March 30, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
H.O. Brittingham students donate handmade clay owls to cancer center patients
Fourth- and fifth-grade students at H.O. Brittingham Elementary in Milton made clay owls with an encouraging word, such as hope, etched into the front. The owls were donated to Tunnell Cancer Center where team members will give them to patients. “The students donated about 60 clay owls to our patients. It is truly touching to see young people creating something that will be so meaningful to our patients,” said Cherrie Rich, executive director of Tunnell Cancer Center.

Delaware Stare News
Delaware Senate Republicans unveil bills aimed to combat poverty
Senate Republicans are unveiling a large-scale initiative today designed to combat poverty in a variety of stages and overhaul current efforts in the state. The agenda, called “A Brighter Future,” consists of 11 ideas Republicans believe are largely straightforward and bipartisan. The four tax credits proposed by Republicans would deal with scholarships, housing, apprenticeships and career-training programs. School vouchers are opposed by the National Education Association, which argues they come at the expense of public schools.

Newsworks
Bullying and bemusement: Tackling modern politics in the modern classroom
I haven’t walked more than 10 steps into Brandywine High School in North Wilmington when I spot four pamphlets on bullying. There’s one on cyberbullying and how it’s “seriously wrong.” Another instructs teachers on how to create a “bullying-free school.” A third guide, titled “10 Tips to Help Stop Bullying,” urges adults to “Set the example! Treat everyone — including your child — with respect.” So it’s a little odd when, less than a half-hour later. I’m in Kenny Rivera’s advanced placement government class watching Donald Trump give his infamous “blood coming out of her wherever” account.

The Milford Beacon
Cape Henlopen tour grows into First State partnership
Alayna Aiken, the textiles instructor at Cape Henlopen High School, just wanted an interesting place for her students to tour and get a little glimpse into the world of manufacturing. She didn’t realize their tour of First State Manufacturing in Milford would evolve into a much deeper relationship. After the class tour, First State Manufacturing offered to partner with the school and will mentor two to four students working in various areas of the plant over an eight-week summer program

National

Education Week
ESSA rule negotiators grapple with issues of flexibility, equity
Should advocates, educators, and others writing rules on tests and spending under the Every Student Succeeds Act hew closely to the new law and preserve as much flexibility as possible for states? Or should they use the opportunity of “negotiated rulemaking” to help advance an agenda focused on educational equity? Those questions undergirded some of the discussion during last week’s negotiated-rulemaking sessions here. The process allows advocates, practitioners, and others to get in a room and hash out proposed rules for parts of ESSA.

EdSource
Report: 170,000 California children eligible for state preschool aren’t enrolled
About 170,000 California children who are eligible for publicly funded preschool are not enrolled because there are not enough spots for them, a new report says. The report by the American Institutes for Research found that 33,209 4-year-olds eligible for California State Preschool programs were not enrolled and that 136,588 eligible 3-year-olds were not enrolled. Between 2008 and 2013, the report said, California cut early education funding by $984 million and eliminated 110,000 childcare and preschool slots.

EdSurge
The value of modern social studies in cultivating real world literacy
The argument for engaging social studies education has never been more timely in the USA. With a polarizing presidential election, tense international events like the continuation of the civil war in Syria, and consistently low NAEP scores on history, geography, and civics, it’s increasingly critical for students to have a strong understanding of the world around them. Enter social studies, a subject that encompasses topics ranging from history to civics, and, recently, digital and media literacy.

NPR
With Supreme Court tie, teachers unions dodge a bullet
Teachers unions are breathing easier after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a deadlocked vote, rejected an effort to restrict public sector unions from collecting fees from nonunion members. The 4-4 vote, the second such tie since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, let’s stand an appeals court decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. As a result, the ability of unions like the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers to collect fees from all teachers to subsidize their collective bargaining efforts remains unchanged.

The Los Angeles Times
Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst will merge with education advocacy group 50Can
Just several years after its glitzy launch, StudentsFirst, the Sacramento-based education group started by former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, is merging with another education advocacy organization, 50Can. Some of StudentsFirst’s remaining chapters will be absorbed into 50Can, which has similar goals. The most well-known objective of Rhee’s group was to become a counterweight to teachers unions. StudentsFirst expects to cut its staff significantly but will maintain a small presence in its national office.