- Richard Whitmire explains the ins and outs of his Michelle Rhee biography, The Bee Eater, in the first ever Education Next Book Club Podcast (hosted by our very own Mike Petrilli). Check it out.
- No wonder the teacher unions in Wisconsin are fighting tooth and nail. In the Badger State, fringe benefits are nearly double the average teacher’s salary, with the public paying 74.2 cents for benefits for every dollar of pay. The corresponding rate in the private sector is 24.3 cents.
- After overwhelming House, and subsequent Senate, approval, Obama signed a measure that, for two weeks at least, would avoid government shutdown. The stall cuts about $4 billion in spending, funding all but a few programs at FY2010 levels through March 18. Of the $4 billion worth of programs axed: Teach For America, Even Start, and Striving Readers, to name a few.
