The Center for Public Integrity StudentsFirst — created by former Washington, D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee — is leading a new wave of “education reform” organizations, funded largely by wealthy donors, that are challenging teachers’ unions and supporting mostly conservative candidates up and down the ticket in dozens of states. These groups promote charter schools,…
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Issue ad or political ad? You be the judge
The Center for Public Integrity Less than a month before a school board race in Douglas County, Colo., the Koch-funded nonprofit Americans for Prosperity said it spent $350,000 on ads backing a conservative slate of candidates. Yet no public records exist of the spending. Read the story here.
Continue ReadingDo senators fear the Internet?
The Center for Public Integrity Despite millions in potential cost savings to taxpayers, the U.S. Senate has still yet to pass a requirement that it file campaign finance reports electronically. By Friday, presidential candidates, House candidates, political action committees and super PACs must file their fourth-quarter financial reports with the Federal Election Commission electronically. Senate…
Continue ReadingKoch-backed group gives big to Cuccinelli in Virginia
The Center for Public Integrity Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has raked in millions from out-of-state donors while at the same time hammering Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe for doing the same, campaign finance records show. Cuccinelli has received $8.1 million — more than 40 percent of funds raised by his campaign since Jan. 1…
Continue ReadingLocal charity expects loss after shutdown
Oct. 15, 2013 The Ronald McDonald House of Greater Washington, D.C., receives a large number of annual contributions from federal employees and federal contractors, explained Executive Director Karen Torres. When those potential donors lose money through furloughs or have delayed paychecks — a result of the recent federal government shutdown — the same losses are…
Continue Reading50 years later, still marching for jobs
Exactly 50 years after the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom flooded the nation’s capital on Aug. 28, 1963, marchers once again took to the streets. Participants in the new March on Washington for Jobs and Justice said the last half century has brought improvements, but more progress is still needed. They once…
Continue ReadingThe Chosen Charter
Washington City Paper At Sela, whose name is Hebrew for rock or foundation, school days will alternate between Hebrew and English. In math, for example, students will learn how to add and subtract in English one day, and the next day they’ll pick up where they left off in Hebrew. Language immersion programs aren’t new…
Continue ReadingMaya Angelou charter school wipes out zeros for students
A student at Maya Angelou Public Charter School can fail to complete any assignment or even not show up at school and still get a 40 percent for the quarter under a new grading policy. Read the story here.
Continue ReadingStudent applicants swamp District’s charter schools
As the city’s public charter school grow more popular, the difficulty of securing a spot in top-performing schools has become exasperating for parents.
Continue ReadingSchool Without Walls principal tries to hire wife
The principal of one of Washington’s highest-performing high schools agreed to also oversee a struggling elementary and middle school on the condition that he be allowed to hire his wife.
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