“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…
Tag: Failing
Why Texas public schools are suffering. [Opinion]
David S. Knight Oct. 11, 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 past wrongs, but a preliminary budget request from the…
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…
Class sizes raise concerns for Mich. parents, districts, teachers
September 26, 2018 Jennifer Chambers, Korie Wilkins was happy with the small class sizes at her son’s elementary school for the last three years. Then the Rochester Community Schools parent heard a number this month that stopped her in her tracks: 30. “There are 30 kids in his class,” Wilkins said. “He has never had…
Austin ISD considers increasing class sizes to save money
October 8, 2018 Tom Miller AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin ISD is considering increasing the student to teacher ratio next year at campuses throughout the district in an effort to reduce its multi-million dollar budget deficit. Under the proposal, kindergarten through fourth-grade classes could grow by as many as two students, increasing to 24 per teacher. Middle…
Florida must prioritize public schools over charter schools, influencers say
September 17, 2018 05:00 AM Updated September 18, 2018 10:21 AM Charter schools play an important role in Florida’s education system but should not be prioritized over traditional public K-12 schools, according to a panel of the state’s leading voices. In a new survey of the Florida Influencers, a group of prominent political and policy figures…
State Board of Education Adopts Act 46 Forced Merger Guidelines
Foreground, from left: Vermont Agency of Education staff members Donna Russo-Savage, Brad James and Emily Simmons face the State Board of Education at a meeting in Bethel on Tuesday. HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN OCT 3, 2018 After an all-day meeting Tuesday in Bethel, the State Board of Education has adopted a set of guidelines to help steer…
It’s been a tough few years for Florida teachers. Will a new union leader shake things up?
BY COLLEEN WRIGHT AND EMILY L. MAHONEY October 12, 2018 08:07 AM Top education leaders have spent years pleading, lobbying and rallying at the state capitol, but Tallahassee lawmakers keep making life harder and harder for Florida’s public school teachers. The Florida Education Association advocates for the state’s nearly 200,000 educators, but it…
Education Is on the Ballot this November
By Jessica Yin October 12, 2018, Getty/Portland Press Herald/Derek DavisA child peers up into a voting booth as his mother fills out ballots in Scarborough, Maine. With one month left before the midterm elections, voters have a lot of big decisions to make as they prepare to choose between candidates running for local, state, and national…
There are still fewer public school teachers than there were before the Great Recession, and that’s a problem
Quentin Fortrell Oct 5, 2018 Earlier this year, teachers in Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia protested for better wages and school funding J Pat Carter/Getty ImagesElla Roach holds a protest sign in support of her teacher, Kimberly Cox, during a rally in Oklahoma City last April. She was one of thousands of teachers demanding…
Standing Strong for Public Education! 