Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, is a long-time veteran of the Washington, D.C. lobby wars. And it was with a sigh that he girded himself for another battle at the recent meeting of…
Category Archives: Legislation
The Earmarks Shuffle
January 13, 2012 – 9:15 am
Ever since earmarks — funds directed to named grantees — started cropping up in appropriations bills during the Reagan administration, there have been periodic attempts to eliminate the practice. But, as holders of the national purse-strings, it is hard for…
Whiteboard Speaks
January 6, 2012 – 2:51 pm
We are in the New Year and that means another revolutionary twelve months of education policy lies before us. “Revolutionary” is, of course, a relative term for education policy, just as the speed of the slug is relative to that…
FY 2012 Conference Figures Available, Kinda, Sorta
December 15, 2011 – 2:55 pm
There has been a lot of guessing about the numbers in the now-stalled compromise conference report for 2012 funding. Reportedly, a House-Senate agreement was reached Sunday night on funding for multiple federal agencies, including Education, but Senate negotiators were directed…
i3 the Sequel: The $150M Bride of Innovation
November 10, 2011 – 11:31 am
The U.S. Department of Education today unveiled 23 new winners of grants under the Investing in Innovation program, or i3, an effort designed to help districts and nonprofits with strong track records in improving student achievement scale-up their efforts and…
Bipartisan? Not So Much
November 8, 2011 – 3:56 pm
Well, it looks like my prediction that Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee would generate no news was 100 percent wrong. However, the news didn’t come from the witnesses — it came from the podium….
Rand Paul’s Snooze-Fest
November 8, 2011 – 7:00 am
It will be interesting to see if Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing on the ESEA produces any news of importance. It is an utterly pro-forma event — occurring well after the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee completed work on…