Sunday's New York Post has an editorial (here) supporting Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and her leadership in getting her colleagues on the Board of Regents to support expanding charter schools and other education reforms so that New York can win federal Race to the Top funding. The editorial also points to the challenges of getting the state legislature to adopt the Regents recommendations.

Interestingly, a picture tells a thousand words. The smiling, flattering photo of the Chancellor says it all. She's doing the correct things and the Post acknowledged it after initial skepticism (and a less flattering photo).

On Friday, the New York Daily News editorial (here) also urged the legislature to move quickly to make the changes endorsed by the Regents, and praised Tisch and Education Commissioner David Steiner for including new accountability measures for low-performing schools and districts.

The state legislature is abuzz with the Regents agenda and the need for extra cash for New York's serious financial problems. It needs to be in order to enact reforms in time, and time is a precious commodity since the application to the Feds is due January 19th.

More urgently, other competitor states are moving expeditiously to make changes even now. This is all the more reason New York State cannot stand on the sidelines arguing with itself and nickel-and-diming the Regents reform package.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard