From Dissent, Squeezing Public Education: History and ideology gang up in New Orleans. From In These Times, an essay on restoring classroom justice. On career-focused education: Starting high school? Aligning studies with interests could reduce dropout rates; or keep options open: Give students broad education, not narrow vocational tracks. Under police guard, about 60 pupils at New York's first Arabic bilingual school turned up for classes on Tuesday amid accusations the institution is a potential breeding ground for Islamic extremists. Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails: There's finally proof that boys do ruin schools for girls.
A review of Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy by Richard Kahlenberg (and an interview from Inside Higher Ed). Teacher Credentials Don't Matter for Student Achievement: Many American school districts pay teachers with master's degrees substantially more, even though a number of studies suggest that having a master's degree has little if any effect on student achievement. A World Without Teacher Unions? Despite the myriad criticisms of teacher unions, their abolition would be a huge loss for supporters of public education — and for the American labor movement as a whole. Back to School: Could teachers become the new lawyers?
From The Chronicle, DePaul University has canceled Norman G. Finkelstein's courses, taken away his office, and put him on leave, but the controversial political scientist plans to hold classes, even it means going to jail; and Tenure by Plebiscite: Competing petitions on a Web site have entangled the tenure bid of a Barnard College anthropologist in Israeli-Palestinian politics. The American Psychological Association has adopted stricter standards for its members' involvement in interrogations of suspected terrorists, but critics say the rules are still too lax.
