Obama and TFA

Wendy Kopp is apparently in the running for U.S. Education Secretary in the Obama administration.  What do you think?

See the news here.

I heard the tail end of an interview with Nilaja' Sun on NPR today.  Sun, who taught in the Bronx for nine years, wrote and stars in the production NO CHILD, which embodies all facets of public school education (from teachers to students to janitors) and comments on the effects of NCLB.  See the trailer below...

The (only) public high school in Ville Platte, Louisiana, may be forced to close its doors for good, as voters rejected a property tax increase that would have allowed for the rebuilding of the school. It is literally falling apart and needs serious renovation. If, in fact, the school shuts down, students will be dispersed to schools up to 30 miles away.  The Principal projects that many students might simply drop out instead of transferring.  It also so happens that the school is predominantly black, failing under NCLB and it has been suggested that white community members voted against rebuilding the school because they think its unfair to "pay for a school their children do not attend."

The NYTimes article (read it here) is written in true Buzz Bissinger fashion (read Friday Night Lights if you haven't) as it is told through the frame of the Ville Platte High School Bulldogs football season, giving the players a voice.  Bissinger may have been right when he compared Odessa, TX, to other pockets of small town America.  Do I see another football/education book in your future, Buzz? 

The New iPod Nano says...

Happy Halloween!