News

Report: Raleigh ranks 48th out of 50 large metros in public school quality

A new report that measures the effectiveness of public schools in some of the nation’s largest metro areas ranks Raleigh near the bottom of the pile. Published by the Fordham Institute, the report, “America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality,” measured the effectiveness of school systems based on general academic growth, academic growth...

David N. Bass
Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

As 2006 draws to a close, education reformers are already looking ahead to the coming year. What ideas will ignite debate in 2007? One perennially combustible issue – education funding – is sure to get even hotter. Leading the pack of financial reforms is the concept of weighted student funding.

Lindalyn Kakadelis

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Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

Five years have passed since 9/11 – a fateful day that changed the course of history. This past Monday night, President Bush commemorated 9/11’s anniversary with an address to the nation, calling our war against terror the “decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century, and the calling of our generation.”

Lindalyn Kakadelis
Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

Charter schools are the foster children of the public school “family.” Who will own them? As innovative, public schools, they certainly can’t claim kinship with the state’s private schools. And unlike their traditional public school siblings, they have no bureaucratic sugar daddy to safeguard their financial well-being.

Lindalyn Kakadelis
News

NC Curricula Fare Relatively Well

RALEIGH — Two recent nationwide studies have examined curriculum and teaching practices in K-12 English and math, and find that even the best states often come up short. The companion studies, “The State of State Math Standards” and “The State of State English Standards,” were both sponsored by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. North Carolina’s B in English placed it on the “honor roll” of only 20 states that earned an A or a B in that subject. The state’s C in math is well above the national average of D, but a “big decline” compared to 2000. NC scores were higher than the national scores in both subjects.

Dr. Karen Y. Palasek