Teaching Pioneer Deborah Meier on Obama’s Education Policy and the Future of Charter Schools

DemocracyNow.org
May 21, 2009

As part of the Obama administration’s education plan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has urged states to consider partnerships with successful charter school operators. We speak to Deborah Meier, who has spent nearly four decades working in public education as a teacher, principal, writer and public advocate. She is considered to be the founder of the small schools movement and founded a number of public elementary and secondary schools in New York and Boston that serve predominantly low-income African American and Latino students...

Grading 529 College Savings Plans

National Public Radio

Morning Edition, May 20, 2009 · This is the season when students graduate from high school and their parents worry about how to pay for college.

Many hope to benefit from a tax-free fund designed for college savings called a 529 plan. Over the past couple of decades, Americans have put about $80 billion into these funds. But Greg Brown, who works for the independent investment research firm Morningstar, argues 529s have serious flaws.

"The problem with 529s is that they add a layer of complexity and confusion that really … doesn't need to be there," Brown tells NPR's Steve Inskeep.