A primer on the damaging movement to privatize public schools

Marion Brady is a veteran educator who has long argued that public education needs a paradigm shift. Brady says schools need a complete transformation in what and how students learn — not the Common Core State Standards, standardized tests and other elements of corporate-influenced school reform. Here’s his latest piece, on efforts by some reformers…

Can Schools Be Fixed?

Experts on K-12 education offer their reasons for optimism and pessimism going forward. It’s been a tumultuous year for America’s schools—one marked by an expanding minority-student population, an increasingly discontent teaching force, a backlash against standardized testing, and shifting understanding of education reform. It’s seen greater attention on areas traditionally dismissed as nonessential: things like…

Florida Education Board settles on scores, school grades after year of testing troubles

The state Board of Education, which for years has pushed to toughen standards for Florida students, voted Wednesday to compromise on test scores and school grades while the state continues to wrestle with its newly revised accountability system. The board adopted Education Commissioner Pam Stewart’s recommendations for scores that would see more than half of…

Florida’s Graduation Rate Soars

Florida’s high school graduation rate continued on a steady climb to almost 78 percent in 2015. The graduation rate — 77.8 percent — was a slight increase from around 76 percent last year. Asian students had the highest graduation rates in Florida with nearly 91 percent graduating in 2015. White students and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander…