By Michael Meyers
Special to NYDailyNews.com

Why has the NAACP joined with the United Federation of Teachers to sue to stop the closing of 19 failing New York City public schools? The teachers union’s opposition to the move is understandable – it represents educators, including the ones who are directly affected by these closings. - read on

May 30th, 2009
By BRENDAN MINITER
The Wall Street Journal

A word of support from the president could transform local politics on the issue.

Getting arrested doesn’t normally bolster a politician’s credibility. But when South Carolina state Sen. Robert Ford told me recently that he saw the inside of a jail cell 73 times, he did so to make a point. As a youth, Mr. Ford cut his political teeth in tumultuous 1960s civil-rights protests. - read on

March 31, 2009
The Courier-Post

President Barack Obama decided that the man he originally picked to head the civil rights division at the Justice Department, Thomas Saenz, was too controversial, so he’s now turned to someone he hopes will have clearer sailing through the confirmation process. Earlier this month, the president nominated attorney Tom Perez as assistant attorney general for civil rights. - read on

By Maria Glod
Washington Post

In seven years as chief executive of the Chicago school system, Arne Duncan earned a reputation as a leader who pushed for strong measures to improve schools but also reached out to the teachers union and the community.

As President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to be become the nation’s next education secretary, he’ll draw on that background to try and bridge the deep divides among education advocates, teachers unions and civil rights groups over how to fix America’s schools. - read on

By Krystle Russin
The Heartland Institute

“Twenty-one thousand dollars should buy high standards and achievement for a student. But to buy accountability, it has to buy a way out for them also.”

Derrell Bradford
Deputy Director
E3

Civil rights groups support the measure.

As the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) awaits an uncertain fate when Congress returns to session this fall, debate is brewing over whether schools should continue to be held accountable for achievement standards.

Civil rights groups have expressed their staunch opposition to efforts that would gut the accountability measures.

President George W. Bush created the legislation, unpopular with Democrats and even some in the Republican Party, in his first term to monitor school performance via test results and performance reviews. Some observers are calling for federal legislators to rework the standards-based provisions currently in place.

- read on

September 7, 2008
By PAUL TOUGH
The New York Times

24/7 School Reform

In an election season when Democrats find themselves unusually unified on everything from tax policy to foreign affairs, one issue still divides them: education. It is a surprising fault line, perhaps, given the party’s long dominance on the issue. Voters consistently say they trust the Democrats over the Republicans on education, by a wide margin. But the split in the party is real, deep and intense, and it shows no signs of healing any time soon. - read on

August 1, 2008
Editorial
The New York Times

Civil rights groups have begun a welcome attack on a House bill that would temporarily exempt the states from the all-important accountability requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law in 2002. The attack, led by powerful groups like the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, was unexpected, given that the nation’s two big teachers’ unions actually hold seats on the conference’s executive committee. Recent events suggest that the civil rights establishment generally is ready to break with the teachers’ unions and take an independent stand on education reform. - read on

July 20, 2008
By EMILY BAZELON
The New York Times

In June of last year, a conservative majority of the Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision, declared the racial-integration efforts of two school districts unconstitutional. Seattle and Louisville, Ky., could no longer assign students to schools based on their race, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his lead opinion in Meredith v. Jefferson County School Board (and its companion case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1). - read on