10 Big Wins For Public Education in 2013

http://www.alternet.org/education/10-big-wins-public-education-2013



***SNIP

10. Common Core Coalition Crumbling

Just as Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have become ascendant, supported by over 40 states and glutted with hundreds of millions in federal funding, they've come up against widespread pushback. At least 17 states now show signs of cold feet on the Common Core.

***SNIP

9. “Reform Idol” Tony Bennett Tumbles

In 2008 he was elected Indiana’s state superintendent, with a bold pledge to close failing schools. In 2011 the conservative Fordham Institute crowned him Education Reform Idol (which was, astoundingly, a real thing). After losing reelection in 2012, he was scooped up by a fawning Florida Board of Education. Throughout all this he served on the governing boards of several Common Core-affiliated organizations.

***SNIP

8. Parent-Led Movement Cuts Testing in Texas

Education news from the Lone Star State too often involves high-level officials debating whether the earth is actually 5,000 years old or claiming there’s “no evidence for a human influence on the carbon cycle.” But over the summer came a rare headline from Texas that wasn’t staggeringly dumb: a parent-led coalition successfully petitioned the state to reduce the number of tests required to graduate high school by two-thirds.

***SNIP

7. Teach for America Dinged From Within and Without

After 20 years of unchecked growth, communities and TFA alumni have put some of the first major dents in the organization that sends hordes of novice, newly graduated teachers to high-poverty schools throughout the country. Tirelessly lauded by the New York Times op-ed set, lavishly funded by the Walton Foundation and a bevy of gigantic banks and corporations, TFA watched its sacred-cow status slip several notches in 2013.