I have not thrown in the towel on systemic change for our schools. I continue to worry that the atomization of schools—charters, magnet schools—brings about pockets of excellence in urban school districts opposed to improvement in larger numbers.

Michael Fullan has written extensively on his education reform work with the Province of Ontario in Canada and other large districts in the United States and England. He has a new book “Motion Leadership: the Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy.” It is a quick read (78 pages) and it is a nice companion to some of his other books.

Let’s say a group of parents at a neighborhood school banded together and proposed to a high-performing charter school that the two schools combine efforts to create a PreK-12 school that would help send all kids from the struggling neighborhood to college.

What’s not to like, right? Parental involvement at its best. Community engagement. A tacit recognition that ideological food fights over charter versus traditional public schools are meaningless; all that matters is how to serve kids well.

Who might object, and on what grounds?

Stay tuned for some possible answers.

Last Friday, Denver’s Cole Arts and Science Academy (CASA) parents, along with Principal Julie Murgel, held a news conference to announce they had asked the Denver School of Science and Technology to open its third campus at Cole in the fall of 20l1. See video). The idea, hatched by a group of parents, had been presented to DSST leadership some weeks earlier, and DSST had responded with interest.

A February 27 Denver Post editorial and a related article on Colorado higher education funding were frustrating in an amazing number of ways. Both barely touched upon the single most important issue: Our higher education funding levels are not sustainable.

In 2008, before the current crisis, Colorado ranked 48^th in the nation in per pupil funding. Since then our funding level has dropped. As the February 24^th School of Public Affairs event (Ungovernable States: Prospects for Constitutional Reform in California and Colorado) made clear, at the present rate within 10 years the entire general fund will be spent on K-12, health care and corrections, leaving no funding whatsoever for higher education. Without that context, the rest of the conversation is, at best, misleading.

I sure hope this is the first salvo in a longer campaign by our leadership to discuss the value of higher education with Colorado taxpayers. But inaccurately characterizing the system as inefficient and suggesting that competition is bad for government seems like a foolish way to start the conversation. How about a proactive discussion about how to make competition spur improvements in our system, or how our higher education institutions serve our communities, or what we as a state need from higher education?

I wonder why this story even made the paper. Is this the best thinking we can expect to get from leaders in our state?

Those of you who missed the detailed, probing article about what makes a good teacher in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine should invest the time to read it. Often lost amid all the policy and political debate is detailed examination of what goes on inside the nation’s classrooms. The author of this piece, Elizabeth Green, helps run the excellent Gotham Schools education blog.

Parents at the Cole Arts and Sciences Academy, a neighborhood school in northeast Denver, have dropped to a collective knee and proposed marriage to the high-performing Denver School of Science and Technology. Parents Friday formally asked DSST to open its third campus, grades 6-12, in the imposing Cole building in the fall of 2011. This would allow students in the under-served neighborhood to enroll in pre-kindergarten and stay in the same school through high school.

Although others — most recently Montbello High School — have discussed the idea of an in-school feeder pattern, this may be the first time in Denver that such a marriage has been formally put forward. And marrying a chatter school to a neighborhood public school would be the best kind of mixed marriage..

I’ve been trying to catch up on all the good movies being considered or that should be considered for Sunday’s Oscars. I finally saw “Where the Wild Things Are” last night. I was blown away.

I’m a bit dumbfounded that a film with such beautiful imagery, wonderful acting and such a rich interpretation of a great kid’s book would be snubbed by the Academy. It’s one of those very rare films that get inside a young boy’s head. Spike Jonze takes you on an engaging journey that explores the beauty, joys and struggles of growing up. It’s a quest that reminds us of our humanity and the complexity of a child’s emotional life.

My favorite kids/education movie from last year was “Entre Les Murs” (“The Class”). It was nominated by the Academy but did not win. If you haven’t seen it, the film is one of the best descriptions of teaching in urban secondary school. I’d recommend it for any would-be or current teacher.

So what great movies about kids or education come to mind for the rest of you? I’m always looking for a new one to add to my Netflix’s queue.

As I wrote earlier this week, Diane Ravitch’s new book will become a new flashpoint for the education reform debate. For those of you disinclined to buy a hardback book, try this 3-plus minute interview instead:

In New Book, Diane Ravitch Recants Long-Held Beliefs from Education Week on Vimeo.

I’m hoping that the hardly sweet sixteen list of RTTT finalists is not an indication of how DOE will choose the winners. Many reformers have already weighed in with their disappointment. New York? Give me a break!

I’m guessing Governor Schwarzenegger and any number of other high powered states are calling Duncan’s office and screaming foul.

In this remarkably insightful article, Doug Lemov seems to think so:

Central to Lemov’s argument is a belief that students can’t learn unless the teacher succeeds in capturing their attention and getting them to follow instructions. Educators refer to this art, sometimes derisively, as “classroom management.” The romantic objection to emphasizing it is that a class too focused on rules and order will only replicate the power structure; a more common view is that classroom management is essential but somewhat boring and certainly less interesting than creating lesson plans. While some education schools offer courses in classroom management, they often address only abstract ideas, like the importance of writing up systems of rules, rather than the rules themselves. Other education schools do not teach the subject at all. Lemov’s view is that getting students to pay attention is not only crucial but also a skill as specialized, intricate and learnable as playing guitar.

I confess I am not a neutral in this debate — Doug is a long-time friend and former teammate, and it was he who first introduced me to the main tenants of education reform almost 15 years ago. I’ve always considered him one of the most thought-provoking people I know. We first talked about this subject when Doug stared on his taxonomy years ago. I think it should be required critical reading for both teachers and parents (although I wish there was a free summary available, you can get a gist through Google Reader).

College students from across Colorado converged on the State Capitol Wednesday to protest steep budget cuts to higher education. Here is a brief video of the event: