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IN THIS EDITION |
What to Watch
A New York City teacher documents his $75,000 do-nothing job. | Number of the Week
President Obama calls for American schools to hire thousands of new teachers. | Quote of the Week
Does hiring more teachers improve academic outcomes? | Don't Miss
Hollywood's "Won't Back Down" illustrates today's education debate. | |
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Education Policy Shapes First Presidential Debate
By Lindsey Burke
Last week’s presidential debate included quite a few specifics on education policy from both President Obama and Governor Romney. President Obama’s call for more federal spending on education was no surprise. But his choice to highlight the Administration’s involvement in pushing states to adopt national standards and tests was remarkable.
The President stated that 46 states had raised their standards as a result of his policies, leaving no doubt that he was referring to the Common Core national standards push. To date, 46 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards, incentivized with $4.35 billion in Race to the Top funds along with access to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers.
The President could have referenced a number of education policy changes during the debate, but it’s noteworthy that his push to nationalize standards and tests was at the top of his list.
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| What To
Watch |  | New York Teacher Live-Streams $75,000 Do-Nothing Job
A New York City teacher has set up a blog and livestream to document the day-to-day of his $75,000-a-year job at a Staten Island middle school. If that sounds mundane, that’s exactly the point: he claims he’s being paid not to teach. | |
| Five Questions for Education Secretary Duncan: How He Answered
By Rachel Sheffield
Prior to Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s speech at the National Press Club last Tuesday, we issued five questions for the Secretary to answer. Here’s what Duncan had to say in regard to each of the topics we presented: Support for Education Unions
In his speech, Duncan touched on the need to “support accountability and a fair system of evaluation” for teachers, to allow them to “get better and hone their craft.” He took pride in the beginning of “a national conversation…to think boldly about how to create career pathways” for teachers as well as “how to boost their pay, attract great talent and ultimately transform the entire profession.”
But education unions stand in the way of these types of reforms—those that reward quality teachers and increase accountability. The outcomes of the Chicago Teachers Union strike are a poignant example of this, yet Duncan doesn’t see the disconnect, stating in a recent NBC interview that the outcomes of the strike are “great for children.” |
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Number of the Week
100,000
During last week’s debate, President Obama said he would increase education spending and hire 100,000 new teachers.
But the national student-teacher ratio is already historically low, and class size reduction does not produce reliably higher student achievement. See Debate 2012: Do We Need More Teachers? | | | Quote of the Week |  | “Hiring hundreds of thousands of additional teachers won't improve student achievement. It will bankrupt state and local governments, whose finances are already buckling under bloated payrolls with overly generous and grossly underfunded pension and health benefits. For decades we have tried to boost academic outcomes by hiring more teachers, and we have essentially nothing to show for it."
-Jay Greene, professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas | | |
Don’t Miss
“Won’t Back Down” Provides Insight into Current Education Debate
The new film "Won’t Back Down" illustrates the struggle many families face in trying to provide their children a quality education, but also displays the promising momentum for reform that is swelling across the nation. Read more on The Foundry >> |  | |
 | About The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute -- a think tank -- whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. | |
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