Alexander Russo

The three big stories of the day include the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a big case affecting public unions including teachers, plus Ohio’s decision to leave PARCC (which is now down to 11 states), and some last-minute budget/jobs drama in Chicago Public Schools: Justices Take up Dispute Over Union Fees AP:  Supreme Court to consider […]

You might already know all about Morgan Polikoff, or he might be something of a new name to you.  The professor now in his fifth year at USC has slowly but surely come onto folks’ radars, showing up on Twitter, in mainstream news stories, and on his own blog.   He’s mostly an education policy […]

Today’s news includes a questionable choice of locations for the Christie campaign kickoff event, big education decisions by courts in Kansas and Colorado, and the USDA’s choice of Chobani greek yogurt for the nation’s schools: Chris Christie Slashed Education Funding, But He’s Announcing His Presidential Bid At A Public School HuffPost: Christie is expected to announce his […]

A new report came out last week suggesting that the conventional wisdom around minority kids being over-represented in special education may be inaccurate.  If true – not everyone’s convinced — then, what happened? Was it a problem in the research, or overheated advocacy, media coverage, or all of the above? “For decades, some education leaders […]

Today’s news includes a Duncan address to the national PTA conference, a breakdown in contract talks in Chicago, and word that Amplify, the Murdoch-Klein edtech venture, will stop making tablets (but will keep making software): Duncan: These Are The Things Parents Should Demand From Schools HuffPost: While speaking at the 2015 National Parent Teacher Association Convention and […]

Somehow, the longform site Narratively ran a whole series on education last spring and I missed it. Maybe you did, too? The five-story package includes pieces about a strict teacher’s life lessons, parents who are suspected by teachers of abusing their own child, back-row anecdotes from “a teacher’s pet, a blackboard buffoon and a tormented gay teen […]

There aren’t many policy wonks who seem to pay much attention to how the media covers education — and are willing to write and talk publicly about what they see. The handful that come to mind include Mike Petrilli at Fordham, Andy Rotherham at Bellwether, and New America’s Conor Williams. Ditto for many education advocates, […]

Today’s news includes a Clinton trip to St. Louis and a move to limit personal exemptions to school vaccination rules in California, plus contract talk problems in Chicago: St. Louis-Area School and Community Leaders Highlight Inequities for Clinton District Dossier: Tiffany Anderson, the superintendent in Jennings, Mo., appeared with other local leaders to talk frankly with the […]

On Wednesday, a Cincinnati parent who works at a startup software company posted Waiting For Kindergarten, the story of the 16 days he spent camping out in a tent to get a spot in the right kindergarten for one of his children. He wasn’t alone. Lots of parents weren’t comfortable with the local neighborhood schools that […]

Today’s news includes new test scores being reported back from Tennessee, Vergara counter-claims have been filed, and Cuomo and de Blasio both won and lost a few things related to education: Five things to know about Tennessee’s 2015 test scores, out today Chalkbeat: Tennessee officials’ annual test-score announcement on Thursday will mark the end of an era. […]