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…
Category: Vouchers
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,…
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’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…
Orleans Parish School Board expands geographic priority for admission to public elementary, middle schools
Della Hasselle October 12, 2018 The Orleans Parish School Board voted Thursday night to tweak the geographic priority component of OneApp, the lottery system used to assign seats in most of the city’s public schools, following years of complaints from parents that children have been unable to attend schools close to their homes. Now, more…
OPINION: Public school buildings belong to public school students — including charter students
Nina Rees October 03, 2018 As children conclude their first weeks of school across America, how do you envision their school buildings? The traditional brick-front building with big windows and rows of tidy desks? A more modern structure with laptops at workstations and a dual-use gym and theater? How about an abandoned big box store…
Local superintendents address state of public education at forum
MIDDLETOWN — Schools are often seen as a reflection of society, as Middletown schools Superintendent Richard Del Moro put it during a town hall discussion about the state of public education Thursday evening. For example, district administrators are hiring more experts to help students cope with issues outside the classroom. These experts often include psychologists,…
Why public school funding isn’t working in Texas
By David DeMatthews and David S. Knight Sep. 27, 2018 Texas is a prosperous state, but lawmakers are failing to adequately finance public education, and communities and students are suffering the academic, physical and economic consequences. The upcoming legislative session provides a unique opportunity for our state’s elected leaders to right the past wrongs, but…
Willow Public School receives $250,000 grant
Brenden Koch Sep 26, 2018 Willow Public School has been granted $250,000 by the NewSchools Venture Fund. The Walla Walla charter school was one of 19 schools across the nation to receive money from the California-based philanthropic firm, which uses donations received to support teams of educators and entrepreneurs “who are re-imagining public education to…
“This is a Struggle to Save Public Education”
AN INTERVIEW WITH ARLENE INOUYE The teachers strike wave has reached Los Angeles: teachers there recently voted overwhelmingly to strike. They are fighting against school privatization, wage and benefit cuts, and the nationwide project to dismantle public education. he education strike wave initiated by West Virginia’s wildcat has reached the coasts. Teachers in Washington and Pennsylvania have walked off the job…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 