By Perry Stein November 6 at 11:04 PM D.C. voters had a philosophical question about public education to answer at the polls Tuesday: Did they want candidates who would more likely be fervent advocates of the traditional public school system, or those who would bolster public charter schools? The usually sleepy races for the D.C. State…
Category: Accountability
School support workers vote to strike in rural district in Washington state
By Hector Cordon 6 November 2018 School support staff in the North Thurston Public School (NTPS) district in Washington state voted to authorize strike action last week against the refusal of the district to provide adequate wage increases and a state law prohibiting public employees from striking. With nearly 15,000 students the district encompasses 74…
From South Carolina to California, charter school-loving billionaires are plowing money into midterm local and education races
By Valerie Strauss November 5 at 4:44 PM In Charleston, S.C., advocates for the public school district are worried. They have watched some of the state’s wealthiest people — including billionaire financier Ben Navarro — form a coalition this year to back school board candidates who support a broad expansion of charter schools. The Charleston Coalition…
Public schools’ struggle correlates directly to state voucher support
November 6, 2018 Tony Lux Tony Lux, a board member for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, is the retired superintendent of Merrillville schools. The recent promulgation of eight indicators of financial health for school systems glaringly ignores the state’s role in the worsening financial condition of many public school districts. Since the 2008 recession,…
Make public education great again [Opinion]
By Noel Candelaria November 5, 2018 It’s unrealistic to continue repeating the same action and expect a different result. However, Texas educators and parents will be deluding themselves if they once again sit out today’s election or vote against the best interests of their professions, their students and their children. There are more than 700,000…
Let’s Re-Commit To Public Education
Jonathan K. Osorio October 31, 2018 Education and the state of our public schools in Hawaii predominate our political discussions in election years and for good reason. There really are no issues, from global climate change to energy and transportation, to creating sustainable economies whose solutions aren’t deeply connected to and dependent on the quality…
The Little Rock Education Association stalls on strike action in Arkansas
By Nancy Hanover 5 November 2018 Teachers continue to demand strike action across the United States, despite the fervent attempts by the unions to stamp down struggles. In the lead-up to the mid-term elections, both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) have sponsored rallies and get-out-the-vote messaging on behalf…
Why it matters who governs America’s public schools
By Valerie Strauss November 4, 2018 Does it matter who operates America’s public schools? That’s a central question in the national debate about education and the movement to find alternatives to school districts that are publicly funded and operated. While charter schools are publicly funded, they are privately operated and are not required in most places…
State releases official public school ACT results
BRANDON PAYKAMIAN The Tennessee Department of Education released the official 2018 ACT test results Wednesday, noting a small improvement from last year’s state average composite score of 20.1 to 20.2, a record-breaker. Throughout the state, the 63,104 public school graduates increased their average score in most areas, according to state officials. The average scores in…
State’s new school report cards at odds with CPS’ own ratings
By Lauren FitzPatrick The state’s new report cards for public schools around Illinois, released Tuesday, pose a conundrum for parents of kids at Chicago Public Schools, which unveiled its own ratings last week: Which metric should they believe? CPS, for example, gave its highest rating — Level 1+ — to 185 schools — but 30 of…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 