OWNING A BEAT
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"Seattle teachers union members will go on strike for the first time since 1985 on Wednesday, a move that cancels what was supposed to be the first regular day of classes for the roughly 53,000 students in Washington's largest school district." —October 2015
There was no shortage of coverage of the strike — it made national news. But stakeholders gravitated to KPLU's coverage because of its commitment to the details of contract talks instead of the broad-strokes-high-drama of the negotiations:
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"Whether it's simply a response to a quirk in the state's graduation requirements or the broader political environment, the dramatic flare-up of anti-testing sentiment has education leaders in the Evergreen State nervous about the possible consequences."
—Testing Revolt In Washington State Brings Feds Into Uncharted Waters, NPR Ed blog, July 2015 |
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BUILDING AN AUDIENCE
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"Almost as quickly as Georgie Stevens signed into her online ISTEP+ exam, the testing website kicked her out. 'It said, 'Get off and get back on,' there’s something wrong with it,' the Bloomington fifth grader remembers. 'So I did.' Then the site booted her out again. And again."
—June 2013 When computer problems ground online standardized testing to a halt in hundreds of Indiana schools on April 29 and April 30, 2013, I was the first to post a story that would soon be on front pages statewide. We worked every angle:
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"In late August — her campaign more than $1 million in campaign contributions behind her opponent... state superintendent candidate Glenda Ritz made a prediction... 'I firmly believe that I’ll be the next Superintendent of Public Instruction.' Until perhaps last Friday, when the only poll to publish numbers on the race showed Ritz within striking distance, there weren’t many in Indiana who took that prediction seriously." —Nov. 2012
It was the biggest upset of Indiana's 2012 statewide elections — Indiana's nationally-known state schools chief lost to against a virtual unknown. Aside from moderating the only debate in the race, I followed it from the beginning:
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"Student count dates? Yawn. School funding formula? Big yawn. This year, stay awake for the discussion. A change to how the state counts students — a change that has all the legislative support it needs to pass — could mean two out of every three Indiana school districts could see reductions in their state funding come 2013."
—The Boring School Finance Bill That Could Change Everything, Jan. 2012 |
"In theory, [a tax cut] should be an easy sell for Pence. Indiana has a projected budget surplus of $518 million... But prominent Republican lawmakers in Indiana are lukewarm at best on the governor's new tax cut plan, preferring to replenish funding to programs the recession forced them to cut."
—The GOP & Taxes: In The States, It Can Get Complicated, NPR's It's All Politics, Jan. 2013 |
"The move touched off a bizarre scene as Ritz and her staff filed out of the meeting room, the web stream of the meeting stopped and workers carted audiovisual equipment out of the room as frustrated State Board members kept their seats, remaining to discuss what to do next."
—Superintendent Ritz Abruptly Shuts Down State Board of Education Meeting, Nov. 2013 |
