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…

Teachers to vote next week on possible strike at 19 Chicago charter schools

By Mitchell Armentrout 10/24/2018   Teachers at 19 Chicago charter schools will hold strike authorization votes next week that could open the door to the first-ever work stoppage at any charter school in the nation. Votes will be cast Oct. 30 by teachers at the city’s 15 schools in the Acero network, the largest unionized charter…

Public school teachers in Rapid City still without contract

Oct 22, 2018 RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – Public school teachers in Rapid City are still without a contract for the current academic year. The Rapid City Journal reports that the teachers union and the school board failed to come to an agreement during an Oct. 9 meeting. They’ll now meet with a state Labor Department…

Virginia Beach looking again at changing school start times

VIRGINIA BEACH The School Board is taking another look at changing school start times. Board members discussed potential changes during a workshop Tuesday, when they received a packet filled with more than 100 pages of information on the topic. They’ll likely debate again at a meeting in mid-November, before taking a formal vote toward the…

How are America’s public schools really doing?

It’s hard to find a public official today who, when talking about public schools, doesn’t talk about what a mess they are. Failing. Some of them are, in fact, failing kids. This piece, written by Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the author of “Beyond Test Scores: A…

Arizona Could Be a Case Study for Turning Teacher Protest Into Power

“I realized I wouldn’t be able to look my students in the eyes if I didn’t do everything possible.” EDWIN RIOSOCTOBER 12, 2018 6:00 AM In 2016, newly minted Arizona Teacher of the Year Christine Porter Marsh criss-crossed the state, giving speeches and listening to the concerns of her fellow educators. The Arizona Legislature had been slashing school…

Pasco schools seek class size solutions

Jeffrey Solochek October 2, 2018 Nearly two months into the academic year, several Pasco County schools continue to struggle meeting state class size requirements. A recently created report indicates hundreds of classrooms across the district that exceeded the constitutional caps by at least one student. School Board members said they had received calls of classes with…