edLeaders

by Maureen SullivanCarly Fiorina, the former CEO and chairman of Hewlett-Packard, today announced her run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. She has never held public office and calls her run a “return to citizen government.” She pokes fun at her undergraduate degree from Stanford in medieval history and philosophy but says it comes in handy when she wants to poke holes in President Obama’s comparison of ISIS terrorism with the Crusades.Read the rest of the story on Forbes.

edCircuit conducts a Skype interview with Michelle Herczog, president of the National Council for the Social Studies.  Herczog talks about the importance of this subject area, the latest NAEP results in social studies, and the C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards. 

by Doug BoltonNicky Morgan has been reappointed as Education Secretary in David Cameron’s post-election cabinet reshuffle.Morgan, who took over from the unpopular Michael Gove in July, dramatically increased her majority in election and has been rewarded with the same brief as before.The reappointment has proved controversial with some teachers, as Morgan, like her predecessor Gove, has no teaching experience.Read the rest of the story at The Independent.

Almost every state has been sued for not investing enough in education, especially in poorer districts. But localities may be more to blame.by Mary Ellen McIntireWhat’s the right amount to spend on schools to get the best outcomes?The average spending per student in school districts around the country decreased in 2011 — the latest year that data is available — and began years of declining expenditures, according to an April report on K-12 funding by State Policy Reports.Read the rest of the story on Governing.

When I was growing up in Minnesota in the 1960s, “after school activities” for me meant walking out my family’s back door to play with the other kids who lived on my street. In the summer, we played kickball or we explored the nearby woods; in the winter, we built snowmen or stayed inside to play board games. My mom and the other neighborhood moms never had to worry about organizing activities for us; they just had to call us for dinner in a couple hours.

by Tracy Seipel

by Allie Bidwell

by Maureen SullivanSenator Marco Rubio of Florida today becomes the third freshman senator to enter the field for the Republican presidential nomination. Over the past few years he has opposed Common Core curriculum standards and advocated for educational vouchers, a federal corporate income tax credit and an overhaul of the college student loan industry.Speaking at Miami’s Freedom Tower, he said, “All parents deserve to choose the education that’s right for their children.” These are some of his other views:College Degrees:Not everyone should be forced to get a four-year degree in order to find a job. There are millions of good-paying jobs out there and we should allow people to have access to skills they need in a cost-effective way. In the 21st century some of the best jobs require more than high school–traditional high school–but less than four years of college.Read the rest of the story on Forbes.com.

BATs Congratulate Hillary ClintonThe Badass Teachers Association would like to congratulate you on your recent announcement to run for president.  The Badass Teachers Association is an education activist organization that is nationwide. Currently, we are 55,000 strong with chapters in every state.  We are organizing on the ground to change the conversation back to what public education should be, about children and their future.  We have far reaching capability on Twitter, via our website, our blog, and Pinterest.Our organization was founded in June of 2013.  We fight for strong public education for all children and for teacher autonomy in the classroom. We are a group that refuses to take the blame for our government’s inability to address child poverty and its impact on how children perform in school. We fight, on a daily basis, the efforts of big money to privatize our schools and use our children as market capital.We have been reviewing the history of your educational platform with interest in anticipation of your announcement.   Read the rest of the letter at Badass Teachers Association