KEVIN D. LILES/KEVIN D. LILES/KEVINDLILES.COM Stacey Abrams’ mother dropped out of school at age 8, but a neighbor prodded her to go back where, with the encouragement of caring teachers, she became the valedictorian of her high school. Abrams says that is the redemptive power of public education. Abrams is shown here with her parents…
Category: School Choice
There are still fewer public school teachers than there were before the Great Recession, and that’s a problem
Quentin Fortrell Oct 5, 2018 Earlier this year, teachers in Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia protested for better wages and school funding J Pat Carter/Getty ImagesElla Roach holds a protest sign in support of her teacher, Kimberly Cox, during a rally in Oklahoma City last April. She was one of thousands of teachers demanding…
Get to Know Your Public Schools: 7 Revealing Numbers About America’s Education System, From Diversity to Safety, Absenteeism & More
All summer long at The 74, we’ve been using our “Big Picture” series to offer parents a richer understanding of the nation’s public school system — maps and charts that look at specific aspects of district policy and classroom behavior. Even if it wasn’t a complete sampling of every single issue facing families, teachers, principals, and policymakers,…
Do Public School Students Have Constitutional Rights?
The Supreme Court used to answer with a resounding yes. In recent decades, regrettably, it has changed its mind. By Justin Driver Mr. Driver is a law professor. Aug. 31, 2018 On Tuesday, as many students around the country start the school year, the eyes of the nation will turn to the Senate Judiciary Committee as…
Public schools and the push to privatize everything
By SAM OSHERSON Sunday, September 23, 2018 (New Hampshire) Despite their euphemisms about “choice” and claims about “personalizing” education, the “school choice” advocates display a surprising ignorance about public education in New Hampshire. Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut, for example, routinely misrepresents what happens in public school classrooms, incorrectly dismisses N.H. public education as a…
Willow Public School receives $250,000 grant
Brenden Koch Sep 26, 2018 Willow Public School has been granted $250,000 by the NewSchools Venture Fund. The Walla Walla charter school was one of 19 schools across the nation to receive money from the California-based philanthropic firm, which uses donations received to support teams of educators and entrepreneurs “who are re-imagining public education to…
Public Schools Question Special Education Funding Fairness As Voucher Program Expands
September 26, 2019 EMILY FILES Is state special education funding in Wisconsin unfair? School districts from Eau Claire to Oak Creek say it is. They see inequity between public schools and a relatively new voucher program. The Special Needs Scholarship Program is another chapter in Wisconsin’s storied school choice movement. It provides an approximate $12,000 scholarship — or…
Spokane Public Schools teachers to vote on salary agreement Thursday
Aug. 29, 2018 By Jim Allen For the teachers and classified staff in the Spokane Public Schools district, Thursday should be a rewarding day. The day begins with back-to-school activities and ends with a membership meeting at Shadle Park High School, where teachers and classified staff will vote on a tentative salary agreement with the district….
America’s public school teachers are far less racially and ethnically diverse than their students
Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20% of all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States during the 2015-16 school year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). That makes teachers considerably less racially and ethnically diverse than their students – as well as the nation as a whole….
Seattle teachers and staff vote to authorize a strike — unless a deal is reached by Sept. 5
By Dahlia Bazzaz It’s official: Teachers and school staff in Seattle voted to authorize a strike Tuesday evening. The strike could take effect if negotiations with Seattle Public Schools don’t result in a tentative contract by the first day of school, Sept. 5. The vote followed perhaps the state’s first official strikes that disrupted the first day…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 