From the New York Times:

Overview | What is a stump speech, and what makes one effective? In this lesson, students analyze the stump speeches of presidential candidates, then write the stump speech they would use if they were running for president.

Materials | Computers with Internet access, projector.

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From Education Week:

A recent report on the organizations that manage public schools depicts an industry in flux, as the number of for-profit companies and the student enrollment in their schools continue to grow, though not as quickly as for their nonprofit counterparts.

Since the late 1990s, the number of for-profit “education management organizations,” or EMOs, has tripled, to nearly 100, and the number of states those entities work in has nearly doubled, to 33, the new research shows. Over the past few years, though, the growth of some of those companies, particularly large providers, has slowed somewhat, even as the number of students they serve has increased.

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From Education Week:

Americans with a college education fare better in the job market than those with just a high school diploma or less—but just how much better depends on their field.

A new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce released today finds unemployment for recent college graduates is 8.9 percent, compared with 22.9 percent of job-seekers with just a high school education and 31.5 percent among high school dropouts.

Looking more deeply, the analysis finds that choice of major matters. Majors that are more closely aligned with particular occupations and industries tend to have lower unemployment rates, although there are exceptions.
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From the Answer Sheet in the Washington Post:

By Anthony Cody

President Obama repeated a familiar refrain about the importance of teachers in his State of the Union speech: “A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.”

But it seems that it is those in power who are actually using teachers to escape from the realities of poverty these days.

President Obama offered as evidence a citation from a recent report by researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities:

“We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250

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From USA today:

WASHINGTON (AP) – America’s public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire teachers who aren’t performing. A few states have essentially nullified tenure protections altogether, according to an analysis being released Wednesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality.
The changes are occurring as states replace virtually automatic “satisfactory” teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and base teacher layoffs on performance instead of seniority. Politically powerful teachers’ unions are fighting back, arguing the changes lower morale, deny teachers due process, and unfairly target older teachers.The debate is so intense that in Idaho, for example, state superintendent Tom Luna’s truck was spray painted and its tires slashed. An opponent appeared at his mother’s house and he was interrupted during a live TV interview by an agitated man. Why? The Idaho legislature last year ended “continuing contracts” — essentially equivalent to tenure — for new teachers and said performance, not seniority, would determine layoffs. Other changes include up to $8,000 in annual bonuses given to teachers for good performance, and parent input on evaluations. Opponents gathered enough signatures to put a referendum that would overturn the changes on the November ballot.

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  Report on teachers quality from ABC2:
A new report has given the state of Maryland a D+ when it comes to education by public school teachers but there are some signs of improvement.

The National Council on Teacher Quality released the report early Wednesday morning to show how state teachers did in public education between 2009, when last report was released, and 2011.

The report shows that Maryland public school teachers showed a slight improvement in delivering well prepared teachers and identifying effective teachers  However, it does show the state slipped when it came to retaining teachers.

The report showed that Maryland was given an F when it comes to getting rid of ineffective teachers. That was the same ranking given in 2009.

Maryland’s overall progress from 2009 to 2011 ranked No. 17 nationwide and the state received a “moderate” report.

Report on Maryland teachers

From New York Times:

( Note: Legislation is being introduced in to the Marylabd General Assembly by Senator Catherine Pugh to raise the dropout age)
President Obama’s State of the Union call for every state to require students to stay in school until they turn 18 is Washington’s first direct involvement in an issue that many governors and state legislators have found tough to address

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