While we have narrowed the racial achievement gap, the income gap in achievement is widening. (AP Images)

There is an interesting and alarming New York Times story on the growing educational divide between rich and poor kids. The story notes that while race was more consequential than family income in educational success 50 years ago, now income has the greater consequence.

Yes, we are narrowing the black and white gap, but we are seeing the gap widen between rich and poor performance. And that gap may be harder to address.

I was talking about a related issue yesterday with former private school teacher and coach. The man was saying how one of his school’s promising tennis players eventually left the school to move to Florida to attend a tennis academy where he had classes in the morning and tennis the rest of the day. And the boy eventually played tennis at college and did quite well.

I noted that my older brother who captained a college basketball team at a NCAA …

One of the most miraculous goals is a 100 percent high school graduation rate by 2023

Last week, Superintendent Romain Dallemand fulfilled his promise to shake up the sluggish system, unveiling his Macon Miracle blueprint to decidedly mixed responses. (There are more than 400 comments on the Macon Telegraph website, most of which could be described as skeptical and angry.)

The Macon Miracle blueprint is candid about the district’s challenges: With 41 schools in the District, only 24 of them made Adequate Yearly Progress for 2010‐2011. Discipline data also raises concern for the future of Bibb County, Georgia, and the United States. In 2010‐2011, almost 8,000 students were suspended for a total of 48,000 days of missed instruction. Nearly 500 students were expelled, 703 students …

(Later on today, Ed Trust plans to release a deeper analysis of the waiver agreements following the release of more state-by-state materials by the U.S. Department of Education.)

Here is her statement:

Today’s waiver approvals establish a middle ground. In this new approach, the federal government takes responsibility for ensuring that states set meaningful goals for all groups of students — particularly low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities and English language learners, all of whom are too often shortchanged by state and local education policy. At the same time, the waivers give these 10 states the flexibility and responsibility to determine the kinds of strategies and interventions their schools and districts need to enable all groups …

President Barack Obama will announce today that ten states that have agreed to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability will receive flexibility from the burdensome mandates of the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.

In exchange for this flexibility, these states have agreed to raise standards, improve accountability, and undertake essential reforms to improve teacher effectiveness. The ten states approved for flexibility are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

In a White House announcement attended by state education officials, teachers, civil rights, and business leaders, the President will say that NCLB, which is five years overdue for a rewrite, is driving the wrong behaviors, from teaching to the test to federally determined, one-size-fits-all interventions. The President will call on Congress to work across the aisle to fix the law even as his …

However, I listened to a panel a few weeks ago in which one of the key players in No Child, former Bush education Secretary Margaret Spellings, lamented the waivers as a retreat from our commitment to children and an acquiescence to adults.

Without deadlines for improvement on states, Spellings said the federal government was simply “putting money out there and hoping for the best. We tried for for 40 years and had flat achievement and a growing gap.”

She defended the 2014 deadline for requiring that all students perform at grade-level, saying that it was not unreasonable for parents to expect their children to be able to get …

Among those issuing comments was the Georgia Family Council:

“By failing to pass this amendment to protect public charter schools, Georgia’s Representatives have failed our students who are stuck in low-performing schools due to their zip code or bank account,” said Jerri Nims Rooker, director of the Center for an Educated Georgia at Georgia Family Council. “Today, many representatives chose to put the entrenched political interests of adults over the interests of children, blocking the state’s development of high quality charter schools that are inappropriately denied by their local school boards. Because of today’s vote, students will have less access to quality educational options, and the state will not be able to help them

According to the AJC:

The amendment, which sparked one of the most emotional debates of this legislative …

A DeKalb parent sent me a copy of an email that school board member Nancy Jester sent out. I contacted Jester to let her know that I would like to publish her email. She sent me this note, which gives a bit of background.

Before I do, let me say that I agree with Jester that this is a mess. I am surprised that something this important was not done more thoughtfully by the Legislature, and I believe DeKalb parents ought to be furious.

Here is what Jester has to say about her email below:

This was a “regular” email sent to a smaller group of constituents alerting them to the work of the legislative sub-committee of the DeKalb delegation on the reapportionment for the DeKalb …

Georgia ranks 13th in the nation in the percentage of seniors scoring a 3 or higher on Advanced Placement exams, according to The College Board’s AP Report to the Nation released today. This report measures progress of the class of 2011.

“More Georgia students than ever before are taking AP courses and passing the exam,” said State School Superintendent John Barge. “Success on AP exams means that students are prepared for college and careers, which is our ultimate goal.”

Governor Nathan Deal added, “Our state’s excellent performance on AP exams demonstrates our success in cultivating excellence. With hard work and perseverance, young Georgians have the tools to achieve their dreams. Students who earn passing grades on Advanced Placement tests get a jump start on college and, in the long run, they help the state. These students …

State Rep. Jason Spencer

Here is another perspective on the proposed charter school amendment to the state constitution which may come to a floor vote this week in the House.

State Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, a physician’s assistant in Kingsland, wrote this letter to his constituents to explain his opposition to House Resolution 1162.

Active in the Tea Party movement in coastal Georgia, Spencer writes, “The charter school movement is predominantly isolated in the Atlanta metro area with some bipartisan support. Many of the rural school systems in Georgia could wither on the vine if this amendment passes.”

Spencer’s opposition to HR 1162 reflects the sentiments of other rural legislators that this is an Atlanta battle, and they don’t want their local schools to suffer in the crossfire.

While leading Atlanta area Republicans are supporting the amendment to allow the state to create charter schools and fund them, rural lawmakers worry that their already struggling schools …

There is apparently a full-court press under way to win the necessary margins in the Legislature to endorse this amendment and put it on the November ballot. The automated call explained that my legislator had not expressed support for HR 1162 and they needed that vote to “save charter schools in Georgia.” The call did not make clear if the recalcitrant lawmaker was my House rep or Senate rep.

This is one of the few robo calls that I have ever received on an education issue. The only other I can recall was for SPLOST.

“Rosie” gave a very basic explanation of HR 1162, saying the controversial resolution would “allow families to have more school options by protecting public charter schools.” She did not mention the core dispute over whether the broad amendment erodes local control of …