January 13, 2016

Delaware

Department of Education
Press release
Governor announces continued growth in high school students taking college courses
Building on efforts to ensure all Delaware students graduate prepared to continue their education or start a career, the Governor announced today that the number of high school students taking college-level classes before graduation is dramatically increasing for the second consecutive year. Across the state, 28 high schools have offered classes with a combined attendance of more than 2,100 students during the fall semester. That represents an increase of about 400 from last fall, when 25 high schools offered 100 classes with a combined attendance of just over 1,700 students. By the end of this academic year, total attendance will surpass 2,700 in 170 dual enrollment courses.

NewsWorks
Gun fired at Delaware middle school
The gun shot at Central Middle School in Dover comes amid a string of bomb threats to a number of schools in the state. The shooting doesn’t appear to be related. Dover Police detained two students at the middle school after one of them fired a gun inside a school bathroom. Police believe one of the students brought the gun to school, then gave it to the second student who pulled the trigger. They say it’s not clear if the gun was intentionally fired. No one was injured.

Sussex County Post
More bomb threats: Millsboro Middle School, Beebe among targets
Safety precautions were undertaken at several schools Tuesday morning – the second day of multiple bomb threats at public schools in Delaware. According to Delaware State Police Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, the incidents occurred at about 9:30 a.m. this morning at Millsboro Middle School, on East State Street in Millsboro, and Beacon Middle School on John J. Williams Highway in Lewes. Schools in some cases were evacuated and state police and local K9 bomb units responded. In addition, Cpl. Fournier said investigations were also being conducted by Dover Police Department, Greenwood Police Department and Milford Police Department for similar incidents that occurred at schools within their jurisdictions Tuesday morning.

The Milford Beacon
Delaware PTA, opt out supporters ready for rally
The debate over Gov. Jack Markell’s veto of House Bill 50 has reached the steps of the General Assembly. On Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. the Delaware PTA will host an Opt Out rally in front of Legislative Hall. The rally, which is taking place two days after the General Assembly reconvenes, was organized to gather support for HB 50—a bill that makes it easier for parents to opt their kids out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment test. Delaware PTA President Terri Hodges, who is a staunch supporter of opting out, said the rally is a chance for residents to communicate their concerns to legislators.

The News Journal
More Delaware high school students take dual-enrollment classes
By the end of this year, Delaware students will have taken almost three times as many dual-enrollment courses as they did two years ago. In a visit to Polytech High School in Woodside, Gov. Jack Markell said that’s an encouraging sign and called for more kids to take the classes, which earn students college credit while still in high school. Markell said dual-enrollment is a key part of the state’s effort to get more kids to go to college, especially those from low-income families or who would be the first in their family to attend.

Delaware General Assembly starts new session
The first day of what promises to be a busy and potentially controversial legislative session started quietly Tuesday with some formalities and honors. On Thursday, Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South, plans to attempt to over-ride Gov. Jack Markell’s veto of a controversial bill to protect parents’ right to opt their kids out of the state standardized test.  The Delaware Parent Teacher Association has scheduled a rally on the steps of Legislative Hall to support the over-ride effort.

National

Education Week
Blog post by Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week
Obama: I will keep fighting for preschool and college access
President Barack Obama used his very last State of the Union address to press for action on unfinished pieces of his agenda—including universal prekindergarten and offering two years of free community college to most students—from Congress and his successor in the White House. And Obama made it clear he wants to continue to fight to expand access to high-quality math, science, and technology courses, and the training and recruitment of good teachers. He also took a victory lap on a couple of his big K-12 initiatives—including record high graduation rates and the passage of a long-stalled rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The Notebook
A challenging path to affordable, accessible pre-K in Philadelphia
When Jim Kenney took the oath of office last week as the city’s 99th mayor, he outlined a vision to help “make every Philadelphia neighborhood the best it can be.” He highlighted expanded pre-kindergarten as a key part of this vision. The mayor’s push to expand pre-K is not coming from out of the blue. It is in line with the city’s voter-approved implementation of the Commission on Universal Pre-K in June of 2015. Tasked with developing a plan for adopting affordable and accessible universal pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds across Philadelphia, the commission has been grappling with how to ensure that all children have access to high-quality care.

The Washington Post
Netflix chief announces $100 million fund for education
Netflix founder and chief executive Reed Hastings, a longtime supporter of charter schools, is creating a $100 million foundation for education, he announced on his Facebook page Tuesday. The Hastings Fund launched with grants totaling $1.5 million to the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley and UNCF scholarship funds, donations meant to help minority students access college.

U.S. News & World Report
Education is absent in 2016
Opinion by Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute
For the past quarter-century, schooling has played a significant symbolic role in presidential contests. In 2016, though, with the first votes due to be cast in Iowa in just a few weeks, it’s been almost entirely absent. Why is that? Let’s start in 1988. Promising a “kinder, gentler” Republicanism, George H.W. Bush highlighted his promise to be the “education president.” In 1992, Bill Clinton put education at the heart of his “New Covenant” when insisting that he would fight for those who “worked hard and played by the rules.”

WMDT
Va. Gov. wants overhaul of high school system
Gov. Terry McAuliffe wants an overhaul of the state’s high schools so that they are geared toward hands-on learning and helping students get jobs in advanced fields, like cyber security and biotechnology. McAuliffe outlined a series of education and workforce development legislative proposals at the Capitol Tuesday, a day before lawmakers return for the 2016 legislative session. Among them is a proposal allowing schools to hire industry experts as temporary career or technical education teachers.