few elbows thrown as everyone vied for the "bold reformer" territory.

D.C. Solicits Development For 11 Former School Sites
Washington Post, D.C, December 23, 2008
The administration of D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said yesterday that it is seeking to redevelop 11 now-shuttered public schools, inviting developers to submit proposals that can include retail space, offices and high-priced and affordable housing.

Union: Florida Drops In U.S. Ranking Of Teacher Pay
Tampa Tribune, FL, December 22, 2008
Florida lost ground in a ranking of teacher pay compiled by the nation’s largest teachers union.

Ol’ Ed Goedhart Had a Bill … EIEIO!
Las Vegas Review - Journal, NV, December 23, 2008
There might be 50 ways to leave your lover, but even Albert Einstein himself would have trouble adding up all the excuses the left uses to explain why so many of the government-run schools suck eggs.

Lower-Paid Teachers Often Paired With Poorest Kids
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 23, 2008
Teachers with lower salaries are concentrated in the highest-poverty elementary schools in most of Ohio’s largest districts, according to a report released yesterday by the Education Trust.

More Charters Coming To New Orleans
KATC, LA, December 22, 2008
The state Recovery School District, which took over scores of troubled New Orleans public schools after Hurricane Katrina, is moving ahead with plans to turn more of those schools into independently run charter schools.

Sphere: Related Content

In Cramped Spaces, Small School Benefits
New York Times, NY, December 21, 2008
And throughout the country, as large failing high schools are replaced with small ones and independently run charters, the days when a school was defined by its building, with its principal as mayor, are starting to go the way of the slide rule and card catalog.

Duncan Perfect For Education
Miami Herald, FL, December 22, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, a senior advisor to Barack Obama dismissed the argument raging at the time over the choice the president-elect faced in naming a secretary of education.

Striking Against Students
Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2008
Teachers unions routinely claim that the interests of students are their top priority. So we would be interested to hear how the Pennsylvania affiliate of the National Education Association explains the proliferation of teacher walkouts in the middle of the school year.

Campaign Finance Office to Probe Charter Officials
Washington Post, D.C., December 20, 2008
The District’s Office of Campaign Finance will investigate whether two members of the city’s Public Charter School Board violated conflict-of-interest laws when they or their companies pursued private business involving schools they regulate.

Improving D.C.’s Public and Charter Schools
Washington Post, D.C., December 22, 2008
The District’s public school system must refocus if it hopes to make real and sustainable educational changes ["A Union of Interests," editorial, and "Charter Schools Make Gains on Tests," front page, Dec. 15].

D.C. Charter Schools Show Choice Works For Kids
D.C. Examiner, D.C., December 21, 2008
School choice works. It’s that simple. That is the obvious conclusion from the Washington Post’s analysis earlier this week confirming independent reports that District children in charter schools are vastly outperforming students in the city’s traditional public schools.

Education Matters: Readers Have Their Say
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 22, 2008
Obama gets school choice. Why not everyone? Maureen Downey is right that nothing will take the place of a bright and energetic teacher and a student who comes to school ready to learn. However, she is wrong to call those wanting vouchers "snake-oil salesmen."

Program Gives Students Options
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, December 20, 2008
The numbers are hard to refute. Florida taxpayers saved $38.9 million last year while also providing different learning options to 21,493 children from poor and working-class families.

A Different Approach
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 22, 2008
Frustrated parents, taxpayers and politicians often ask: "Why aren’t schools improving faster when we’ve pumped so much more money into them? Why do students still perform so poorly?"

More New Orleans Schools To Convert To Charter Status
Times-Picayune, LA, December 21, 2008
The Recovery School District is forging ahead with long-range plans to give charter status — and thus more independence — to many of the schools it still operates in New Orleans.

Private Schools Aren’t Feeling Effects Of Economic Downturn
Shreveport Times, LA, December 22, 2008
And despite tough economic times, the private Catholic school doesn’t anticipate fewer attendees at next year’s event. In fact, some local private schools expect steady or increased enrollments, while others are laying the groundwork to open new tuition-based schools next year — in spite of the country’s economic recession.

Bill Looks To Streamline Charter-School Process
Wyoming Tribune, WY, December 22, 2008
The Legislature’s Joint Education Committee will sponsor legislation intended to create a clearer and faster process for making decisions on charter schools.

California Private Schools Rethink Tuition Practices In Economic Downturn
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 21, 2008
Lowering tuition is almost unheard of in the private-school world, where the prevailing strategy is to increase annual fees each year but make more financial aid available. The current economic collapse, however, is causing some schools to rethink the status quo.

