Carmen Farina expected to be appointed Chancellor NYC Schools

A former NYC school administrator Carmen Farina soon to be appointed Chancellor of the NYC Public Schools by Mayor elect Bill de Blasio at a junior high school in Brooklyn.

Pittsburgh school board drops $750,000 Teach For America contract

Here’s some education news that you don’t hear every day: The Pittsburgh school board is rescinding a $750,000 contract with Teach For America, and keeping open an elementary school slated to be shuttered. The board’s four new members, taking a new reform tact, drove the decision to drop the contract by a 6-2 vote with one abstention; in late November, before the new members were sworn in, the board approved the contract 6-3.

By Valerie Strauss,  Published: DECEMBER 19, 4:43 PM ET

Teach for America: A voice from Harvard

I am not interested in TFA.

"For one, I am far from ready to enter a classroom on my own. Indeed, in my experience Harvard students have increasingly acknowledged that TFA drastically underprepares its recruits for the reality of teaching. But more importantly, TFA is not only sending young, idealistic, and inexperienced college grads into schools in neighborhoods different from where they're from--it's also working to destroy the American public education system. As a hopeful future teacher, that is not something I could ever conscionably put my name behind."

By Sandra Y.L. Korn, Harvard Crimson

From: Valerie Strauss, The Answer Sheet

October 24, 2013,The Washington Post