May 14, 2013 via TribLive

Pension crisis will hit hard

Pennsylvania's pension crisis is about to hit Pennsylvania homeowners and taxpayers, and the results won't be pretty. Full article

May 5, 2013 via pennlive.com

Common Core standards will prepare kids for success: As I See It

Almost a decade ago, governors from across the country got together to have a long-overdue discussion about why so many students were graduating from high school ill-prepared for college. At the same time, the business community was sounding the alarm about good paying jobs going unfilled because high school graduates lacked basic math and reading skills, as well as good work habits. Full article

May 5, 2013 via lehighvalleylive.com

Common Core academic standards igniting controversy

Fourth grade for many years didn't look the same in a Phillipsburg classroom as it did in a Bethlehem classroom. Students could move either way across the Delaware River and find themselves covering old ground or behind. Full article

April 30, 2013 via Daily American

Proponent calls Common Core the ‘great equalizer of education’

Pennsylvania's Common Core standards are academic standards, not a curriculum. Common Core State Standards are intended to make sure that high school graduates are prepared to succeed in higher education, the military or the workforce regardless of where they live, Tim Eller, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said in a telephone interview. Full article

April 24, 2013 via Post-Gazette.com

‘Radical’: Education reformer Michelle Rhee argues that tough love is best

Michelle Rhee headed the District of Columbia public school system from 2007 to 2010. She launched her administration by closing 23 schools, laying off 266 teachers and firing 36 principals, 22 assistant principals and 98 district office workers. She resigned in 2010 when the mayor, her political backer, lost his bid for re-election. Full article