Governor Bush: Oklahoma Can Follow Florida's Lead

EEP & Signatory News

  • EEP is at a school choice conference in San Francisco.  To get updates via Twitter, follow EEP Special Assistant Graham Browne (@djgrambo).  If you’re at the conference, come say “hey” – we love to meet our readers!
  • EdWeek reports that former Florida governor (and EEP signatory) Jeb Bush is advocating for a education overhaul in Oklahoma, after touting the success of his education reform initiatives in Florida.  Bush recommends that Oklahoma use his state as a model for reducing illiteracy and boosting achievement.
  • Reason.tv interviews The Lottery filmmaker (and EEP signatory) Madeleine Sackler on her recent documentary and how school choice can dramatically improve education for the poorest students.
  • EEP board member and former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings calls for the need for innovation in higher education in Forbes Magazine. “Higher education alone can’t lift a country to prosperity. But in the global economy looking forward, an efficient and productive system of colleges and universities is an essential ingredient to economic success.”

National
§  Today, Lucy N. Friedman, President of The After School Corporation (TASC) issued a powerful statement on the importance of expanded learning time in partnership with community organizations:  “For many kids, getting on track toward success in college and adulthood depends on getting more time and opportunities to learn while they’re still in elementary or middle school.”
§  Today’s must-read comes from Slate Magazine, which asks, “Is firing (a lot of) teachers the only way to improve public schools?”  Slate cites a recent study by Doug Staiger and Jonah Rockoff(pdf) that recommends that 80% of new teachers be fired after two years probation to maximize American school performance.  The article emphasizes the importance of recruiting, training, and retaining better teachers in the effort to dramatically boost student performance. The authors know this would be impossible to realize but push their audience to consider their research as a “thought exercise.”
§  The Washington Post finds that George Mason University and Towson were among 11 schools that did not demonstrate a graduation gap between minority college students and their counterparts, according to recent reports by The Education Trust.
From the States
Connecticut
The Hartford Courant reports that the percentage of Connecticut schools that met federal benchmarks for math and reading rose to 72 percent this year, an improvement that school officials attribute primarily to intensive, targeted planning and instruction in poor urban schools.
West Virginia
The Charleston Daily Mail reports that West Virginia is launching an internet portal that will track factors such as student attendance, discipline, course failures, dropouts and entries and advanced placement exam results for every public school in the state.

Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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