Alexander Russo

Why ‘school choice’ matters—even if you don’t have a kid https://t.co/0qFwwVEbc1 via @taketwo #GoodSchools pic.twitter.com/GsZwYDUuTe — 89.3 KPCC (@KPCC) March 26, 2016 While none of us was paying attention this past winter, Maura Walz left Chalkbeat and headed West to KPCC Los Angeles Public Radio, where she now edits the station’s education team.  Arriving in November, […]

“The media’s focus on elite schools draws attention away from state cuts to higher-education funding, for example. Private colleges, which feature disproportionately in media accounts, aren’t affected by state budget cuts; top-tier public universities, which have outside resources such as alumni donations, research grants and patent revenue, are much less dependent on public dollars than […]

To Opt Out or Not? Dueling Messages Before Next Week’s Tests WNYC: Leaders of the opt out movement accuse the city’s Department of Education of withholding information from families about their right to boycott the state tests, in what appears to be an attempt to reach a broader audience before next week’s tests. Will Parents Opt Their […]

Fact that #EdEqualityIndex so highly correlated with poverty (i.e. more impoverished states do *better*) is … odd pic.twitter.com/tkJBRtc2x8 — Matt Barnum (@matt_barnum) March 23, 2016 It certainly wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring to find out yesterday that an Education Cities/Great Schools report on school inequality issued last week had some serious problems that had largely gone unnoticed. […]

With Supreme Court Tie, Teachers Unions Dodge A Bullet NPR: The 4-4 ruling by the high court means the failure of an effort to overturn requirements that nonunion members contribute to the cost of bargaining. See also AP, EdSource, TeacherBeat, NYT. Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst will merge with education advocacy group 50Can LA Times: Just several years after its glitzy launch, StudentsFirst, […]

For Syrian Refugees in New Jersey, a Bumpy Adjustment to School WNYC: In March, WNYC visited Aisha during science class at the Islamic school, where she copied words in English while her classmates answered questions with enthusiasm. She wore a blue and yellow uniform, which includes a yellow hijab for the girls. Chicago Teachers Union sets plans for Friday […]

It’s the education journalism version of the Golden Ticket. But who’s won? We don’t know.  Last week in New York City, the Spencer Education Fellowship advisory board picked four lucky journalists to be next year’s fellows. They receive $75,000 as a 9-month stipend, plus free classes at Columbia and a travel allowance.  We don’t know […]

An image from Chalkbeat’s spring networking event last week. The network just announced a new pilot Detroit bureau to go along with current coverage for New York, Indiana, Tennessee, and Colorado. Given the many challenges facing nonprofit education news, at least one outlet is taking steps to clarify its expectations, standards and editorial practices: Later this Spring, Chalkbeat plans […]

PARCC testing begins again but still no opt-out policy Chicago Sun-Times: For its second year, PARCC has been shortened. It has a simpler format, and results have been promised much sooner than last year — by the summer, rather than late autumn, so that teachers and parents can actually use the results. Those improvements still won’t stop […]

The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools https://t.co/0s5VVmKaFk pic.twitter.com/cJp7qBjyZ7 — White House Af-Am Ed (@AfAmEducation) March 19, 2016 BEST OF THE WEEK EdWeek: State Solidarity Erodes on Common-Core Tests http://ow.ly/ZS4Gg  NYT: New York City Teachers Told to Keep Opt-Out Opinions to Themselves http://ow.ly/ZTrvb  The Seventy Four: New Research Shows How a Federal School Turnaround Backfired in NC […]