Monthly QuotED: 8 Notable Quotes That Made Education Headlines in January, From Graduation Gaming to Teacher Pay — and More School Board Shenanigans

QuotED is a roundup of the most notable quotes behind America’s top education headlines — taken from our weekly EduClips, which spotlights morning headlines from America’s 15 largest school districts. Read previous EduClips installments here.

“The high school graduation rate numbers have been going up and up and up, which I do think is a good outcome. But it also calls into question whether all of those diplomas mean the same thing, whether they are as meaningful a credential as it once was.” —Anne Hyslop, a former Department of Education official now at the Alliance for Excellent Education. (Read at Chalkbeat)

“We don’t do knee-jerk reactions to things. We don’t want to just have 100 percent of our focus on what the last shooter did. These things need to be thought out.” —Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, on attempts to secure schools after last February’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. (Read at the Miami Herald)

“Sure, we can wait on HISD to fix them. But I am convinced that without a gun to their head, it won’t happen.” —Houston-area state Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., on the need to turn around the district’s long-struggling schools. Houston has until Feb. 3 to avoid setting in motion either a state takeover or state closure of several schools. (Read at The74Million.org)

“Adult misconduct is surely not acceptable, but, holy crap, we have a lot of work to do in terms of student behavior against other students.” —Chicago teachers union president Jesse Sharkey, on the 900 sexual misconduct cases logged in the district over the past four months, mostly students reporting on other students. (Read at Chalkbeat)

“[L.A. Unified] could be radical and innovative: they could break up schools, they could try to create new schools, they could close schools; but fundamentally, if they don’t change the way they hire, retain, reward, or pay educators, there’s not going to be a lot of change. The district could do that, but they’re not going to. … There’s too many moving pieces. Too many vested interests.” —Center for Education Reform CEO Jeanne Allen, on Los Angeles, which faces a teacher strike scheduled for Monday. (Read at LA School Report)

“One year, I counted up all the hours I spent working. If you total up all those hours, guess what I made? $2.68 an hour.” —Kevin Rooker, 60, a history teacher in Saginaw, Michigan. (Read at USA Today)

“If we make this a right to an education or a right to a certain level of funding … then this really is a lawyer full employment act.” —Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, on the debate over establishing a federal right to education. (Read at The74Million.org)

“I keep saying I’m making a list and checking it twice, and I’m writing that [expletive] on the wall.” —Debra Robinson, the longest-serving member of the Palm Beach County School Board, on her vow to punish a Haitian-American radio station that had grilled her. Her actions violated board ethics policies, according to investigators. (Read at The Palm Beach Post)

For a roundup of the day’s top education headlines from America’s 15 largest school districts, go to EduClips.

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