Alexander Russo

It’s always interesting to me to hear education journalists talk about how they came to the beat or how they feel about it. That’s why I’ve enjoyed interviewing so many reporters and editors this past year (with lots more to come). For some insight into how the NYT’s education reporter Motoko Rich thinks about education, check out […]

Supreme Court Case Could Weaken Government Workers Unions AP: While half the states already have right-to-work laws banning mandatory fees, most members of public-employee unions are concentrated in more liberal-leaning states that don’t, including California, New York and Illinois. Conservative group nears big payoff in Supreme Court case Politico: The conservative Bradley Foundation has spent millions over three decades […]

From this week’s New Yorker. BEST OF THE WEEK NYT: How Hillary Clinton Went Undercover to Examine Race in Education http://ow.ly/WO3yX Marketplace: Out of public housing, and hoping for something better http://ow.ly/WO3m2 NYT: NJ School District Eases Pressure on Students, Baring an Ethnic Divide http://ow.ly/WO4aB EdWeek: Newtown Families, Teachers’ Unions Applaud Obama’s Actions on Guns http://ow.ly/WO3gx American Prospect: New […]

Oklahoma cuts public school funding by $47 million AP: Some Oklahoma school districts could be forced to close their doors as a result of about $47 million in funding cuts due to the state's budget crisis, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said Thursday…. Calif. Budget Plan Boosts Spending but Democrats Seek More AP: The plan calls for significant increases in funding […]

Though there are a few reporters and outlets who tackle it  — BuzzFeed’s Molly H-C, EdWeek  — the intersection between business and education is not as well or regularly covered as I would like. That’s too bad, given education’s whopping $600 billion a year size and its obvious economic and social importance. For that reason alone, […]

Massachusetts Education Again Ranks No. 1 Nationally Boston Learning Lab: Education Week’s annual national report, Quality Counts, gave Massachusetts the top spot because it has the nation’s top fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores, high postsecondary degree attainment and rising AP test scores. Walton foundation puts up $1 billion to boost charters AP: A foundation run by the heirs of […]

*See correction at end of this post. A throwaway line in Claudio Sanchez’s recent 6 Education Stories To Watch In 2016 generated a bit of behind the scenes discussion over the past couple of days. In the segment, the veteran NPR education reporter recaps the recent past and makes a half dozen predictions – among […]

CJR: “Access reporting tells readers what powerful actors say while accountability reporting tells readers what they do.”  A long and interesting essay at The Awl (Access Denied) explores the notion that one of journalism’s biggest challenges in the current era is how to make itself valuable and distinctive when it’s being denied access to sources and […]

High Stakes in Union-Fee Case Before Supreme Court EdWeek: Abood held that state interests in maintaining labor peace and eliminating “free riders” justified requiring nonmembers to pay such fees, which are also known as service fees or “fair share” fees. The Friedrichs case holds high stakes for the future of public-sector unions, not least the teachers’ unions […]

Amid Growing Anti-Muslim Sentiment, Education Department Urges Schools to Prevent Discrimination The Washington Post: The U.S. Education Department is urging the nation’s colleges and K-12 schools to guard against harassment and discrimination based on race, religion or national origin, a response to anti-Muslim and anti-refugee sentiments that appear to be on the rise. Rauner: No Help for […]