It goes to show why if you believe in something you should never give up.  You never know who is listening… Despite the doubling down by our Chief of Change (pennies on the dollar, get it?) here in Delaware, in a land far, far away, (believe me it is far removed from the real world), a budget gets passed and signed that all but does in Race To The Top and the former Common Core, now called JYAKWRAL

And as touted here and other blogs, the real area that does so much to improve education in poverty areas, is  Head Start’s early childhood.education.

It won big, with a billion increase over their past record… That is wise. That is good.

But, wiser and better, are who lost….

Drumroll please…. xxxx—xxx—-xx-x-x-x—-xxxx—xxx—x-x-x-x—-x-x-x-

Two initiatives high on the Obama administration’s wish list—a Race to the Top for higher education and $750 million in new grants to help states improve their preschool programs—won’t receive funding in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 of this year.…..

Before one gets upset over the $750 cut in pre-school programs, that was all signed off to go to think tanks developing early learning Common Core (I mean JYAKWRAL) standards for children too small to fill in bubble tests properly enough to assess their teachers. That money was earmarked to be used teaching 3-5 year olds how to mark tests adequately enough so scanners could read them….

Good thing it’s gone!

So while Arne Duncun and Jack Markell and Dave Coleman and Mark Murphy and Dave Sokola and the Rodel Foundation all turned a tin ear towards parents, students, and teachers, Congress was listening…

Congress chose to put money into students, instead of corporate pockets….  It’s a small victory, but it does show, that the fight against Common Core (JYAKWRAL) is indeed the right fight to be having….

The true fixes for poverty laden schools are:

  • Early preschool education to build up word vocabulary.
  • 11:1 Student teacher ratio
  • Standardized tests used to track educational development; not as a firing tool for teachers
  • Rank students by their abilities on those tests; not their ages.

Simple, simple, actions, which if followed, would again give the promise of America’s dream back to 80% of the American population.

Further good news out of the Federal education budget…..

Under the spending bill, schools would no longer have to choose one of the administration’s four controversial turnaround models, which call for dramatic actions such as extending the school day, putting in place merit pay programs for educators, and replacing school leadership. Instead, the measure offers schools and states two new choices, including the chance to try out any school improvement strategy that’s been proposed by the state and gotten a green light from the U.S. Secretary of Education. On top of that, the measure adds a fifth model, known as “whole school reform,” which would allow schools to partner with an outside organization that has proven track record in turnarounds.  And the bill would allow schools to receive the grants for five years, not just three as under current law…

Christina School District comes out smelling like a rose; not so much for Markell and Murphy who appear to have been undercut by the unusual politics of compromise in Washington….