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…
Category: Education Budget
Families of public school students with disabilities win legal battle
By BEN CHAPMAN AUG 29, 2018 Families of public school students with disabilities won a legal battle Tuesday when a federal court judge dismissed the city’s attempt to throw their suit out on procedural grounds. The lawsuit filed in October 2017 by three city families with the advocacy group Advocates for Children charged the city Department…
Plans to improve public education advance in Annapolis
BY MICHAEL B. JEFFERSON AUG 27, 2018 There was good back-to-school news for Baltimore students and families in the work session held last week in Annapolis by the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, better known as the Kirwan Commission. Under the recommendations of the panel’s working group, pre-K would become much more accessible to…
Detroit schools shutting off drinking water because of lead, copper
Lori Higgins, Aug. 29, 2018 The Detroit school district is shutting off drinking water to all of its schools after test results found elevated levels of lead or copper in 16 out of 24 schools that were recently tested. “Although we have no evidence that there are elevated levels of copper or lead in our other…
While support for a four-day school week won, the opposition is nearly even in some areas
August 23, 2018 By: Austin Howard FARGO—According to a recent InForum poll with the question. “Would you like to see local districts adopt a 4-day school week?” Minnesotans and North Dakotans are mostly split in their decision. Out of the 26 Minnesota votes, it was a 50/50 split with 13 in favor and 13 against the…
Poll: GOP support for school choice growing
By Maria Danilova / The Associated Press August 23, 2018 WASHINGTON — Support for charter schools and private school voucher programs has gone up over the past year, with Republicans accounting for much of the increase, according to a survey published Tuesday. The findings by Education Next, a journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School…
Charter schools are big business. Who’s making money off public education?
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC REVEALS WHAT CHARTER SCHOOLS DON’T TELL PARENTS. SEE THE ONGOING INVESTIGATION HERE Arizona Republic Aug. 22, 2018 With Arizona public schools struggling to raise students’ standardized test scores, the Legislature in 1994 began a grand experiment: charter schools. They were exempted from state procurement or conflict-of-interest laws and the oversight of elected boards. With less regulation, charters could…
(HBCU’s)- Black Colleges Have to Pay More for Loans Than Other Schools
And there’s no factor that can explain it other than racism. ADAM HARRIS 1:06 PM ET It’s expensive to be poor. And few places in higher education feel that more acutely than historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where endowments are typically smaller and enrollments have fluctuated wildly over the past decade. Now, to be clear, the financial misfortune…
State education officials tout mediocre college-readiness ranking (Idaho)
Wayne Hoffman July 24, 2018 Parents, students, and competent teachers deserve better than a public education system that celebrates mediocrity. That’s what they got earlier this month when the state’s top education officials hailed a report that ranks Idaho No. 5 nationally for college readiness of its graduating high school seniors. The ranking comes from…
What is Gov. Matt Bevin doing with Kentucky’s education boards?
Mandy McLaren, July 22, 2018 Gov. Matt Bevin is doubling down on the use of executive power to expand his authority over the future of Kentucky’s public schools. Bevin quietly altered or abolished several education boards this month through executive order, reasoning that the changes will streamline bureaucracy and enhance student learning. But his main…