Influence

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Education is big business. These are stories about the politicians, businesses, lobbyists and other leaders seeking to impact education decisions.

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October 24, 2011

Can School Reform Move Too Fast?

Washington Post education blogger Valerie Strauss looks at the legacy of former Washington D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee and concludes that Rhee left something behind in a rush to overhaul that city’s schools. While Rhee was pushing a controversial teacher evaluation system that led to hundreds of firing, Strauss writes, she did not address fundamental […]

October 18, 2011

Gov. Scott Posts Florida Higher Education Salary Database Online

Gov. Rick Scott added higher education salaries to a website he set up to detail contracts, employee pay and other state spending. Check out the payroll for Florida’s 11 public universities here. The data was already posted online, which has university professionals wondering if Scott is trying to turn public opinion against academia. The Sarasota […]

October 12, 2011

Gov. Scott Wants Colleges to Increase Science and Math Graduates

Colleges will need to produce more science and technology graduates, according to Gov. Rick Scott’s economic agenda released Wednesday. Less than 20 percent of Florida university system graduates earn degrees in science, technology or math — also known as STEM — Scott wrote in a release. That rate of STEM graduates will not fill the […]

October 11, 2011

Teachers Join Wall Street Protests Online

Teachers are joining the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement that has been spreading across the country since mid-September. The Occupy Education blog features photos of teachers holding up messages outlining how they work on behalf of their students. Many of the messages imply that administrators or bureaucrats undermine their efforts. “I see my students as […]

October 10, 2011

Organizing Parent ‘Unions’

Parents unhappy with their children’s schools are using labor union tactics to build support for charter schools, according to a story by the Associated Press. California was the first state to adopt a so-called ‘parent trigger’ law, which allows a majority of parents to vote to convert a district school to a charter school. Florida […]

October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs’ Education Legacy

The death of Apple founder Steve Jobs is an education story as well as a business story. Among the Jobs tributes flooding the Internet Wednesday night was this from the parent of an autistic child. Although the son does not talk, the parent wrote, he uses Apple’s iPad to communicate. “Thank you Steve Jobs for […]

September 29, 2011

Q & A: Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathon Hage

Charter Schools USA is one of Florida’s largest for-profit management companies, with 25,000 students in three states. The company was just awarded a contract to help turn around three Indiana schools taken over by the state. Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathon Hage is a one-time adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and helped draft […]

September 26, 2011

Bush to Take Part in NBC’s Education Nation Tuesday

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will appear on MSNBC tomorrow, part of the parent network’s Education Nation initiative in New York City this week. Bush will join Newark Mayor Cory Booker on “Morning Joe” at 8:20 a.m. Bush, who served from 1999-2007, is a leading national voice for education reform based on measurable student results. […]

September 22, 2011

Huntsman Earns Top Grade on Education Among 2012 Field

Jon Huntsman earns the highest grade — a B- — among the 2012 Republican presidential field, according to grades issued by Time magazine education columnist and blogger Andrew J. Rotherham. As governor of Utah, Huntsman raised teacher salaries, extended kindergarten and signed a statewide private school voucher law. Rotherham also sums up Huntsman’s differences from […]

September 21, 2011

Scott Wants to Cap Florida School District Administrative Expenses

Gov. Rick Scott wants to cap school district administrative expenses, according to a draft legislative priorities list obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Scott also wants to grant parents the ability to use state dollars to pay for private school tuition, books or other education expenses, according to the Sentinel story. Scott would rely on allies […]

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