I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Our Stupid Education Discourse

Please tell me this a joke. Please, I'm begging you:
Education Reform Idol:
The Reformiest State 2011
Please join us for Education Reform Idol, where leaders from five cutting-edge states will battle for the honor of "Reformiest State 2011." This Fordham Institute panel will pit Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin against one another in what should prove to be the biggest education policy event this summer. The winner will be determined by a vote of the in-person and online audience.
Hey, for giggles, let's see how the states do on the School Funding Fairness National Report Card:

The National Report Card
StateFunding
Distribution Grade
Effort GradeFunding Level RankCoverage Rank
AlabamaDC3338
Alaska--D65
ArizonaCF466
ArkansasCB4530
CaliforniaCD3132
ColoradoDF3512
ConnecticutCC825
DelawareDF1050
District of Columbia----351
FloridaDC2246
GeorgiaCB2439
Hawaii--A748
IdahoDD494
IllinoisFD2933
IndianaCC2729
IowaCC1911
KansasDB2019
KentuckyCC3641
LouisianaDF3049
MaineDA143
MarylandDB1347
MassachusettsBC922
MichiganDA2316
MinnesotaAD1520
MississippiCB4740
MissouriDD4344
MontanaBC387
NebraskaCD2524
NevadaFF3915
New HampshireFA1810
New JerseyAA221
New MexicoCC3418
New YorkDA542
North CarolinaDF4431
North DakotaDF4014
OhioAB1736
OklahomaCF5023
OregonCF3717
PennsylvaniaDB1243
Rhode IslandCB1137
South CarolinaCA2834
South DakotaBF4113
TennesseeCF5145
TexasCD4226
UtahAF482
VermontCA49
VirginiaDD2128
WashingtonCF3227
West VirginiaCA268
WisconsinCB1635
WyomingCA11
Note: The National Report Card is based on three years of the most recent available data, from 2005 to 2007. While this report was in production, the 2008 school financial data was released. An updated analysis of the fairness profiles is available at 2008 Update. The updated fairness profiles are largely consistent with the published findings.


Nobody in the top 15 for funding level rank - the amount spent per pupil.

One barely in the top 30 for coverage rank - basically, whether rich families send their kids to private schools (well, it's more complex than that - click through to see).

Yeah, sounds "reformy" to me...

Oh, and who's on the panel? Well, not one practicing teacher. Not one principal. Not one district supervisor. Not one professor of education. Not one teachers union official.

I need a drink...

1 comment:

bilgewater said...

I just saw this morning that Dr. Tony Bennett of Indiana was the winner (notice that I did not say *students in Indiana* won). This man is dangerous to education, and he works from the same playbook as the Wisconsin governor.