JIM SAUNDERS July 24, 2018 – When Florida voters went to the polls in 1998, more than 70 percent approved a constitutional amendment that required the state to provide an “uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality” system of public schools. But two decades later, the Florida Supreme Court is preparing to wade into a…
Category: School Closings
Disrupting education, the NFL way
ANDRE PERRY July 24, 2018 We’ve all heard the expression, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” when it comes to hiring. Looking at the racial disparities among teachers, it’s apparent that black would-be teachers apparently don’t know many hiring managers. Teachers of color comprised about 20 percent of the public schools in the U.S….
A new public education movement is emerging in Wisconsin, a rebuke to Gov. Walker’s war on labor and school privatization
By Valerie Strauss July 3, 2018 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) launched a war on labor in 2011, enacting a law called Act 10 that decimated the power of public employee unions to bargain, and it also cut pay for most public sector workers. It was clear that the law was largely aimed at the teachers…
Vermonters React To Education Agency’s Statewide Merger Proposal, Required By Act 46
By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN & AMY KOLB NOYES JUN 5, 2018 A nearly 200-page report was released by the Vermont Agency of Education on Friday, and school districts around Vermont are going through the state’s school consolidation recommendations. Acting Education Secretary Heather Bouchey found it doesn’t make sense for 22 school districts to merge. But the proposal does point…
Obama education secretary slams Trump administration moves on affirmative action
By Jennifer Hansler, Updated 10:51 AM ET, Mon July 9, 2018 Former Education Secretary John King Jr. expressed dismay that the Trump administration is “going backwards on civil rights issues” following the rollback of Obama-era policies on the use of race to promote diversity in higher education. Last week, the administration rescinded this guidance, which provided examples…
Feds say Texas illegally failed to educate students with disabilities
Vanessa Tijerina addresses the panel about her 13-year-old special needs child who has been denied special education for four years on December 13, 2016. U.S. Department of Education officials held a meeting in Edinburg on their tour of Texas to hear community members’ experiences with special education, continuing an investigation of whether Texas is capping…
Texas Education Agency starts contracting process for special education overhaul
The Texas Education Agency is now soliciting applications for more than $20 million in grants to help school districts overhaul special education after a federal investigation found it had effectively denied students with disabilities needed services. BY ALIYYA SWABY JULY 9, 2018 The Texas Education Agency is starting the search for organizations to help school districts overhaul…
Teachers join coalition of leaders to improve Michigan education
Jennifer Chambers June 20, 2018 A diverse, never-before assembled group of statewide business, education, labor, philanthropic and other leaders on Wednesday announced a campaign to create a thriving public education system in Michigan. On Wednesday, the group announced “Launch Michigan,” an initiative to create a thriving public education system in Michigan. Officials with the group said countless reports…
In U.S., 18% of teachers work second job
The report comes in a year when educators in three states rallied for higher wages. BY MORIAH BALINGIT June 20, 2018 They work as private tutors and soccer coaches, as waiters, grocery clerks and ride-share drivers. Across the country, 18 percent of teachers earn income outside the classroom, according to a National Center for Education Statistics…
Education inequity is holding back American potential
BY JOHN BRIDGELAND AND CARMEL MARTIN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 06/07/18 Every day, teachers perform the heroic work of educating children. In the process, they make dozens of quick judgments about their students. Of course, teachers are no different from the rest of us — we all do this. Unfortunately, research shows these snap judgments are often influenced…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 