James Merriman on Perkins Hearing

"As I sat through the hearing waiting to testify, I found myself in an odd position. I've always been a firm believer in oversight, regulation, transparency, and accountability for charter schools. As a charter school authorizer for seven years, I built a regulatory regimen that has been praised nationwide. "So…

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Duncan: Listen to Parents

"When parents recognize which schools are failing to educate their children, they will demand more effective options for their kids. They won't care whether they are charters, non-charters or some other model. As President Barack Obama has called for, states should eliminate restrictions that limit the growth of excellent charter…

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KIPP Teachers Reconsider Union

Teachers at KIPP AMP are using their voice to part ways with the UFT. (Not linking yet, due to privacy concerns.)In happier times, the “union of professionals” called them “a great group of courageous, intelligent educators determined to do the best by their students and their school.”I have a feeling…

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Invasion of the… local charities?

What do The Door, East Harlem Tutorial Project, Boricua College and Fordham University have in common ñ besides deep community roots and a commitment to public service?They’re among the institutions hoping for a lift on the charter school cap so they open their own public schools. James Merriman explains in…

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NYSUT Does the Right Thing

When NYSUT is right, we should say so. Today is one of those times. Recently, both the State Senate and Assembly’s budget resolutions called for defunding SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute, the entity responsible for overseeing a little less than half of all charter schools statewide. There is, of course, a…

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Randi Waltongarten?

I’ve been the subject of some pretty stiff attacks from the UFT recently. The union’s bloggers can hardly mention my name without reiterating the fact that I once worked for the Walton Family Foundation. For the record, I did work for the foundation (for a little over seven months).† It…

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