August 18, 2016

Delaware News

Coastal Point
IR educator: Teachers undermined as parents demand special treatment
Teachers are trusted to manage classrooms, from grades to discipline. But when parents are unhappy with a teacher’s decision, they’re sometimes taking advantage of the system, according one local teacher. At Indian River High School, students aren’t getting equal treatment when parents demand that the administration intervene, said physical education teacher Wendy Megee.

ForeexTV.com
WSFS Foundation awards $300,000 grant to Teach for America’s Lead for Delaware initiative
WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS), the parent company of WSFS Bank, today announced that the WSFS Foundation has awarded $300,000 over the course of the next five years to Teach for America’s Lead for Delaware initiative. Lead for Delaware was developed in partnership with Teach For America, Delaware public schools and a range of other education-based organizations for the purpose of the recruitment, development and retention of diverse school principals in low-income communities across the state.

Milford Live
Milford Graduates as Catalysts for DDOE
Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) hosted a summer fellowship program, Educators as Catalysts, designed for exceptional Delaware educators who have a passion for education and want to gain hands-on experience in how policy is developed at the state level. Kevin DiCostanzo, who teaches social studies at Milford High School as well as two Milford High School graduates, Debbie Long and Lindsay Lozier, were chosen to participate in the program.

Rodel Blog
How teachers *really* spend summer break
It’s a common misconception that all teachers spend their summers sipping iced tea by the pool. In reality, many of your children’s educators are hard at work with students in summer programs or preparing for the new school year. We caught up with a few members of the Rodel Teacher Council to learn about their summer projects.

Sussex County Post
POST’S person to know: Dr. Susan Bunting
More often than not the door to Dr. Susan Bunting’s office in the Indian River Educational Complex is open. “You are not going to find that door closed unless something really serious is happening in this office,” she says. “So if you drop by, and, ‘Does Dr. Bunting have a few minutes?’ I have difficulty saying, ‘no.’ I have an open door.” Dr. Bunting is entering her 11th year as IRSD superintendent. She has been employed with the district since 1977

National News

Chalkbeat
Aurora Public Schools asking voters to approve $300 million bond package
The campaign to ask Aurora residents to approve a $300 million tax increase to build two new schools and make improvements to existing buildings kicked off Wednesday. The effort, Aurora Citizens for Excellent Schools, launched at the aging Mrachek Middle School, which would be rebuilt if voters approve the bond initiative.

Education Week
Louisiana offers its homegrown standards-based lessons to teachers nationwide
Disappointed by existing English/language arts curricula that were supposedly aligned to the Common Core State Standards, officials at the Louisiana education department decided to enlist teachers and create a homegrown program—a move that’s less than typical for a state-level overseer.

Press of Atlantic City
Work continues on new internet network for Arkansas schools
Arkansas officials say the continuing process of providing high-speed internet to each of the state’s 276 school districts should be completed by June. Progress on the network, which is being maintained by the Department of Information Systems, will temporarily stop for about a month to allow district information technology departments to deal with the return of students to school.

The New York Times
Why American schools are even more unequal than we thought
Education is deeply unequal in the United States, with students in poor districts performing at levels several grades below those of children in richer areas. Yet the problem is actually much worse than these statistics show, because schools, districts and even the federal government have been using a crude yardstick for economic hardship.

The Washington Post
The nation’s teacher force lacks diversity, and it might not get much better
Persistent achievement gaps among black and Hispanic students have confounded education experts for years. One strategy researchers have found to be successful at narrowing the gaps is a simple one: Employ more minority teachers, who often can forge a better connection with them.