WEEKEND QUOTABLES

AFT prez on Chicago charter union contract

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said: “This contract is a great example of how charter schools can be incubators for innovative reforms and good labor-management practices…Civitas teachers are walking the education-reform walk by forging a new path for charter schools that value collaboration.” (Catalyst)

From Deborah Meier's tribute to Ted Sizer

The newest fad is mayoral control, as though the corruption, cronyism, and patronage that led us to abandon it earlier were no longer dangers. The poster boy for this is New York’s mayor Bloomberg. (Then comes Chicago under Arne Duncan.) Bloomberg, the richest Mayor we have ever known, has managed to garner staggering control over not only all decisions made about schools, but also control of the data accessible to us about how it has been spent and what it has achieved. (Deborah Meier.com)

Case of the missing juniors--how the testing game is played in Illinois

School districts statewide are using a loophole that allows them to define what constitutes a "junior." By ratcheting up the credit hour requirements, schools are disqualifying thousands of third-year high school students from taking the 11th-grade exam that is the primary tool to hold the schools accountable for student achievement. Many then take the test as seniors, but their scores are not used for state and federal No Child Left Behind accountability purposes. In fact, the state does not even track how well seniors perform on the test. (Chicago Tribune)