- Social:
National Center for Fair and Open Testing
Public Education Director for Fair Test, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a nonprofit based in Boston, Massachusetts
PROFILE
Robert Schaeffer
Guest
FROM Robert Schaeffer
To the Point
Is High-Stakes Testing the Ruin of School Reform? In Atlanta, 35 teachers and administrators were indicted this week for conspiring to raise student scores on standardized tests. In El Paso, a former superintendent’s in prison for putting kids in the wrong grade, pushing them out of school or preventing them from enrolling—so that test scores would meet high standards of accountability. Texas spends more on standardized testing than any other state. It’s where George W. Bush got the idea for “No Child Left Behind,” which evolved into “Race to the Top” under Barack Obama.
To the Point
Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal Five of 35 indicted educators turned themselves in today on charges of turning Atlanta's public school system into a criminal conspiracy to raise standardized student test scores for financial gain and professional recognition. Beverly Hall, National School Superintendent of 2009, could face 45 years in prison. We hear more from Alan Judd, one of the investigative reporters at the Atlanta Journal Constitution , which broke the story, and Bob Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing , a nonprofit in Boston.
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To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Left, Right & Center
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.