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Will the Gloucester mess impact the charter cap lift?

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Whether House Education Committee Chair Marty Walz was deflecting yesterday in noting that the decisions on the charter school caps may be further in the future, we can’t know. God knows she has a lot of people offering advice so a little break might be just what the doctor ordered. The discussion of the charter cap lift seems to be premised on what we need to take out of the charters to make a “compromise” palatable to opponents, such as the superintendents (who hate losing control) and the unions (who hate losing market share). Two principles any serious agreement must include are: (1) no loss in the per-pupil education amount, and (2) no weakening of the charter authorization process. And […]

Running the Numbers

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The Herald reports on Governor Patrick’s fundraiser today: the event has raised $600,000 for the governor’s re-election war chest, said Patrick spokesman Steve Crawford. He added 400 contributors are in the ballroom of the Westin Copley Place with about 140 more who donated $6,000 invited into the VIP lounge with Obama. Still, there are some empty seats. Let’s run the numbers. Each of the 400 contributors was supposed to max out to Patrick at $500, so that raises $200k. The 140 VIP contributors donated $6k, which breaks down into $500 for the GOV, $500 for the LG, and $5k for the party. So the VIPs raise $70k for the GOV, $70k for the LG, and a whopping $700k for the […]

Breaking News – RI Ed Commissioner on seniority

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From the Providence Journal: RI education commissioner Deborah Gist orders school districts to abolish seniority Sent: Oct 23, 2009 2:02 PM PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Dropping a bombshell on the state’s teacher unions, state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist announced Friday that districts must abolish seniority as a method of assigning teachers. Gist, in a letter to all superintendents Thursday, said the Board of Regents’ new Basic Education Plan, which takes effect in July, 2010, requires that highly effective educators work with students who have significant achievement gaps. Wow.

Committed to Maximum Transparency

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The above words are Governor Deval Patrick’s description of his administration. The practice has proven to be quite different (and I’m not the only one who thinks this.). In May, I asked the state’s Human Resource Department (HRD) for an update of an old layoff report that was used in 2004. They said no one knew what it was. I sent them an old copy, then they said it was a one-time report. I showed them it was a weekly report. They said it was discontinued. I asked for whatever they were using to track layoff counts now, then the conversation stopped. Next, I made an open records request, dated June 16, 2009. HRD did not respond, in violation of […]

Not Just Minutiae and Methodology

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UPDATE BELOW The Boston Globe has the power to set the agenda at times in this town. On Sunday, they released the results of a poll of the mayor’s race that suggested it was tightening a bit but still favored the incumbent by a wide margin. The opposite result probably would have gotten a lot more casual observers focussed on the race. David Bernstein of the Phoenix and the challenger’s campaign immediately took issue with the poll, noting that the sample appeared to consist of self-described ‘likely’ voters, not registered voters. My read is a bit more ambiguous. The source document, the UNH Survey Center’s full report, is not precisely worded. It refers initially to a sample of “553 randomly […]