Maria Neira is a former classroom teacher who runs a teachers union in New York State. Consider reading what she has to say on the subject of teacher pay based on test scores:
Fully understanding last week’s battle in Albany over whether student test scores should be used to determine which teachers earn tenure requires a broader appreciation of what it means to be a classroom teacher.

Too often

Merit Pay Chronicles: A Teacher Speaks! from Degree Space

They’re crying out for teachers in the Lone Star State:
Each day, students of different races, genders, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds enter the nation’s classrooms. Unfortunately, for some, these factors may work against them – especially in urban areas.

According to TCU’s [Texas Christian University] Center for Urban Education, urban schools – those schools with low socioeconomic

Texas Teacher Shortage? from Degree Space

What more can be said about this crime? And what can be done to stop the stupidity of this type of made-for-video violence?

When Girls Go Stupid from Degree Space

Sad But True.

Heh. It’s just a matter of time before those all-knowing Washington lawmakers and their associates accomplices over at The Kingdom Of Spellings will attempt to legislate an attitude-change for America’s youth.

When They’re Too Cool For School from Degree Space

Who would’ve thought that wearing a “John Edwards for President” T-shirt would get a kid suspended from high school? The lawsuit was inevitable: A Waxahachie High School sophomore is suing the school district for the right to wear a T-shirt supporting John Edwards as a 2008 presidential candidate.

The Liberty Legal Institute on Tuesday announced that it was suing the Waxahachie Independent

Censorchimps: The East Texas Subspecies from Degree Space

In today’s Washington Post, Colbert I. King let’s us know how bad it has gotten in many of the public schools in our nation’s capital:”Security at Wilson High to Be Tightened” announced a headline in The Post’s March 21 Metro section. More stringent measures were being put in place after 13 students were arrested because of two fights that week, the story said.

I first visited Woodrow Wilson

D.C.’s Gangster Education from Degree Space

As the parent of a 16-year-old (the TeenWonk) high school junior who has a 4.35 G.P.A., we’ve been getting a number of so-called “nominations” for inclusion in this or that “national honor roll,” “who’s-who book,” and, of course, the United States Achievement Academy.

The “nominations” were made by her well-intentioned (but unknowing) teachers, who think that they are doing the kids a favor by

‘Tis The Season For Parents And Kids To Be Scammed from Degree Space

When are “involved parents” too involved? In one Maryland district, the fur is flying between some parents and a number of teachers: The Baltimore Sun ran an article on Tuesday about parental involvement taken to the extreme. The trigger was an annual survey by the Howard County Education Association that shows a majority of teachers say they have been subjected to harassment, and most of the

Helicopter Parents Vs. Stinger Teachers from Degree Space

From the bull dog edition of tomorrow’s Washington Post: No Child Left Behind, supposedly an antidote to the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” has instead spawned lowered standards. The law will eventually be reauthorized because doubling down on losing bets is what Washington does. But because NCLB contains incentives for perverse behavior, reauthorization should include legislation empowering

George F. Will Gets Beyond NCLB from Degree Space

It seems as though American students continue underperforming when compared to many of their international peers: Finland and South Korea have topped the world in a new student ranking survey.

According to the OECD, the two countries lead the world when it comes to education, especially in reading and science.

In particular, Finnish students ranked top in science, while South Korean teenagers

U.S. Students Not Comparing Well With Others from Degree Space