There was a big charter school hearing today in the House. Though it was directly related to pending legislation designed to help great charters replicate and expand, the discussion covered the broad charter terrain. It was fascinating to listen to Members' questions and comments. There was some worthwhile back and forth on substantive issues like special education, there was some strong support (from some unexpected quarters), there were some ancient canards thrown around, and much more.
If you follow charters, ESEA reauthorization, or federal education policy generally, you ought to check out some of the following resources from the hearing.
On the committee's site, you can find video and written testimony. Let me particularly plug the testimony. The witnesses were top-notch. I'm a fan, colleague, or friend of 5 of the 6 and they have valuable things to day. Young and Richmond represent the nation's two biggest charter organizations, Lake is a scholar at just about my favorite research shop, Ahearn knows more about special ed and charters than anyone I know, and Moskowitz runs some shockingly good schools in Harlem (nothing against Dr. Hehir, I just don't know him).
If you're in a hurry and have a Twitter account, @charteralliance and @gtoppo were tweeting. (Oh, and don't forget to follow @smarick and @educationgadfly while you're at it.)
--Andy Smarick