Checker's weighing in on The Gates Foundation's new education strategy with an op-ed on Forbes.com. While Checker lauds the emphasis on high school completion, college readiness, national standards and strengthening education data, some areas are left wanting.
Two cheers are surely deserved. It's too early to know, however, whether a third is warranted. For what was emphasized in Seattle, and in the materials released so far, is mostly an educator's (and student's) version of education reform, not a parent's, taxpayer's or policymaker's version. Indeed, the word "parent" scarcely appears, nor "choice," "charter" or "governance," nor much by way of politics, policy or finance.