Will Tech Doom Teachers’ Unions?
Posted on May 22nd, 2011 by Mary Lord
Forget politics and budget battles. Digital learning, not legislatures, represents the biggest threat to teachers’ unions, argues Stanford political science professor Terry Moe in his new book, Special Interest. Part history, part analysis of education trends, the book details the rise of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers.
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Tags: Education Policy, Teachers, Technology, Technology for Learning
After years of discussing the need to improve STEM education, states are starting to seize their Sputnik moment. Some are forging novel connections between colleges and local school systems. Others are considering laws so school districts can form regional STEM schools.
House Republicans made their opening bid to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act, introducing the first of what are expected to be as many as five bills seeking to change specific parts of federal education law and eliminate “wasteful” education programs. A bipartisan group of Senators is seeking broader changes, however.
Chicago Public Schools is the latest test lab for philanthropists hoping to improve public education. English vacuum cleaner inventor James Dyson announced he was investing $500,000 to bring an after-school program focused on creative design, engineering and technology to 20 schools this fall. 
Can digital media and video games boost student learning? The Bill and Melinda Gates and Pearson foundations clearly think so. The pair announced a $20 million effort to create online reading, math, and science courses tied to new Common Core state standards that will use video, interactive software, games, social media and other digital materials. 
How much does your state spend on STEM education? What are the job prospects for science and engineering majors? The National Science Board’s new Web-based tool helps teachers, students, parents, and guidance counselors answer these questions and more. 
A Capitol Hill proposal would create a Master Teacher Corps of the nation’s top STEM teachers, who would guide younger and less effective instructors. They would get extra pay, with more money going to those teaching at high-need public schools.
For nearly a decade, schools have been held accountable for student performance on federally mandated state tests. Now, with some 80 percent of U.S. schools in danger of failing next year, states and districts are revamping teacher evaluation plans and making growth the centerpiece for pay and tenure. 
For more than 40 years, Earth Day — April 22 — has been inspiring individuals and communities to protect the planet. For 2011, Earth Day Network, the world’s largest environmental advocacy group, hopes to mobilize 1 billion “Acts of Green.”
