21st Century Scholar

Peter Scott uses the metaphor of “the angle of repose” in his nice new book, Harnessing America’s Wasted Talent. The angle of repose is an engineering term, but I know it as the title of a book by one of my favorite authors, Wallace Stegner. In engineering an “angle of repose” is the angle at [...]

Last week, Governor Jerry Brown described his 2012 budget proposal, which included a $5.2 billion cut in education if voters do not approve a tax increase on the ballot this November. Of the total, Brown plans to cut $4.8 billion in K–12 public school funding—the equivalent of three weeks of schooling—and $200 million to the [...]

Now is the time to give thanks. I am thankful for having good health, professional successes, and old and new friends and family. When I consider major trends in education, however, giving thanks is more difficult.  Don’t get me wrong—there are people and events for which to be thankful. This year, Governor Brown signed legislation [...]

by Bill Tierney Educational reformers, whether they are Bill and Melinda Gates or big-city mayors such as Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, frequently swing for the fences when they attempt educational reform. The Gates Foundation poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a “small schools” movement that ultimately went nowhere. “Our goal is to transform [...]

by Randy Clemens In the comic book universe, identifying superheroes and supervillains is relatively easy. For instance, if you can’t tell by the ominous outfit or menacing scowl, you can certainly recognize villains by their evil machinations to takeover and/or destroy the world. In the education reform universe, the task is not so simple. First, [...]

by Bill Tierney Here’s another movie on the same theme as Waiting for Superman and The Cartel. We have four cute kids who are trying to get into “good” (a.k.a. “charter”) schools in Harlem by way of a lottery. Geoffrey Canada once again is the voice of reason saying how important good schools are and [...]

by Randy Clemens Davis Guggenheim, the director of Waiting for Superman, said that his ultimate goal for the film was to catalyze education reform. Knowing that makes thinking about the movie a little easier for me. Why? Guggenheim is a story-teller. His credits include Melrose Place, An Inconvenient Truth, Deadwood, and Party of Five. He is not a [...]

by Randy Clemens There is a serious flaw to the configuration of schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. What’s the flaw? I’ll give you a hint: it’s the same problem that now riddles California’s higher education system, a system that now includes UCs, CSUs, community colleges, and private (for- and not-for-profit) universities.  That’s right, [...]

by Bill Tierney, Guilbert (Gib) Hentschke, and Mark DeFusco Arguably, higher education is facing the toughest times it has faced in the last century.  Public institutions have seen their budgets decimated.  Private institutions have seen donations decline and consumers unable to pay tuition.  Endowments are just beginning to rebound.  For-profit colleges and universities have come [...]

by Randy Clemens There’s a rumor going around that the country’s economy has turned a corner. The Great Recession is over. I don’t know the metrics that pundits and politicians are using, but if we consider the financial stability (or instability) of school districts, the recession is certainly not over. Consider, for instance, the case [...]