Education Law

An interesting exercise

We’ve all played the game, either in our head or with some friends: “What would you do if you won the lottery?”  And now some view the stimulus money that is allocated for education in a lottery-winning way.  One report, “Smart Options: Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success” has been getting some attention for their Top Five ideas to reshape America’s education system.

Today, Jay Mathews of the Washington Post grades the top five, which include creating national standards, conducting meaningful teacher evaluations, and helping struggling students, among others, and gives readers a chance to rank the most important items or add your own.  While Mr. Mathews’ grading rationale is an interesting read, some  John/Jane Q. Public’s ideas are captivating as well.  So far, the consensus is that money doesn’t fix everything, and there are lots of models that seem to work.

The bottom line is the group that funded the report wants these major changes to be complete by 2012, to which Mathews says, “I think they are dreaming.”   The pressure is certainly on, and there are more eyes than ever watching the world of education.

BoardBuzz knows that school districts are awaiting the funds, and looking at the best ways to make them work in school districts.  For more information about the stimulus and what it means for school districts, be sure to check out NSBA’s Economic Stimulus Resource Center.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on May 11, 2009 (boomark / email).