By Lori Bezahler source: The Times Union Gov. Andrew Cuomo provoked strong reactions with his proposals to reform education, particularly teacher evaluation. But what escaped notice was his reference in the State of the State speech to passing the education tax credit, or ETC, a term unfamiliar to most New Yorkers. We would all do Read more…

source: Long Island Exchange The Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) released its latest report, Record Setting Inequality: New York State’s Opportunity Gap is Wider Than Ever, which documents that under Gov. Andrew Cuomo educational inequality has grown to record setting levels. As a result wealthier school districts are better able to provide a solid future Read more…

One sure way to undermine progress is to divide the very people who must come together to create genuine and lasting reform. Yet it seems, sometimes, that the most common response to poor performing schools is to cast blame: teachers are accused of not trying hard enough; parents are criticized for not being involved enough. Read more…

Lalo Montoya, a student at North High School in Denver, used to skip a lot of school.  It just didn’t seem that the teachers or counselors at North expected much from the school’s predominantly Latino students.  Lalo’s perception is justified by the numbers: a 2004 study showed that only 38% of Latino students entering North Read more…

The powerful Mississippi River flows past the town of Greenville as a force of nature.  Watching the river go past, one can hardly help thinking about its ability to change course over decades and centuries, transforming the very land through which it passes.  A similar force has come to the town of Greenville, Mississippi and Read more…