News & Issues

Big districts, like Chicago, abandon federal teacher-improvement grants

By Paul Katula •
Grants from the Teacher Incentive Fund, a federal program aimed at establishing performace-based pay for teachers as well as professional development enhancements, was terminated last month in Chicago, New York, and Milwaukee because the districts were unable to get teachers to agree to the terms of the grant.

Republican Party platform on education

By Paul Katula •
We analyze the Republican Party platform, presented at the Republican convention in Tampa this week. Well, we limited our analysis to the parts of the platform that deal with education.

Elgin Goddard is first in country with pre-K gym class

By Paul Katula •
The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development in Elgin has launched the first pre-K gym class among more than 385 schools in the US that are owned and operated by independent educator-franchisees, and teachers at the school hope it will help to reduce childhood obesity.

Baltimore City schools staff on spending spree?

By Paul Katula •
Personal commentary on the extensive series of stories running in the Baltimore Sun about out-of-control spending at Baltimore City Schools. Need to stop the lavishness.

Charter schools overrated in Texas: study

By Paul Katula •
Preliminary results from research out of Penn State suggests that high-performing charter schools in Texas may be that way because they select students who would be more teachable anyway.

U-46 bilingual education: exemplary or limited?

By Paul Katula •
In a lawsuit alleging Illinois's second-largest school district unfairly denied access to quality programs by blacks and Hispanics, the court heard from two experts in bilingual education with different views on the quality of U-46's program.

High schoolers smoke, drink, do drugs—at school

By Press Release •
A survey from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University says 9 out of 10 high schoolers say their classmates drink, drug, or smoke during the school day. Half know someone who sells drugs. And seeing people abusing marijuana and alcohol on Facebook and other social networking sites makes them want to party like that themselves.

High school student hit by car outside Baltimore school

By Paul Katula •
A student hit by a car near his high school in Baltimore County, on the first day of school, reminds us all that new traffic on the roads, especially school buses and student pedestrians, should make us pay closer attention. Includes some advice from police in Champaign, Ill.