http://www.iwf.org/topics info@iwf.org http://www.pjdoland.com/chai/?v=0.1 http://www.iwf.org/inkwell/show/20333.html <p>Longview, Washington's <em>Daily News</em> rightfully gives a <a href="http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/10/editorial/doc4824cb30e6d36417469446.txt">"thumbs down"</a> to the Washington Education Association for rejecting a $13.2 million grant to improve AP classes:</p> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">That $13.2 million grant Washington state won last year to enhance the teaching of Advanced Placement courses in math and science is history. It's lost because of the financial incentives it would have provided for teachers who improve test scores. The Washington Education Association didn't much like the idea of tying teacher pay to student performance on exams. Neither did the teachers union like the involvement of an outside party, the grant provider, in teacher-pay decisions.<br /><br />The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided $10 million for the grant, couldn't understand why a compromise couldn't be worked out. Other states receiving similar grants had teachers unions and found ways to accept the grant money, said foundation official Steve Seleznow. "Honestly, I can't figure out why they couldn't solve this." Neither can we.</blockquote> <p>More commentary <a href="http://theunionlabelblog.com/2008/05/07/you-mean-the-unions-dont-want-teachers-to-have-more-money/">here.</a></p> <p>Hat tip: <a href="http://theunionlabelblog.com/2008/05/13/teachers-union-torpedos-132-million-grant-for-kids/">Union Label</a></p> 20333@http://www.iwf.org Tue, 13 May 2008 15:47:00 EDTinfo@iwf.org (Allison Kasic) http://www.iwf.org/inkwell/show/19934.html <p>Over at Human Events Online, IWF's Carrie Lukas recaps the issues covered at IWF's global economy summit, including education:</p><blockquote><p>Despite our massive spending on elementary and secondary education, too many of America's children receive a mediocre education that simply does not prepare them to compete with their peers internationally.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html" target="_self">Scores released just this week</a> on the International Student Assessment show that U.S. 15 year olds ranked 17th out of the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in science and 24th in math. The United States is clearly failing to prepare much of the next generation to participate and contribute to our increasingly knowledge-based economy.</p></blockquote><p>Read her article <a href="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23864">here.</a></p> 19934@http://www.iwf.org Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:30:00 ESTinfo@iwf.org (Allison Kasic)