Charter schools spend more on administration

I thought charter schools were supposed to be the less-expensive, more-innovative alternative to traditional public schools, but a brand-new study from Columbia University says they spend more on administration than on instruction.

I guess this means traditional public schools are more cost-effective at educating children, after all.

Here's the news, published this morning by Education Week

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Judge rules vouchers unconstitutional in Oklahoma

Last week, a judge in Tulsa ruled that Oklahoma's private-school voucher program for special education students violate that state's Constitution.

This is interesting because of the judge's rationale, explained by reporter Nirvi Shah of Education Week magazine:Reports by the Associated Press and Tulsa World say that Judge Rebecca Nightingale agreed with the school districts that the law violates

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Zais insults students, schools receiving awards

Last week, local and regional newspapers trumpeted the announcements that various schools in their coverage areas had been recognized with Palmetto Gold and Silver awards for student achievement.

And why not? In South Carolina, where public schools are denigrated daily by ideologues who favor privatization, corporatization, segregation and elimination, the news that so many students and schools

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Imagine South Carolina public schools, governed by educators

What a concept. This column appears in the current edition of Education Week magazine, co-authored by a set of "2011-12 U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows; participants in the program must be practicing teachers with a minimum of five years' experience and demonstrated leadership."

They describe a world so incredible that it's difficult to visualize, at least here in South

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