BY MUSADIQ BIDAR UPDATED ON: MAY 19, 2020 / 1:17 PM / CBS NEWS Anonymous donors have pooled together $8 million to pay off college loans for up to 400 students who overcame personal hardships – from homelessness and extreme poverty — to become first-generation college students. The donors are longtime supporters of Bay Area nonprofit Students…
Category: Advocacy
Wisconsin Policy Forum study: School shutdowns, distance learning could make student achievement gaps worse
Samantha West, May 19, 2020 MADISON – Before the coronavirus pandemic upended education, more than 82,000 children across Wisconsin — disproportionately low-income students of color — lacked internet access at home, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis of the state’s digital divide. Now, as the vast majority of Wisconsin schools rely on virtual learning as the…
How some California charter schools support students during distance learning
MAY 18, 2020 SYDNEY JOHNSON Each morning, Yolanda Anguiano receives a text message asking if her two kids, who attend Rocketship Fuerza Community Prep in San Jose, have what they need to stay safe and continue learning while their school is closed during the coronavirus pandemic. For schools like Fuerza, shifting to online classrooms was…
In Montgomery County, schools and parents clash over how much teachers and students are connecting
By Donna St. George May 19, 2020 When the coronavirus pandemic closed schools in Maryland, Brian Krantz expected that his children’s classes would move online, with a thoughtful plan and at least some live instruction. It didn’t go as he imagined. The first sound of a teacher’s voice leading a lesson, he said, came about six weeks into…
California schools face ‘devastating’ coronavirus cuts as they struggle to reopen
By HOWARD BLUME, NINA AGRAWAL MAY 15, 2020 Even as costs skyrocket in response to the coronavirus crisis, California school districts face major funding cuts that could potentially lead to teacher and staff layoffs and leave some schools struggling to safely reopen campuses in the fall, according to district officials and educators. The proposed budget hit to…
Traditional public schools getting triple the state cuts of charters
By Darrel Rowland and Randy Ludlow May 15, 2020 Traditional public schools are getting cut at a rate more than three times as much as charter schools in budget reductions ordered by Gov. Mike DeWine. The traditional districts saw their state allocation drop an average of 3.72%, compared to 1.03% for charter schools, which are taxpayer funded but generally…
‘There’s no closure’ — Retiring teachers are heartbroken to end their careers like this
Gretta Hochsprung May 16, 2020 Physical education teacher Jill Fish, center, is retiring from Hudson Falls Middle School, where she also coached three sports a year. Every year on the last day of school, the teachers at William H. Barton Intermediate School in Queensbury line the sidewalk and wave to the kids departing on buses….
DeVos guidance directs school districts to increase funding to private schools
BY MARTY JOHNSON – 05/15/20 © Greg Nash Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued guidance to the country’s school districts on how they should allocate funds received from Congress’s $2 trillion CARES Act, telling the districts that they should increase the amount of money given to private schools. The New York Times, which published a story about the DeVos guidance…
Painful cuts coming to public school funding from coronavirus impact
FOX 2 – Public schools rely on state funding primarily from sales tax and Michigan businesses are struggling to sell things at the moment. School districts find themselves planning for a future with less money and costly problems to solve. Right now school districts across the state are bracing for impact they know cuts are coming due…
On a 6-3 vote, Minneapolis school board approves controversial redistricting plan
The crucial vote in a virtual meeting came after some parents urged a delay. By Ryan Faircloth MAY 13, 2020 CARLOS GONZALEZ – The Minneapolis school board, shown in January 2019. In a virtual meeting Tuesday night, board members voted 6-3 to approve a sweeping and controversial plan that will reshape the district for years to…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 