May 23, 2013

Local News

The News Journal
Education technology gets $5 million boost
Delaware lawmakers crafting the state’s budget approved nearly $5 million Wednesday for education technology, answering calls from public school superintendents who argued last fall that schools are not keeping pace with testing demands and too few workers are available to service tech systems. The money includes $2.25 million for flexible technology block grants, which will be funded through noncompetitive grant applications, and $2.6 million for four-year leases on computers used for state testing. The grants could fund anything from the purchase of new hardware and software to personnel costs for new technology support workers.

The Smyrna-Clayton Sun Times
Sunnyside Elementary awarded $50,000 as 2012 Recognition School
Delaware Lt. Gov. Matt Denn visited Sunnyside Elementary in Smyrna Thursday to honor the students and staff with a 2012 Recognition School banner. Sunnyside has already received a $50,000 grant as one of 13 schools to win the award based on DCAS test scores. Lt. Gov. Denn presented the banner to the school during an assembly. Denn said the award is something that’s been done for the past three years. A school is named a Recognition School if they hit all three criteria: the whole school does well, students get better over the course of a year, and all the students do better. “We care about how you do over the course of a year,” Denn said. “We want every single kid to work hard and to get better and better.”

National News

Education Week
Chiefs Group: no moratorium on Common Core stakes
A group of state education chiefs sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, urging him to resist a call for a moratorium on high-stakes uses of tests on the Common Core standards. The Chiefs for Change says that accountability measures tied to the standards should be preserved, not delayed. Some education leaders have called for a slow down on the assessments.

Inside Higher Ed
Capacity fix that rankles
For the third time in recent years, a California lawmaker introduced a bill, A.B. 955, to allow over-enrolled community colleges to charge more for certain courses. This time the Assembly passed the bill. However, the system’s chancellor and many faculty members and students are opposed to what they see as a challenge to the open-access mission of the 112 two-year colleges.

EdNews Colorado
Colorado Gov. signs school finance reform bill
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a proposed overhaul of the state’s school funding system, but it’s unclear which billion-dollar proposal voters will face to fund the ambitious plan. Senate Bill 213 would increase funding for kindergarten and preschool, at-risk students and English language learners, special education, and for districts to implement reform mandates.

The New York Times
Though enrolling more poor students, 2- year colleges get less of federal pie
Community colleges have received a declining share of government spending on higher education over the last decade even as their student bodies have become poorer and more heavily African-American and Latino, according to a report to be released Thursday. “Many community colleges end up receiving minimal federal support,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, which is publishing the report. “The kids with the greatest needs receive the fewest resources.”

Related Topics: AFT, Arne Duncan, California, Chiefs for Change, Colorado, community college, community colleges, DCAS, Delaware legislature, differential tuition, Education Technology, financing gap, Florida, Foundation for Excellence in Education, Higher Education, John Hickenlooper, Matt Denn, Mike Johnston, Randi Weingarten, Recognition School, school finance, school funding, Sunnyside Elementary