21st Century Schools Fund Warns of Dangers in the IFF Study

Mary Filardo and Michael Siegel, who both sit on the Education Finance Commission for the District of Columbia have authored a critique of the IFF Study that explains what is wrong with the methodology used, but also makes clear what the implications would be of following through on the study's recommendations. This is an important read in light of the fact that the Mayor and his Deputy for Education, the editors of the Washington Post, and groups like DC Reform Now continue to promote the IFF study as the starting point for a useful blueprint for the city.  Its not just bad research. It is promoting assumptions that will eliminate every child's right to a neighborhood school -- the definition of public education. Read the Siegel-Filardo critique here.

Robert McCartney Calls for Full-Scale Investigation of DCPS

In today's Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney called for a full-scale investigation of the DCPS cheating scandal along the lines of the investigation that got to the truth in Atlanta. The public seems to finally be demanding the investigatoin DCPS has been avoiding since the scandal came to light in 2010.
In expressing his outrage, McCartney points out that "No details have been provided, and almost nothing has emerged about classes in about 100 other schools with suspect numbers of erasures from 2008 to 2010. Considering that such erasures were first identified as a problem more than three years ago, it’s appalling that the District hasn’t gotten to the bottom of this." We agree.