Expanding upon President Obama's signature education initiative, the U.S. Department of Education announced Sunday that it has finalized the application process for the 2012 Race to the Top-District competition. The school district-specific competitive grant program will provide nearly $400 million to grantees to implement local reforms congruent with Obama administration education goals.

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Experts agree that teacher retention is one of the biggest challenges facing urban school districts. Everyone knows that an aging teacher workforce will lead to projected shortages in the years to come, but, worse still, some studies estimate that as many as 50% of newer teachers are leaving the classroom after just five years. In light of the crisis, a new study by The New Teacher Project (TNTP) aims to identify the reasons teachers leave and promotes long-term strategies for empowering a successful teacher workforce.   Continue Reading...

According to a new survey conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, many Americans support dramatic changes to how school districts fund staff and programs as the primary solution to budget deficits.   Continue Reading...

Department of Education Announces August is "Connected Educators Month" Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced August 2012 is "Connected Educator Month," a month-long exploration and celebration of online communities and networks dedicated to broadening and deepening educator participation in learning and sharing. The push toward connecting through technology is designed to bring online community and education leaders together to move towards a more fully connected and collaborative profession.   Continue Reading...

As AAE gears up for the new back-to-school season, we are thrilled to launch a new video featuring many of our fantastic members from across the country.  We invite you to share this video so that educators from coast-to-coast know that there is an organization that supports the next generation of educators.   Continue Reading...

With the teaching profession growing and evolving, one theme that remains constant is the fact that effective teachers are the key to student success. Studies have shown that education schools are deeply in need of reform. From attracting top high school graduates, to improving the quality of instruction, institutions that prepare future teachers must be able to produce results. In order to bring our colleges of education into a new era of success, AAE is pleased to be joining the list of endorsers of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) project to rank colleges of education in an effort to better prepare future educators.

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Large urban school districts often struggle with low student performance and dismal graduation rates. Washington, D.C. public schools are no exception and the District is often listed as one of the poorest performing school systems in the country. In an effort to combat these systemic issues, school leaders have instituted a controversial new program that pays students to attend summer classes in order to get a jump start on the school year.   Continue Reading...

Last week, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) released a new statement of policy principles aimed at creating effective online learning laws in states across the country. iNACOL's Principles for Model Legislation in States will give interested parties guidance in establishing policy that puts student achievement front and center via online learning.   Continue Reading...

Despite year after year of increased spending in the United States, students from nearly twenty countries are outperforming their American counterparts at record levels. According to a new report by the Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance, U.S. students are falling further behind and are not catching up to their peers in other industrialized countries.   Continue Reading...

Education reformer Kevin P. Chavous penned an op-ed connecting improvements in education to a rebounding economy.  What do you think?   Continue Reading...

It has recently been suggested that, in order to elevate the quality and status of teachers in America, teachers need to take a “bar exam.” After all, doctors and lawyers have serious hurdles to jump over in order to secure and maintain their licenses. The work that you do as a teacher is just as important as the work that a doctor or a lawyer does—in fact you educate future doctors and lawyers. Why shouldn’t teachers be held to the same standard as lawyers and doctors?   Continue Reading...

Chicago has been an education reform hotspot ever since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took the reins in January 2011. Everything from length of school day to teacher pay have been hot topics over the last few years; however, this week the issues hit a boiling point as teacher union leaders are expected to reject an arbitrator's recommendation of a 15-20% salary hike in favor of a proposed strike just as the new school year is slated to begin.   Continue Reading...

In the new age of education and labor reform across the country, many teachers have expressed concern over their rights without lengthy union contracts and collective bargaining agreements in place. While teacher unions warn of the "dangers" without these cumbersome union negotiated tools, they fail to mention that the majority of the states in the country have a thriving teacher workforce protected by state and federal laws free from collectively bargained contracts.   Continue Reading...

AAE Executive Director Gary Beckner op-ed on 2010 NEA Convention as featured on the Townhall website:   Continue Reading...

According to one Las Vegas teacher, "The fat lady has sung" and he is washing his hands of union membership. Frustrated by years of hostile negotiations, massive lay-offs, exorbitant dues, and partisan politics, Nathan Warner is advising his fellow educators to drop union membership this week during a small resignation period– July 1-15 – which just might be the best kept secret in town.   Continue Reading...

While most Americans were enjoying a festive Independence Day last week, the National Education Association was holding their annual conference in Washington, D.C. Beaten down after another solid year of negative press, declining membership, and legislative and legal battles, the NEA convention took on a somber and partisan tone in 2012.   Continue Reading...

Compulsory unionism and the ability of teacher unions to forcibly collect union dues from teacher paychecks has been a hot topic in recent years. From Wisconsin to Ohio, education stakeholders have debated the topic in high-profile legislative and legal battles with clear national implications. Just last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court made it more difficult for public-employee unions to extract special fee assessments from non-members for expenses such as ballot battles in a clear step forward for teacher freedoms.   Continue Reading...

Everyone seems to be aware that the crisis in public education is getting worse. Despite a record level of spending in America, students from 16 countries are outperforming their American counterparts. To top it all off, 50% of teachers in the classroom today will be retiring in the next ten years. This is not the recipe for a well-educated public—and stakeholders are taking notice.   Continue Reading...

As recently reported on the AAE blog, teacher union public approval and membership are hitting record lows. Following a decline of 150,000 members in the past two years and a projection of an additional 200,000 member loss by 2014, the National Education Association and its state affiliates are in extreme financial distress. According to a report by union-watchdog Mike Antonucci and the Education Intelligence Agency (EIA), as the NEA national budgets are being slashed, aid to state affiliates has risen to keep certain state affiliate operations afloat.   Continue Reading...

Obviously chronic absence from school can greatly affect a student's performance levels; however, student truancy may have broader implications beyond the individual student. According to recent studies on American student absenteeism, teachers and the overall performance of schools can also be adversely affected.   Continue Reading...