School is Back!  Alice Cooper sang "school's out for summer," but I always expected a follow-up like "school's back for fall, winter, and spring" but none was coming.  He's still recording, so maybe it's in the works. 

For some folks, it's been more than a week, but most school years commenced yesterday.  I imagine phones were ringing steadily in a lot of districts as parents were trying to get their kids to the right bus stop at the right time and schools were virtual beehive with kids trying to find their way to class on time.

So welcome back everyone.  I hope to be posting more as the legislative scene will be heating up now that we are past Labor Day.  There's a lot going on and the SEE program year has started.  Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments about what's happening on the campaign front and I'm always happy to come out to member districts to participate in legislative forums or meet with school boards and district administrations.

Plug for Early Childhood.  I'm certain Governor Dayton will be pursuing more money for his pre-kindergarten program during the 2017 session and this article from The New York Times from a couple weeks back may be cited as the Governor tries to make a case for greater investment in the project. 

The Good News about Educational Inequality (Oddly worded title).

Charter School Scrutiny.  There's been a considerable amount of national attention aimed at charter schools this summer.  I'm not going to post a link to the profanity-laced story on John Oliver's HBO Last Week Tonight (this is a G-rated site after all) that aired last month, but I will post this story from The American Prospect.

The Great Diverson

The article concentrates on the city of Boston, but what portions of the article are applicable to issues relating to charters nationally.