Quotables

Minn. math teacher to Obama: "Don't explain..."

As part of her recognition, Barbara Stoflet met with Obama for three minutes, time they took to talk about the importance of math and science for girls, she said. Obama asked her how best to explain math problems to his daughters, and her response was: "Don’t explain it to them. Let them explain it to you." (Politico44)

On the backs of teachers

“A lot of charter schools are doing their work on the backs of teachers willing to work their hearts out,” says the University of Chicago’s Timothy Knowles, whose Urban Education Institute manages a handful of charter schools. “Class sizes are big, numbers of classes taught are often excessive, basic working conditions are poor, salaries are low, and benefits are worse than those in the traditional public system.” (Russo article in Harvard Education Letter)

Rockford teacher diversity

“The Caucasian population in the district is the minority,” [Executive Director of Schools Earl] Hernandez said. “We’re predominately Latin and African-American, yet the makeup of our staff is predominately Caucasian.” The student makeup is about 38 percent white, 30 percent black and 23 percent Hispanic — compared with about 88 percent of the faculty that’s white, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. (RRStar.com)