I’ve long been waiting for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to catch up with the Columbia newspapers and start an education blog. I am happy to announce that they now have: The Grade promises to be an interesting source of commentary on education news both in and out of the state. Current topics of discussion include: a new policy in Texas allowing teachers to carry handguns; enrollment numbers at local universities; and districts’ efforts to involve parents as they try to hold on to accreditation.

I hope some of the writers there will weigh in on the charter school debate. Charter school expansion is taking off across the country, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a mention of charters during the Democratic National Convention last night (Maya Soetoro-Ng has taught in one).