The GSV Big 10: Whoo!
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The Big 10:
The NAEP Test ‘Absolutely’ Needs to Stay, Linda McMahon Says. The Education Department? Not So Much | The 74
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon spoke to a full house at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego last week calming some nerves of people who have feared the worst. The reality is that there aren’t many people in America who don’t believe quality education for all isn’t a priority. But the reality is that parents see studies showing this generation will be less educated than themselves. Businesses can’t employ students coming out of our schools—not even 50% of the graduates are proficient in math or reading. Politicians see that school choice is favored by 75% of adults. Against that, you have the entrenched status quo saying, “Give us more time and more money.” The good news is the American public has said, “250 years is long enough, we need change today.”
☀️EP. 3 · U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon | Edreform in 10
Excellent interview between CEO of the Center for Education Reform
and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Straight talking and to the point, Secretary McMahon hits on a bunch of the myths that have been attributed to her and the administration. Whether for keeping the DOE or abolishing it, the one thing for sure is we need something far better and different than status quo.3 takeaways on higher education innovation from the ASU+GSV Summit | Higher Ed Dive
OK…I’m as tired of the phrase “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste” as you are…but that does sum up the situation and the opportunity. In the past 12 years, graduates thinking college was a good investment has fallen from over 90% to 43%. For students who graduate with debt, the satisfaction drops to 22%. Moreover, just 52% of recent college graduates are in a job that requires a degree. Time to reimagine the future.
Democratic state AGs sue to restore COVID-related programs for K-12 students | Reuters
They want their money. AG’s in Democrat-led states sued the Trump Administration for the $1.1 billion of funds associated with the long term effects of Covid in K-12 schools. On one hand, it seems unfair when states had been committed the funding (through March of 2026) to have that taken away. On the other hand, considering the vast amounts of money spent on things that didn’t help kids—or weren’t even spent on kids—it might be reasonable to scrutinize more closely before allocating another billion. To use another overused cliche, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.
The Feds Want to Cement Change at Columbia With a Consent Decree. How Would That Work? | The Chronicle of Higher Education
The writing was on the wall, but too many people who should have read it never did. It’s never fun to be made an example of, and being in the heart of the media capital of the world only puts a bigger spotlight on it. Columbia is a great school, so hopefully, it will learn from this tough stretch it’s going through and come out better for it.
Dallas-Based UpSmith Launches AI Tool for Skilled Trades | Dallas Innovates
Winners find a way to win and the founder of Upsmith Wyatt Smith is somebody I’d bet on to do anything. You don’t naturally think of AI being an integral part of the plumbing or HVAC industry because it hasn’t been…but it will be…as AI is going to be involved in everything. Upsmith has developed Jenny AI to help skill organizations compete and drive revenue.
OpenAI and Anthropic are fighting over college students with free AI | The Verge
Not a shock, but most intense battleground for the AI Revolution is on college campuses. Arguably, OpenAI is already the largest education company in the world but its position is under attack on many fronts including by Anthropic’s Claude. College students are already AI Natives while there professors are AI Immigrants—and that’s where part of the fun begins.
Looking for career growth? These 50 employers offer upskilling, AI literacy, and more—and they’re all hiring | Fast Company
The ability to obtain, train and retrain employees has always been important, but now it’s the lifeblood of every business. Fast Company’s list for what companies do the best job of investing in their employees has the familiar names of Alphabet, Amazon and Well Fargo on top. Interesting to note, the top 50 companies on the list have 129,000 open jobs right now.
In Elementary School, Many Teachers Have a Shaky Grasp of Math. Can Preparation Programs Change That? | EdSurge
It’s tough to teach math if you aren’t proficient in it yourself. Compounding that issue, only 1 in 8 teachers have enough time to adequately prepare to teach math content for their students. It used to be if you couldn’t read, it was pretty hard to learn anything…in today’s world, if you don’t have solid math skills, you are going to get left behind.
Texas looks set to pass America’s biggest school-voucher scheme | The Economist
I used to love the Economist. If there was one newspaper or magazine I would read that would be it. Smart, balanced and forward looking, it was the best. This article about school choice in Texas mislabels the legislation (it’s about giving school choice for the 6 million kids in K-12 in the Lone Star State), misrepresents the success of charters, and doesn’t reflect either how poorly traditional public schools have done for children nor how an overwhelming majority of the public supports school choice.