Matt Yglesias notes the Wall Street Journal is reporting that in his big speech to Congress tonight, President Obama will reaffirm his commitment to a public option — a dinky public option. This awesome chart from Nick Beaudrot shows exactly how dinky it is; the pink boxes represent the public option. But it also demonstrates […]
Dana Goldstein
Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.
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Israeli Agency Pulls Offensive TV Ad.
Last week I wrote about a TV advertisement funded by the Israeli government, in which Diaspora Jews who intermarry are portrayed as victims of kidnapping. The advertisement showed photographs of young American, French, and Russian Jews on “LOST” posters — the kind you’d see for an abducted child. The narrator warned, “More than 50 percent […]
Posted inEducation in America
Admin Continues Merit Pay Push. What Does Research Say?
One of the major developments in education policy this year has been the Obama administration’s continued, focused attention on the issue of merit pay, despite a lack of strong evidence linking such programs to increased student achievement. On Sunday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared on “Face the Nation” and reiterated this agenda. So it’s […]
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The Real Indoctrination Threat.
Republicans worry that President Obama telling schoolchildren to work hard, in a televised address, is “socialist indoctrination.” But what about conservative indoctrination, the kind the Texas Board of Education is considering? Justin Elliott of TPM reports: The first draft of the [new] standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out […]
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Is Obama’s Speech to Schoolchildren “Socialist?”
Next Tuesday, President Obama will address the nation’s schoolchildren. The White House says the speech is a “welcome back to school” message that will emphasize the importance of academic achievement to the country’s future — the same theme as the education portion of Obama’s February speech to Congress. The White House also provided teachers with […]
Posted inEducation in America
A New Public Opinion Poll on Education.
Education Next, a journal published by the Hoover Institute, has released a new public opinion poll on education issues. The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind has been delayed since 2007, and if members of Congress see this poll, they might conclude they don’t want to tackle the issue until after 2010 midterm elections. NCLB’s […]
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Guns in the District of Columbia.
When the Supreme Court struck down D.C.’s handgun ban in June 2008, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced the city would continue to do everything it could, under the Constitution, to restrict access to weapons. “More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence,” Fenty said. Now, in a fascinating feature, Washington […]
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Masculinity in the Obama Age.
In some corner of the Internet last week, Kay Hymnowitz‘s year-old City Journal article, lamenting the havoc feminism has wreaked upon dating, popped up and began remaking the rounds. Hymnowitz’s worldview is simple: Women’s equality has left men confused about how to act. (Should I pay for dinner? Hold the door? Be okay with her […]
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Kennedy’s True Legacy on Abortion and Disability.
In his column this morning, Ross Douthat sets up a dichotomy between Ted Kennedy and his also recently departed sister, Eunice. Ted was a Bad Kennedy and a Bad Catholic because he was pro-choice; Eunice was a Good Kennedy and a Good Catholic because the cause of her life was disability rights, and she supported […]
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Ted Kennedy, Deregulation, and the Mob.
In the days since his death, Ted Kennedy has been hailed on the left as a friend to organized labor. Here at TAP, our own Harold Meyerson wrote that Kennedy was a lifelong defender of workers “unable to join unions” and an opponent of Jimmy Carter‘s agenda of “deregulating industries.” But Doug Henwood, editor and […]
