April 6, 2016

Delaware

Delaware Public Media
Brandywine School District seeks to improve engagement in second referendum try
The Brandywine School District will hold a second tax referendum May 17th, but to reverse the 163 vote loss it suffered in its first try last month some residents say the district needs to communicate better. District officials and the Brandywine School Board heard criticism earlier this week at a public meeting that they failed to engage – and educate – voters about the nuts and bolts of the referendum, and what it means for taxpayers.

Delaware State News
Delaware fourth-graders learn liquid lesson about water
More than 700 fourth-graders made a field trip to St. Jones Reserve on Tuesday to learn all about water during the 16th Annual Make a Splash Festival hosted by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. “In fourth grade, they do water and land units in addition to history so this acts as a capstone to those units,” said Splash Day organizer Maggie Pletta of Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The News Journal
Wilmington schools should be part of anti-poverty debate
Opinion by Paul H. Morrill, Jr., executive director of The Committee of 100
Senate Republicans recently unveiled an 11-point plan to combat inter-generational poverty in Delaware and deserve a lot of credit for stepping forward on the issue. Not all the ideas will become law, but some will and all deserve an honest debate. The objective is to make Delaware the lowest poverty state in the nation by 2024. We agree that the focus should shift from simply easing the hardship of poverty to breaking the cycle of poverty entirely. And what is the single most effective tool in doing that? Education.

The New York Times
Rejected by colleges, SAT and ACT gain high school acceptance
Prompted by a recent change in federal education law, the SAT and ACT are competing — and increasingly winning — against exams funded by the Obama administration to become mandatory high school tests, used for ranking school performance. In a few states like Delaware that were already giving the SAT or ACT to all high school juniors, getting rid of the Common Core test is, in part, an attempt to address complaints about too much testing.

The Urgency of Now
3 facts about education in Delaware that most don’t know
Blog post by Antre Alleyne
Delaware’s State Board of Education recently made a high-profile decision that has the potential to shape the future of schools in Wilmington. While this decision has garnered significant attention and discussion (and rightly so), there are many decisions made each year that impact students’ learning and their experiences in the education system. Who is making these decisions and to what extent are they basing them on evidence?

National

Governing
Philadelphia schools suffer huge setback
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission has come up empty in its bid to undo a recent, devastating state Supreme Court ruling that curtailed powers it thought it had. The state’s top court Monday turned down the SRC’s request to reconsider a ruling it handed down in February that said the commission had no power to suspend parts of the state school code.

NPR
Taking high school courses in college costs students and families nearly $1.5 billion
When Andrea Diaz was applying to colleges, she got good news and bad news. The good news was that American University, a private four-year university in Washington, D.C., wanted her. The bad news was that they required her to come to campus early to take two summer developmental-level courses in math and English.

Richmond Times-Dispatch
McAuliffe vetos three education bills, including school-choice legislation
Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed three education bills Tuesday, including a school-choice bill that would have allowed parents to use state money to pay for private schools or home schooling. Another bill would have allowed students to move out of troubled schools, and the final bill would have created a virtual school.

The Washington Post
Teachers union touts victory in evaluation fight
The Washington Teachers Union clinched a long-sought victory in its fight against the D.C. Public Schools’ teacher evaluation system, albeit a minor one on procedural grounds. An arbitrator ruled Monday that the school system had to re-hire a teacher who filed a grievance claiming he was wrongly fired under its controversial teacher evaluation system called IMPACT.

The Seattle Times
Gov. Inslee grudgingly allows charter schools to survive
Caught between well-funded advocates trying to save charter schools and charter opponents urging a veto, including the state’s largest teachers union, Gov. Jay Inslee is choosing to do nothing. In a letter to Secretary of State Kim Wyman released Friday afternoon, Inslee said he will allow Senate Bill 6194 to become law without his signature, rather than vetoing it or signing it.