Even though I recently relocated from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, I still pay close attention to my home city. At the moment, I am in awe of the lack of progress being made to fill the $304 million budget gap still facing the District. The State - in its infinite "wisdom" - has provided a strange avenue for increased funding for education in Philadelphia. Governor Corbett's administration and the state legislature are releasing some state funds, allowing some city funds to be diverted, and creating a provision for another loan to the tune of $50 million. Funding packages like this make it easy to interpret the Governor's opinion on the State's role in public education.

Then, to put the nail in the coffin, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made a statement about the funding crisis in Philadelphia education. Jeff Bryant of the Washington Post recently dug into the words used and how the idea of "no excuses" has become a mantra for some, often to the detriment of children. Duncan pointed out that there is "no excuse" for the current budget crisis, yet back in 2011 Governor Corbett floated the idea of reduced spending as a means to an end in the State. Even though he was warned of the possible outcome in education across Pennsylvania, he still went through with reducing the basic education subsidy by $1 billion. Coupled with the loss of federal stimulus money, this has run Philadelphia schools into the ground.

While applying to work at schools in New York City, I immediately dismissed any that advertised a "no excuses" attitude toward their students - this often results in psychological issues for children, false "miracle" schools, and entirely too much stress on teachers. 

I applaud the mindset of those who want all children to succeed no matter what. But there are valid excuses sometimes and we need to recognize that, grow up, and move on. I sincerely hope that something big happens in Philadelphia so that teachers can do their best work with the majority low-income students across the city and don't have to worry about where their own next meal is coming from.

To much news fanfare, the National Council on Teacher Quality recently released their report on Teacher Preparation programs across the country. By analyzing 1000+ programs across the country, NCTQ determined that 3 out of 4 programs are failing our prospective teachers and not giving them the resources they need to succeed in the classroom. Major news outlets briefly explained its methodology and how people like Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, support its general mission.

But if you dig a bit deeper two major outcomes become evident when reading this report. The first is quite clear: this is not a peer-reviewed, journal-quality analysis of our country's teacher preparation programs. As mentioned in this article, the methods used here (reviewing syllabi and analyzing selectivity of recruits) is akin to a "professional restaurant reviewer judging eateries by looking at menus found online." A truly rigorous study would involve visits to universities and colleges across the country, interviews, focus groups, and more. 

The second issue is a bit deeper in interpretation: if these teacher preparation programs are being criticized mercilessly for not providing adequate preparation, what about emergency certification programs like Teacher for America? Last Wednesday, Eli Broad of the conservative Broad Foundation, wrote an op-ed piece for the LA Times explaining how we need better and deeper curriculum and selectivity in order to get the higher-quality teachers. He even mentions Finland as an example of a country that is doing better in this regard.

Taking his assertion to its logical conclusion, wouldn't he advocate for closing programs like Teach For America that only give 5 weeks of preparation and the majority of whose members don't stay more than 2-3 years in the classroom? I'd like to know his answer to that question soon.