DFER News Roundup 8.17.12

Blogs, Letters & Testimonials

August 17, 2012

By Devin Boyle, DFER Director of Communications

DFER Seen & Heard:

  • DFER’s Gloria Romero asks the CA Assembly to stand up and do the right thing for children by reconsidering a bill modifying the process for firing teachers accused of the most egregious misconduct (Highland News & Pasadena Star-News)
  • “The data and studies are unequivocal. We do need to have an expansion of early education in Indiana, and I think it’s time to make this a priority,” says DFER’s Larry Grau (The Indy Channel)

From DFER’s Blog:

  • There’s a lot of “Hot Summer Activity” in CO, writes DFER CO State Director, Moira Cullen (DFER’s Blog)
  • NY Teachers Union Bosses Heart the GOP, says DFER’s Joe Williams (DFER’s Blog
  • On ed reform, the GOP should throw the Tea Party under the (school) bus, writes Williams (DFER’s Blog)
  • Joe Williams issues statement on Gov. O’Malley’s casino compromise, which will direct some support to early childhood education and fix outdated schools in Baltimore (DFER’s Blog)
  • DFER NJ applauds Gov. Christie for signing TEACHNJ, a bill that will result in tenure reform in the state (DFER’s Blog)
  • “Better schools through smarter testing,” by DFER NY State Director Elizabeth Ling (DFER’s Blog)

In Related News:

  • More than 50,000 people (DFER included) took part in the Don’t Forget Ed social media campaign asking candidate to prioritize education this election (Read the tweets here)
  • Education issues highlighted in a Wall Street installation (Huffington Post)
  • USDOE kicks off $400 million District Race to the Top competition (Ed Week)
  • Put Students 1st releases new radio ad with Chicago parents & students discussing benefits of a longer school day
  • America is heading toward a “classroom cliff” in our nation’s schools (CNN
  • Harvard study finds that some poor performing teachers can get better after certain types of evaluations (Huffington Post)
  • The NY Times reports, “To Increase Learning Time, Some Schools Add Days to Academic Year”

Fun with Infographics & More:

  • Obama Crushes Romney on Public Charter Schools (1 of 4): Growth of Charter Schools Under the Obama Administration (See Here)
  • Obama Crushes Romney on Public Charter Schools (2 of 4): Making Real Investments in Public Charter Schools (See here)
  • Postcard: Romney’s list of ideas to change our education system (See here)
  • Obama vs. Romney on Education: Obama wins by a knockout (See here)

Videos:

  • 857 kids drop out of school every hour of every school day; watch the making of Don’t Forget Ed’s 857 empty desk installation (YouTube)
  • WA State Rep. Eric Pettigrew bucking his party on education (See here)

Call to Action:

And, as always – Have a great weekend!