August 17, 2016

Delaware News

Middletown Transcript
‘Words on Wheels’ bookmobile to visit Middletown, Townsend Aug. 17
This is the last week for the Appoquinimink School District’s summer bookmobile program, “Words on Wheels.” Each child visiting the bookmobile will receive a two free books, an ice pop and other giveaways. This is also the last time to enter the drawing for the Kindle HD Fire electronic tablet.

The Milford Chronicle
Students, teachers SWEAT for leadership
Teachers and adults often struggle with keeping up on the latest and greatest in slang and terminologies heard in the hallways, but one “ buzz word” had a couple of them excited this summer. “The word leadership,” Communities in Schools Site Director Patrick Helmick explained, “is such a buzz word now that sometimes it is confusing to understand what it actually is.”

The Newark Post
A+ ideas for supporting classroom learning
Proud parents across the country are watching their children head back to the classroom for another exciting school year. The knowledge they gain in class will help set them on a path to success. However, learning shouldn’t stop when the school bell rings at the end of the day.

The News Journal
Wilmington University part of national pilot program
Wilmington University will be one of the first schools in the country to partner with a technology education organization to launch a program that will be eligible for federal financial aid for low-income students. It is part of a new initiative by the federal Department of Education aimed at opening access to higher education and job training programs to low-income students.

National News

Chalkbeat
How one social studies teacher makes history come alive
If you’re looking for a history lesson, look no further than Stephanie Rossi’s classroom. The Wheat Ridge High School social studies teacher has been teaching students about the founding fathers, Great Depression and Civil Rights movement for 37 years. Rossi was a part of local history herself when she became a de facto spokeswoman for an advanced U.S. history course that caught the attention of a Jefferson County school board member, who was worried the course wasn’t patriotic.

Education Week
Amid spotlight, one district saw progress, challenges
In 2007, when U.S. Senator Barack Obama was running for president, he visited the public schools here in flat, sandy Dillon County, part of South Carolina’s so-called “Corridor of Shame,” a poor region that stretches from north to south along Interstate 95. Obama toured the old J.V. Martin Middle School, part of which dated to 1896 and was still in use. The building still had a furnace fueled by coal.

Governing
The states that spend the most (and the least) on education
Public school spending varies dramatically from one part of the country to another. New York is the biggest spender, doling out more than $20,000 per student each year, counting teacher salaries, support services and all the other costs associated with public schools. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Idaho and Utah spend only about one-third as much.

The New York Times
Taking summer school to get ahead, not catch up
Chase Pellegrini de Paur didn’t flunk math, and he is not trying to hone his study skills. The 15-year-old honor-roll student nevertheless spent six weeks this summer studying geometry at the prestigious Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school here.

The Washington Post
Think teachers aren’t paid enough? It’s worse than you think
Everybody knows that nobody goes into teaching to get rich, but teachers don’t expect to be penalized for their chosen profession. A new study finds that what is called the “teacher pay penalty” — the difference between teachers and comparable public workers — is bigger than ever.