Proposed Moratorium on Charter Schools Stirs Debate
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 22, 2008
Indianapolis Public Schools is supporting a state lawmaker’s push for a moratorium on new charter schools, once again sparking impassioned debate over the merits of charter schools and the extent to which they have harmed school districts.

Charter Schools, Old And New, Still A District Sore Point
Charleston Post Courier, SC, December 21, 2008
The first secondary school in the state to convert to a charter, it had to pass some tough initial tests, including two-thirds votes of both faculty and parents. Now in its fifth year, why is its charter status still an issue with some school board members?

Sphere: Related Content

A Choice to Redefine the Schools Debate
Washington Post, D.C., December 19, 2008
Because Duncan gets along with teachers unions but is also seen as a reformer, his selection was interpreted as a politically shrewd, split-the-difference choice.

Obama’s Can-Do Education Pick
Christian Science Monitor, MA, December 19, 2008
Teacher unions and education activists alike give high marks to Barack Obama’s nominee for education secretary, Arne Duncan. They praise the chief of Chicago public schools for his pragmatism, diplomacy, and, most of all, his record. But here’s another reason to cheer: He improved student achievement despite money constraints.

Happy Birthday, Charter Schools
City Journal, December 18, 2008
Today marks the tenth anniversary of New York’s Charter Schools Act, which authorized the creation of 100 charter schools in the state. Over the past decade, charter schools—public schools that may operate independently of local school districts—have gone from a quaint think-tank idea to a mass movement with broad parental support and bipartisan backing.

Rod Paige: In Crafting School Reform, Buy In From Teachers Vital
Houston Chronicle, TX, December 18, 2008
As the Obama administration takes office promising sweeping change, I have a suggestion for the new secretary of education: Get our best teachers involved in policy making. Years of working for improvements have taught me that without their involvement, changes in the local school too often won’t take root.

Matthew Ladner: Florida Schools Earn Their Money
Vero Beach Press-Journal, FL, December 18, 2008
Here’s hoping President-elect Barack Obama will draw lessons from the 50 states currently serving as laboratories of education reform as he tries to improve American schools. Florida, in particular, has enjoyed enormous success in boosting both early childhood literacy and the percentage of minority students prepared for college.

Funding Solution Awaited
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, December 19, 2008
Strickland will appear in Cincinnati today for an invitation-only, televised forum at WCET studios to discuss school funding with educators, experts and parents. Strickland has staked his administration on fixing education financing, a byzantine maze of formulas, rules and laws that gives virtually every educator in the state something to criticize.

Ohio Officials Consider More Oversight Of Charter Schools
Scripps News, DC, December 17, 2008
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and other state leaders want increased oversight of charter schools after disclosures that dozens of so-called "dropout recovery" schools get millions of tax dollars for thousands of habitually absent students.

Teens Study in Healthy Setting
Boston Globe, MA, December 19, 2008
Another purpose is to increase the ranks of minorities, particularly inner-city blacks at or below the poverty line, in healthcare, a profession that continues to grow even as the economy flutters.

Cops Warn of Gang Violence If Charter School Is Approved
Daily News Tribune, MA, December 19, 2008
With a public comment period for a proposed charter school closing Jan. 5, Waltham Police are warning that gang-related crime could increase dramatically in the city if the school is approved.

Here’s the Real Deal About Charter Success
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 19, 2008
With regularity the public is bombarded with statistics, and this is particularly true with education. Reading a Dec. 5 article in The Star, "ISTEP scores barely budge," and a recent Indiana University report on charter schools suggests the public needs to be careful about the way facts are treated.

More White Parents Choose Public Schools
The Tennessean, TN, December 19, 2008
A common criticism of Metro schools is that segregation still exists. White parents are discovering great schools in their predominantly African-American neighborhoods and banding together to send their children there, instead of taking the private school route.

Lawmakers Should Let Public Academies Add High School Grades
Grand Rapids Press, MI, December 18, 2008
Michigan needs more charter high schools to accommodate parents choosing to educate their children in charter elementary and middle schools.

Number of California Charter Schools Hits 750
MarketWatch, December 18, 2008
The California Charter Schools Association today announced that 75 new charter public schools opened their doors for the first time this fall, bringing the total number of California charter schools in operation to 750 charter schools, serving approximately 276,000 public school students.

Don’t Suspend State Tax Credit For Schools
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, December 19, 2008
A proposal by lawmakers to suspend school-donation tax credits for one year to chip away at a potential $2 billion budget deficit is wrong-headed, shortsighted and not to be trusted.

Vouchers Best For Special-Needs Kids
East Valley Tribune, AZ, December 18, 2008
The Arizona Supreme Court last week heard arguments in a case that will decide the validity of two of Arizona’s most promising education programs. The programs allow parents of disabled and foster-care children to choose the best schools for their children.

Sphere: Related Content