July 11, 2016
Delaware News
Delaware Public Media
Wilmington City Council resolution promotes student loan forgiveness in at-risk areas of city
Wilmington City Council President Theo Gregory is urging the federal government to offer student debt forgiveness as an incentive to convince young people to move into blighted or high poverty areas of the city. His resolution making that appeal passed with no opposition during Thursday night’s City Council meeting.
The News Journal
New food on the horizon for New Castle County kids
Children who participate in the produce-centered program, which is running alongside the Colonial School District’s Summer Food Program, are introduced to a new vegetable each week.
The Rodel Foundation
A changing landscape demands legislative action
Blog post by Paul Herdman, CEO at the Rodel Foundation
Delaware is growing. Not in size, but in numbers. For our children to lead, or even keep pace, our state needs to confront some brutal facts. Our population continues to grow at a higher clip than our immediate neighbors.
148th General Assembly education report
Blog post by Melissa Hopkins, director of external affairs at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
On June 30th, the Delaware Legislature concluded the second half of the 148th General Assembly. This year legislators faced a challenging budget cycle with a significant revenue shortfall for Fiscal Year 2017. This follows a difficult cycle from FY16 when there was a shortfall of $27 million.
WDEL
Beau Biden Foundation provides sexual abuse prevention training to Sussex admins, teachers
Administrators and teachers in the Indian River School District received child sexual abuse prevention training through a special program sponsored by the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. Stewards of Children, the flagship program of the nonprofit organization Darkness to Light, teaches adults to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
WHYY
Bullying bill provides better handbook for Delaware schools
There’s a new law that’s supposed to bring a common sense approach to handling bullying in the state especially in schools. It’s called Senate Bill 207. It’s designed to improve the state’s response to bullying incidents and help parents better deal with bullying instead of getting the attorney general or police involved.
National News
Chalkbeat
Memphis teachers share how they foster conversations about social justice in the classroom
The killings in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Dallas this week have brought conversations about race and policing to the forefront of national conversation. But for educators and students in Memphis, where about 70 percent of people identify as a person of color and 27 percent of people live in poverty, discussions about race, violence, and justice are part of everyday life.
Education Week
Ed-tech coaches becoming steadier fixture in classrooms
When South Carolina chemistry teacher Justin Simpson decided to use the water crisis in Flint, Mich., as a backdrop for a water-quality project, he turned to his school’s technology coach, Tami Lenker.
Split of Detroit District is latest bid to share up troubled system
One of the nation’s most troubled school districts is now two. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation this summer that divides the Detroit school district into two separate systems: a new district tasked with educating the city’s 46,000 regular public school students; and the old district left intact solely to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
NPR
Why high school students need more than college prep
Roughly seven out of 10 high school grads are headed to college every year — but that leaves hundreds of thousands who aren’t. And survey after survey shows that employers are demanding — even of college-bound students — some level of job skills and professionalism: punctuality, customer service, managing people and teamwork.
The Washington Post
Since 1980, spending on prisons has grown three times as much as spending on public education
State and local spending on prisons and jails has grown three times as much over the past three decades as spending on public education for preschool through high school, according to a new analysis of federal data by the U.S. Education Department.