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News, analysis and opinion on reforms being offered to improve schools, whether the ideas originate in Washington, Austin or Dallas. The online discussion will take education policy debates seriously, while it connects them to students from grade school through college. We welcome and read all letters from readers. Letters are selected for publication based on their clarity and brevity. They also are chosen to represent a diverse set of views on as many issues as possible. November 2009
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November 13, 2009
George W. Bush announced yesterday that education will be one of the main missions at his new policy institute. Before the former president's announcement, there had been speculation about education being one of his top priorities, so the news wasn't a total shock. But it seems like a natural fit. Both as president and governor, Bush spent a lot of time trying to improve schools, especially those that serve low-income students. According to his remarks yesterday at SMU, he is going to focus at first on education leadership. This ties into what we have been talking about here in terms of moving urban districts beyond pockets of excellence. One of the keys is a corps of strong principals and top-tier teachers. ( Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has put a special focus on building up strong principals. One of them, Lucy Hakemack of Spruce High School, has an op-ed piece in our paper today.) Bush announced two fellows to start the education program. The first was Jim Guthrie of Vanderbilt, an education professor who has spent a lot of time working on teacher quality efforts. He will be both teaching at SMU and working at the policy institute. The second was one that Education Front readers and Dallas residents will recognize: Sandy Kress. Sandy will be working on policy development, including putting together a conference on education leadership in March. This work will be a boon for Dallas and SMU, but, much more important, it stands to help students in classrooms. The quality of their principals and teachers has a direct impact on their chances at success. Or, let me put it this way: Without quality leadership, you can be assured kids will have little chance of making it and urban districts will never move beyond pockets of excellence. ![]() ![]() The entry "Bush Institute to focus on education " is tagged: education , George W. Bush , SMU |