The Great Fordham Toolkit Debate

By Whitney Marcavage
National Policy Director

Washington, D.C. - The American Federation for Children applauds the folks over at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute for stirring up debate about academic accountability within private school choice programs via the release of their policy “toolkit” last week. It’s an important conversation to have.

As the only national educational choice organization that works to elect state policymakers who support parental choice, lobbies for high-quality legislation, and ensures that the laws work for kids, we’ve got a pretty good sense of the policy and political questions regarding accountability in private school choice programs.

Who are the real #EdReform Influencers?

By Kevin P. Chavous
Today, Michael J. Petrilli of The Fordham Institute published what he calls, "The Top Twitter Feeds in Education Policy." This is indicative of the problem with some in the education reform community -- let's pat each other’s back for superficial reasons, ignoring the real reason for education reform - helping children.

 

First, I want to say, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Michael, both personally and professionally, and his list includes some worthwhile education reform champions. But, as Michael explains, the list is based purely on "Klout" scores. Klout is a website that attempts to measure individual influence online, but as Mashable and other outlets have reported, Klout is hardly an accurate measure of social media impact.

More importantly, in the terms of education reform, the most important impact shouldn't be how much we Tweet one another, but how positive impact we're having the lives of children who deserve better educational options.

So while Michael will rely on computer algorithm to develop his list of "Top Twitter Feeds in Education Policy," later this week, I will be releasing the "Thirteen Most Impactful #EdReform Twitter Accounts of 2013." This list will include nominations from you of people whose work is changing the lives of children every day.

To nominate a Twitter account, email KTyagi@FederationforChildren.org - including the name and twitter handle of your nominee or Tweet me your nominee at @KevinPChavous.

You're Invited! "The Results of 2011, The Promise of 2012" - Thursday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m.

On behalf of the Alliance for School Choice, we here at School Choice Now! want to make sure you're aware of a free event we're hosting this Thursday, January 26 at 1 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

In conjunction with National School Choice Week, we're excited to let you know that we'll be unveiling our School Choice Yearbook 2011-12, the sixth edition of our award-winning publication, at an event titled "The Result of 2011, The Promise of 2012," cohosted by the Fordham Institute and the Institute for Justice. In addition to the first look at cutting-edge data from our new Yearbook, you'll hear from families who have benefited from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program here in Washington. The details are below:

The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided! Those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP at www.SchoolChoice2012.com. We hope you'll be able to make it, and we encourage you to tell your friends to join us as well. Click here to read the press release we sent out about the event last week -- and feel free to send that along to your friends, too. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions, and we hope to see you Thursday!

- American Federation | Alliance for School Choice, MAG

'Ed Reform Idol' Spurs Valuable Education Discussion (Simon Cowells Not Welcome)

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute this morning hosted a lighthearted event called Education Reform Idol, a play on the American Idol television franchise that aimed to crown "the reformiest state" of 2011. The five contestant states—Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin—were each represented by an elected official with education expertise, an education policy aide, or the leader of an education reform organization in the state (we live-tweeted the proceedings, so check out our Twitter feed here to get a play-by-play).

Congratulations to Indiana, which had State Superintendent Tony Bennett on hand to argue successfully for his state. Followed by the Hoosiers was Illinois in second place, with Florida coming in third. Ohio and Wisconsin tied for fifth place.

Though the states were competing, the atmosphere was cordial and collaborative, with representatives and judges of various political leanings using the forum as an opportunity not only to sell what's happened so far this year, but more importantly, to talk about what steps these reforms have laid and how they are setting the stage for future positive change.

While some states, like Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin passed expansive reforms in the midst of contentious legislative fights, states like Illinois and Florida built consensus to pass strong, but less extensive measures. It was conversations about these issues, among others, that made for a constructive debate about how to best move the ball forward to maximize the ways in which we can help kids in the future.