November 1, 2012
Local News
The News Journal
Class Notes: Six new principals accepted by Delaware Leadership Project
The Delaware Leadership Project accepted six new aspiring principals in the second wave of the program. Recruitment for the third group begins Nov. 1. The project is a full-time, 14-month training program for aspiring school leaders. It is part of Delaware’s Race to the Top plan. The six principals are: Amy Cantymagli, Sarah Carr Green, Julie Giangiulio, Shan Green, Laura Gennice, and Jesus Urdiales.
National News
Reuters
Some states will soon call the roll on school reform
Voters in several states will weigh in next month on some of the most contentious issues in public education, including teacher tenure, charter schools, and merit pay for teachers, as a national fight over education reform hits the ballot box. Education issues are on the ballot in Washington, Georgia, Idaho, South Dakota, and several other states.
Detroit News
DPS helping students see their way to college
A new program, the Detroit Rising College Prep Schools, is intended to put students in high-poverty areas on the path to college at the same rate as suburban schools. Currently, less than half the district’s students graduate and 40% or fewer attend college. The district has hired a full-time college adviser for each school to help students plan and apply for colleges and understand the financial aid process.
Education Week
Graduation rates latest NCLB waiver flash point
A growing chorus of education policy advocates is urging the Education Department to strengthen graduation-rate accountability in states that have earned No Child Left Behind waivers. The advocates are concerned that many of the waiver plans violate the spirit—if not the letter—of 2008 regulations that require all states to calculate the graduation rate in the same way and make those rates part of high school accountability.
Los Angeles Times
L.A. schools fail to gain union backing for grant application
An effort by the Los Angeles Unified School District to win a high-profile $40-million grant has unraveled after the L.A. teachers union declined to sign the application, a condition for the competition imposed by the federal education department. The dollars were modest compared to the school system’s multibillion-dollar annual budget, but school district officials said the Race to the Top grant could have provided critical services as well as additional jobs.
EdSource
San Jose Unified, teachers reach breakthrough evaluation, pay plan
The superintendent of San Jose Unified and leaders of the district’s teachers union have agreed on an innovative evaluation and compensation system that, if implemented, would be significantly different from any in California. With education groups in Sacramento and legislators still bruised over a grueling, failed effort to revise the state’s teacher evaluation law last summer, the San Jose plan offers hope that a progressive compromise on divisive issues is possible.
Related Topics: Achievement Gap, Innovative Schools, NCLB, Teacher Compensation, Teacher Evaluation