States Create Flood of Bills to Overhaul Education

[IScreamSundays]

Source: NY Times

DENVER — Democrats backed by the state’s largest teachers’ union nicknamed legislation overhauling Colorado’s tenure and evaluation rules the “teacher scapegoat” bill, and several lawmakers wept in public sessions during their monthlong battle to stop it.

But other Democrats joined with Republicans to pass Colorado’s law, the most comprehensive of a dozen similar bills passed around the nation this year, in part to increase states’ chances in a $4 billion federal grant competition.

Louisiana, Oklahoma and New York also approved bills modifying their tenure and evaluation rules in the last week, just in time to meet Tuesday’s application deadline for Round 2 of the competition, known as Race to the Top.

This flood of legislation, along with new rules in many states allowing for more charter schools, pioneering union contracts in several cities and a state-led effort to rewrite the nation’s academic standards, have made this spring a watershed period, said Jon Schnur, an education adviser to the Obama campaign who helped design Race to the Top.


snip>

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/education/01educ.html

[donco6]

1. And there will be more and more.

The states can't jump high enough for that RTTT money.

[UpInArms]

2. yet there are no term limits on how long the suck asses can serve in Congress

go figure

:shrug:

[Plucketeer]

3. Yeah!

WE vote them into office where THEY turn and do special interest's biddeing.

I'll KEEP ON saying it, that these politicians are gonna pander to parents rather than faculty because there's more PARENTS that can vote than there are FACULTY!

[adnelson60087]

4. Late in the article, it is mentioned that the AFT undercut the NEA's

opposition to the bill and ultimately convinced many of the Dems who voted for this abomination that it was the right thing to do. My damn union undercut the NEA. This is why we teachers are screwed...not because of others, but because we don't have a unified front.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. That's part of it alright

I think we are screwed because of the 30 year campaign to destroy public education. But the failure of our unions to work together and fight the negative publicity campaign certainly hasn't helped.

[donco6]

6. What is up with the AFT anyway?

Are they that politically naiive?