Today, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released a set of state-led education standards, the Common Core State Standards, at Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, GA. The English-language arts and mathematics standards for grades K-12 were developed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders including content experts, states, teachers, school administrators and parents. The standards establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work. That’s the first para in today’s NGA and the CCSSO’s press release. Notice the “state-led” language. For the longest time the Common Core standards have been marketed as “state standards.” This the CCSSI, […]

Greg Sargent of the WaPo‘s Plum Line notes that the White House is floating out there that Bill Clinton was sent to speak to Joe Sestak (who defeated Arlen Specter in the D primary for US Senate) about “other options.” Floating Bill Clinton’s name on Friday morning while saying that they might be saying something else later in a Friday pm… Friday pm on Memorial Day weekend… strikes me as synonymous with: Guys, there is a bad story we are trying to redirect. Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he’d be open to other alternatives, according to sources […]

The state’s plan to water down the MCAS test teaches us once again that those with an interest in opposing reform are infinitely patient and resourceful. That is why they very often win. We learned this, for example, when the MBTA instituted “management rights” in 1980. A great victory — until 18 years, in 1998, when many of these rights were gutted in a new contract Governor Cellucci approved during his campaign against Scott Harshbarger. I learned this in covering Amtrak for many years. The Clinton administration approved a plan that was to make Amtrak self-sustaining by 2002. The Bush-43 administration implemented some cost-saving measures proposed by the Amtrak Reform Council, and would not approve increased federal funding without state […]

While I am glad that BP has not taken up some home remedies, such as corks and pillows, their response and the government’s to what is an unmitigated disaster are anything but funny. We’ve crossed into millions of gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf and the wholesale destruction of species, estuaries and a way of life. We don’t have any sense as to the full damage caused. If you are the laugh rather than cry type, check out the Australian comedy team Clarke and Dawes as they give their take on an oil spill resulting from the front falling off an oil tanker down under. Some folks actually took this to be a real interview with a real politician.

(An irregular series on public space. Downtown Crossing covered here.) I’ve heard several of Boston’s ‘great and good’ refer to the Seaport District as a success. I beg to differ. Press the arrow on the slide show below and take a look at the slide show of the district that we took in mid-December 2009 between 12:30 and 1 PM. What’s your reaction? My first one was to ask the photographer (Pioneer’s own, redoubtable Peter Begley) if he deliberately left people out of the shots. He said he only delayed a single shot to let one person clear the frame, everything else is candid. My second reaction was: where is everybody? I know its December, but its lunchtime on a […]

From Today’s Globe: “Massachusetts education officials are quietly putting together a proposal to scrap the controversial MCAS exams in English and math and replace them with new tests they are developing with about two dozen other states.” From 2006 Globe and State House News accounts (sorry, MA library card req. for access): …Thomas F. Birmingham, a former Senate president and a candidate for governor in 2002, said at a Pioneer Institute breakfast forum Thursday. “In this regard, I’m a bit discomfited that one of the leading candidates for governor is, in my opinion, ambiguous on the issue of even retaining MCAS as a graduation requirement.”… …In an e-mailed statement… Patrick spokeswoman Libby DeVecchi said the campaign has reached out to […]