Newswire – March 19, 2019

INNOVATIVE vs UNIMAGINATIVE.  Opposites do not attract when it comes to policy prescriptions to improve education, especially in Washington. The Trump Administration yesterday unveiled a rather creative, innovative set of proposals for higher ed that actually were born among myriad higher education innovators like this one  and that one  but it was immediately dismissed by Senator Patty Murray, the ranking Dem on the HELP Committee. Murray remarked on only the fact that the proposed plan caps certain loans, ignoring the most innovative aspects, like refocusing accreditation on outcomes, enabling federal aid to support workforce related higher ed programs and accelerating postsecondary completion which lower debt and helps students get just what the need.  Time for Congress to put their unimaginative ideas aside and join forces on this critical initiative. Speaking of critical initiatives:

LESSONS FROM COLLEGE-BRIBE GATE. The shock is just beginning to wear off, but the lessons keep coming. This one by the prolific Derrell Bradford is worth your time.

WHO’S BURIED IN GRANT’S TOMB? It’s an old (and pretty bad) joke  about Ulysses Grant, a great General and a lousy 18th President, which perhaps needs to get resurrected in the wake of news that Grant-supported prejudices and bigotry are making their way for review to the US Supreme Court.  This past December the Montana Supreme Court struck down a legislatively established education tax credit owing in their flawed opinion to a state constitutional clause modeled after the “Blaine Amendment.” A group of low-income mothers are taking the case to the US Supreme Court along with the reality that it’s a remnant of anti-religious bigotry. Let’s bury that and its legacy in Grant’s Tomb.

LIVE FREE OR HAVE CHOICE? New Hampshire’s long running education scholarship tax credit program has done justice to the “Live Free or Die State,” until last week, when union-supporters who hold a majority on the House Ways and Means Committee voted to end the program. Happily Governor Chris Sununu is the scion of a family of education innovation supporters and will reportedly veto this monstrosity. We’ll be sending him pencil sharpeners to hone his veto pencil.

MICHELLE MY BELLE. When a former First Lady like Michelle Obama pays a visit to a Milwaukee charter school founded by edreform leaders of color  we can’t help but want to break into song! The event organized by Reach Higher  took place at Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, co-founded by Dr. Howard Fuller,  a pioneer whose devotion to civil rights is legion among education reformers. The students there defy the odds daily to attend and succeed and the school is working hard to expand and that’s a tough thing to do in a state that doesn’t fund facilities and underfunds charter students.  Mrs. Obama’s theme of empowerment for kids can extend to the greater focus on education opportunity.

(Photo: Angela Peterson / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

HOW CHARTER SCHOOLS IMPROVE PUBLIC ED, with Jim Goenner.  From the role of charter school “authorizers,” to why charter schools are so often misunderstood, to why there is no “one-size fits all” model for charters, Jim Goenner, Ph.D. President and CEO of National Charter Schools Institute delves deeply into the question of why charters schools work. “As a strategy to improve public education, chartering is working phenomenally well,” says this week’s guest.  “Why did charter schools take off? Number one there was just a pent up demand and need. Number two it’s a great idea.” Jim joined the charter schools movement in 1995, and has played a prominent role in developing and strengthening the performance of the charter schools sector in Michigan and across the nation ever since.Listen in to this edition Reality Check with Jeanne Allen, to get the real scoop about the critical role of charter schools in driving innovation in public education in America.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING.

If you want to read more daily (and yes, sometimes weep at the pathetic activities in our nation), check out CER’s Media Bullpen daily!

That’s a wrap for this edition.  As always your comments, suggestions and questions are most welcome.