CASD board declares impasse in teachers’ contract talks

Union seeks state Fact Finding for potential new pact UPDATED: 8:30 p.m. Adds comment, detail from teachers’ negotiator. By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times The Coatesville Area School District announced Wednesday it declared a contract talks impasse with the district’s teachers as the district’s teachers’ union is seeking fact finding through the state’s Labor Relations Board...

Is it time to look at the role of standardized tests in schools?

Also: if teacher unions demand raises, they should say what to cut from education programs to pay for it By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times The rising tide against Common Core continues to obscure a growing, but still under discussed debate about the value and quality of standardized testing in our schools. While it seems increasingly likely that a passing grade on the Keystone tests will not end up...

The silliest of silly seasons cranks up

Playing the Walker ‘blame game’ and hijinks in the Sixth race By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times It’s just one month until election day and the gloves have come off, from dueling ads (of questionable veracity at times), protests, endorsements, temper tantrums and worst of all: the lawyers have been unleashed. So, in other words, it’s a pretty typical October, when politics goes from...