October 29, 2013
Local News
Delaware State News
Markell sets lofty goals for Delaware teachers
Last week, Gov. Jack Markell stopped by Delaware State University to talk with education majors. “We’ve got a lot of work underway to make sure that our students are ready for college and career, but we know no matter how many programs we’ve got going, they don’t mean anything without you,” he told them. “In other words, they don’t mean anything unless we’ve got the best possible teachers in front of them, all the way from early childhood through high school.”
The Cape Gazette
Cape district reaches new benchmark
Enrollment in Cape Henlopen School District has topped 5,000, setting a new district benchmark. For the Sept. 30 unit count – the measurement used to determine student enrollment for the school year – Cape’s total student enrollment was 5,034. “This is the first time Cape has been over 5,000,” said Superintendent Robert Fulton. “Every year we’re growing. We’re excited that we’re growing, that people are coming here, but it sends a clear message that we have to plan for growth.”
The News Journal
Teacher union prez talks teacher fatigue
If you pick up a copy of this week’s monthly newsletter for the Delaware State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, you’ll see a column from Frederika Jenner, the group’s president. The headline, “We do not have the teacher evaluation system you deserve,” is about DPAS, the state’s system of judging teacher performance. But Jenner talks about more than DPAS itself in the column, addressing teachers facing “fatigue” from too many things being thrown at them at once.
National News
Education Week
Mayor’s race signals change for Boston schools
As Boston prepares to elect its first new mayor in 20 years, the two candidates vying to replace Mayor Thomas M. Menino are touting education agendas that signal schools will remain a top priority at City Hall no matter who wins.
Bloomberg-era school changes debated in N.Y.C. race
A dozen years of control by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has caused tectonic shifts in the way the Big Apple runs its schools, but as the battle for his replacement moves into its final stretch, a few of the Bloomberg administration’s most controversial education initiatives are shaping the landscape of the general election.
Biloxi Sun-Herald
Mississippi looks at alternatives to exit exams
Mississippi education officials are considering as many as seven alternate paths to a high school diploma for students who fail one or more high school exit exams. Among alternatives would be scores from the ACT college test; Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams; the test the U.S. military gives to recruits; and two routes aimed at students taking career or technical courses.
Michigan Public Radio
Governor: Schools should have flexibility on Algebra II
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says schools and students should have more options when it comes to meeting the algebra II graduation requirement. A proposed bill would allow students to skip algebra II if the same principles are taught as part of a vocational education program. Lawmakers have yet to approve funding for the Common Core standards that require students to complete some version of algebra II.
The Los Angeles Times
L.A. schools improved, but Deasy fell short of ambitious goals
On the eve of discussions over his future, Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy can count on broad support from the civic elite, but by his own yardsticks, his performance fell notably short this year. Deasy set ambitious and specific targets to measure progress in the nation’s second-largest school system — and in category after category, he failed to hit his marks, even though L.A. Unified maintained a long trend of gradual improvement.