May 31, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
Parents oppose Cape elementary plan
Superintendent Robert Fulton has recommended an elementary school plan that gives both Milton schools 17 percent more low-socioeconomic students than Shields Elementary. About 20 Milton parents attended a May 26 school board meeting – about half the number who attended a May 23 community presentation about options the district is considering to better balance the number of low-socioeconomic students across the district when the new Love Creek Elementary School opens on Route 24.

H.O.B. fifth-grade students go to work on Junior Achievement field trip
How many fifth-graders have jobs, earn a paycheck, keep track of a checking account or use their own debit card? The fifth-grade students at H.O. Brittingham Elementary were able to experience all of these things on their field trip to the Junior Achievement BizTown facility in Wilmington. “I learned that being a grownup isn’t easy. I know this because if I got tired during six hours, I know it’s harder to work more hours,” said Job Perez-Bravo.

Coastal Point
IRSD CFO to retire amidst school district audits
After being placed on administrative leave, Indian River School District’s longtime chief financial officer has announced his retirement from the district. That announcement came amidst the news that the IRSD is undergoing a financial audit by the Delaware State Auditor of Accounts, R. Thomas Wagner Jr. “The auditor’s office has undertaken a review of the district’s business records, and the district is cooperating fully with that review,” said David Maull, IRSD spokesperson.

Delaware State News
Education plan needs to include all Delaware disadvantaged students
Commentary by State Representative Daniel B. “Danny” Short
The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission rightly cites the city’s patchwork educational governance as a factor in the poor performance of local schools. The legacy of court-ordered desegregation has left four school districts [each] with a portion of the responsibility for educating the City of Wilmington. Additionally, a number of public charter schools serve the city.

Middletown Transcript
Everett Meredith social studies educator named district’s top teacher
Olivia Suchanec wasn’t prepared with a speech when she was named Appoquinimink Teacher of the Year at a dinner for all the nominees in April. The social studies teacher at Everett Meredith Middle School has been a teacher for 10 years at the same school and the district’s recognition of her work and dedication was something that she said, truly moved her.

Sussex County Post
Indian River grads return home to answer hall’s call
Victor “Graig” Temple grew up in Millville and now lives in Texas. Dr. Vincent Mumford was raised in the Frankford/Selbyville area. He now works and resides in Michigan. The two Indian River High School graduates returned home this week to answer a special call from the hall. They are the 2016 IRHS Hall of Fame inductees. Ceremonies were held Wednesday evening in conjunction with the IRHS senior awards banquet.

UDaily
Keeping students on track
College students can fall off track academically for any number of reasons: not being ready for college, staying too long in the wrong major, getting poor grades in an introductory course, taking unnecessary classes, or waiting too long to take a critical course. For some, this may mean dropping out at some point during their college career and failing to get a degree.

National

Associated Press
Court ruling raises possibility Kansas schools can’t open
Kansas faces a threat that its public schools won’t open for the next school year after the state Supreme Court rejected some education funding changes made by the Republican-dominated Legislature. The Legislature had revised parts of the state’s school finance system but didn’t change the overall aid for most of its 286 local districts.

NPR
What one district’s data mining did for chronic absence
Mel Atkins has spent most of his life with Grand Rapids Public Schools in Michigan. He graduated from Ottawa Hills High, where he played baseball. But his real love was bowling. He says he’s bowled 22 perfect games. He’s been a teacher and principal in the city’s public schools. And now he works for the district, overseeing just about everything related to students.

The Hechinger Report
College graduation rates rise, but racial gaps persist and men still out-earn women
Whites, blacks, Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans are all graduating from college at higher rates now, but stubborn racial and gender gaps are widening, a new federal report finds. Women earn more college degrees than men but receive lower wages, while whites and Asian-Americans continue to earn bachelor’s degrees at higher rates than blacks and Hispanics.

The Los Angeles Times
How good is my kid’s school? California tries to answer every parent’s question
California is getting closer to defining what a good school should look like. But how will parents know if their school is one of them? On Thursday, the federal government released draft regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act’s provisions on school accountability. Under the guidelines, states have to tell parents how their schools are doing on a range of factors — and also give the school an overall rating.

The Washington Post
States that tie higher education funding to performance have it all wrong, report says
Facing budget constraints and demand for greater accountability in higher education, states are tying public college and university funding to the schools’ ability to retain and graduate students. But a new paper from the Century Foundation argues that such performance-based funding models are reinforcing disparities within public higher education and doing little to move the needle on completion.