DFER News Roundup
By Devin Boyle, Director of Communications, and Stephanie Doctrow, Communications Coordinator and Web Editor
DFER Seen & Heard:
- DFER’s Charles Barone commented on testing to Alexander Russo in The Atlantic.
- “The Common Core will help our children compete,” DFER-NY’s Craig Johnson writes in Newsday.
- DFER-MA’s Liam Kerr, on the Boston mayoral race: “Although we’re disappointed Boston City Councilor John Connolly—the candidate we’ve put our support behind since 2011—didn’t score a victory this time around, we’re happy Boston voters elected a strong education Democrat to office.” (EdWeek)
- Barone: “The Investing in Innovation in Education Act will give a new generation of Americans the chance to develop promising new ideas and to prove their worth based on scientific evidence.” (Summit Daily)
- Rebeca Nieves Huffman of DFER-IL wrote about the importance of a first-rate education system in the Chicago Tribune.
Advocacy, Policy Briefs & Such:
- Statement | DFER-IL statement on Chicago teacher pension fund chair Jay Rehak’s attack on Paul Vallas.
- Statement | Democrats for Education Reform endorses bipartisan Miller-Harkin-Hanna early childhood education bill.
- Statement | NAEP results: Bold reforms yield big returns.
DFER Blog:
- “This year’s National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) results released last Friday illustrate two fundamental and chronic problems in Wisconsin’s education system: stagnation and inequity,” writes DFER-WI’s Jarett Fields.
- Fields also blogged about how supporting the Common Core is a crucial part of the equity agenda.
- DFER-CO’s Jen Walmer writes, “A win for Denver Public Schools, and what’s next for Colorado?”
- DFER-MA’s Liam Kerr, after the Boston mayoral election: “Although Connolly didn’t get the ‘V’ we all hoped for, we can confidently say a genuine reformer won his seat as the next mayor of Beantown.”
In Related News:
- Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) penned an op-ed supporting early childhood education in McClatchy.
- EdWeek’s Alyson Klein writes about the latest House and Senate preschool proposal.
- DC teacher Scott Goldstein writes about why teachers should support the Common Core for Young Education Professionals’ blog.
- EdNews Colorado’s Nicholas Garcia reports, “DPS board set to revise Denver Plan, after new members are sworn in.”
- The Tennessean’s Gail Kerr: “Education gains bode well for Huffman, Haslam.”
- Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has tapped former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas to be his running mate, reports Crain’s Greg Hinz.
- The 2013 NAEP results were released this week.
- “Voters give DPS mandate to continue path of reforms,” writes the Denver Post’s Zahira Torres. Torres also covered the DPS race as returns were coming in.
- Journalist Dana Goldstein talks with Amanda Ripley, author of The Smartest Kids in the World, for Slate’s new education podcast.
- The Boston Globe’s Adrian Walker: “A mayoral race that won’t quit.”
Fun With Infographics & More:
- Happy Friday from Kid President!
- Infographic | Why pre-K matters.
- Check out POLITICO’s newly launched magazine.