Next In Your Education Library: Ron Paul?? According to the Washington Post, former presidential candidate Ron Paul is working on an education tome called "New School Manifesto." The book will be out in September. Paul, as you might recall, campaigned on shutting down the U.S. Education Department. So it'll come as no surprise that the book will majorly boost home schooling.
'Irredeemably Blighted?' A new federal report on school equity uses this term to describe what the school system and its unfairness has wrought to poor and minority students. As we report, the 27-member commission on "equity and excellence" found that the latest wave of education reform is not enough. Rather, making schools equitable would include a major pre-k push as well as a re-imagining of the way schools are funded. But it's unclear where these proposals go next.
Alternative School Investigation? The Pennsylvania Department of Education is investigating the Delaware Valley High School, an alternative school in Bucks County, Penn. The investigation is cropping up after the state found problems with the school's programs in Reading, one of the country's poorest cities, according to Philly.com. I remember when I sat in on a Reading school board meeting last summer questions about this school occupied a fair chunk of time.
Jeb Bush Reforms In New Mexico? According to the Santa Fe reporter, New Mexico schools chief Hanna Skandera's education agenda looks a lot like that of Jeb Bush's foundation, the Foundation for Excellence in Education.
Rocketship Challenged? Rocketship Education, the hot shot blended-learning charter school group, is in the middle of a legal challenge from the San Jose Unified School District, reports the Mercury News. San Jose is suing Santa Monica County for allowing Rocketship to open up a school in a San Jose light rail station. The twist? San Jose's superintendent is a former charter administrator himself. It's not about the charters themselves, Supe. Vincent Matthews told the publication. "It's about the county making a decision that we don't believe they have the authority to make."