June 7, 2016

Delaware

Cape Gazette
Cape High seniors share thoughts on race
Six Cape High seniors shared their experiences as African-American students in the classroom and school community during a forum May 10 hosted by the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice. “There’s a lot of cliques,” said panel member Suprenia West-Burton. “There are students whose parents own a lot of property, and then there are the so-called blue-collar kids.”

Newark Post
Newark High grads ready for their next challenge
The Bob Carpenter Center roared with cheers and screams for the more than 350 Newark High School graduates Monday night. “Class of 2016, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you on finishing the climb,” Principal Curtis Bedford said as NHS held its 123rd annual commencement.

The Milford Beacon
School for struggling students sets up shop
Drivers making their way from Felton into Dover may have noticed a sign for “High Roads School of Southern Delaware.”  This small building is the satellite location of Wilmington-based High Roads School of Delaware, which helps students with mental and behavioral problems get an education.

The News Journal
Group: More officers in schools will help stop violence
The first step to reducing violence among young people is to have police officers assigned to elementary and middle schools, says a coalition of state officials, education administrators and police. The group also says a more proactive approach to monitoring and responding to social media is needed.

Improvement plan needs to include all Delaware disadvantaged students
Opinion by Danny Short, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives
The Wilmington Education Improvement Commission (WEIC) 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 with a portion of the responsibility for educating the City of Wilmington.

Town Square Delaware
Teach for America Brings a Texan to Delaware – and He’s Staying
Commentary by Michael Williams, Teach For America corps member and math teacher at Georgetown Middle School
It’s hard to believe my formal time with Teach For America-Delaware is almost over. Two summers ago, I barely knew where Delaware was, let alone what the education system looked like. When I landed in Philadelphia and was picked up by our Executive Director, Laurisa Schutt, I was thrilled to see the immense passion that she, and I assumed all of my fellow teachers, possessed.

National

CALmatters
A Stanford professor’s high-stakes plan to save California schools
One by one, dozens of blacks and Latinos lined up behind a microphone placed before the state school board appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Spanish-speaking mothers pleaded for the 10-member panel to evaluate schools based on parent involvement because they have felt unwelcome at their children’s schools.

Las Vegas Review Journal
Teacher salary programs help some Clark County schools, not others
Hector Arenas didn’t become a teacher for the money, but it’s certainly giving him reason to stay put. A social studies teacher at Monaco Middle School, Arenas just completed his third year in the classroom, has no plans to quit and refers to the profession as a “calling.” Still, he admitted a recent boost in pay helped persuade him to stay at Monaco for a fourth year.

NPR
The civil rights problem in U.S. schools: 10 new numbers
It’s a rare and remarkable view into America’s public schools and the challenges that continue some 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education: The Civil Rights Data Collection survey. Since 1968, the federal government has been sending it to the nation’s schools to gauge educational access and enforce civil rights law.

The Hechinger Report
How one innovative school district has closed gaps on harder Common Core tests
With testing season starting up again, here’s a reminder of last year’s demoralizing news: Every California district and demographic group fared worse on the national Smarter Balanced tests, and the state’s already large test score gaps grew. The results from those new Common Core tests – designed explicitly to look for the skills kids need in college, namely critical thinking, problem solving and analytical writing skills – have been held up as proof of the persistence of deep-seated disparities in the education provided to poor students and children of color.

The Mercury News
Bills to help hungry, homeless college students pass California Assembly
Legislation to help thousands of California college students who are homeless, hungry or in an emergency financial pinch has cleared the state Assembly and now heads to the Senate. The three bills — AB 2822, AB 1747 and AB 1995 — would give homeless community college students access to showers on campus; offer small emergency grants to community college students in unforeseen circumstances; and tackle food insecurity by requiring colleges to participate in the state’s prepared-meals program — created for those with no way to cook or store food.