Teach for America, not California

By Larry Sand
05/21/2019
Assembly bill would eliminate the successful TFA program in CA, a state which desperately needs more good teachers. Assembly Bill 221 in California would prohibit school districts from entering into a contract with a third-party organization that employs teachers “who commit to teaching in the organization for less than five years.” This is an obvious...

TAGS: California Federation of Teachers, Charter schools, Joshua Pechthalt, Larry Sand, Teach For America, teacher quality, teachers union, Walter Williams, Wendy Kopp

Positive Impact

By Larry Sand
02/02/2016
Michelle Rhee’s teacher evaluation system has shown itself to be effective in D.C. public schools and has left the teachers unions on the sidelines…for now. Back in 2010, the Washington, D.C. public school system (DCPS) introduced IMPACT, an evaluation system whose goal was not only to identify and retain good teachers, but pay them bonuses....

TAGS: California Teachers Association, Dean Vogel, Larry Sand, Michelle Rhee, National Education Association, teacher quality, teachers union, Washington Teachers Union

Jerry Brown and CTA: Testphobic Twins

By Larry Sand
01/31/2012
Children in the Golden State will get a better education when teacher quality becomes a priority. In perhaps the most in-depth study on the subject to date, three Ivy League economists studied how much the quality of individual teachers matters to their students over the long term. The paper, by Raj Chetty and John N....

TAGS: California Teachers Association, Jerry Brown, Lance Izumi, standardized testing, teacher quality, teachers unions, value added