March 22, 2013
LOCAL NEWS
DE Department of Education
Common Core to draw 700-plus educators to Dover this weekend
More than 700 educators from 143 Delaware schools will gather in Dover Saturday to learn strategies for deepening their schools’ implementation of the Common Core standards. Common Ground for the Common Core is an 18-month project designed to support the implementation of the Common Core standards by building capacity through a network of guiding teams from Delaware’s schools.
The News Journal
Federal money divides Christina School District
Faced with an end-of-month deadline to either comply with the state Department of Education or risk losing $2.3 million in federal Race to the Top money, Christina School Board members, in a heated meeting, left the door open to compromise. DOE officials had told the board to submit a new plan for rewarding high-performing teachers at low-performing schools or risk losing the money. The board has until March 29 to have a bonus plan approved by the state.
The Rodel Foundation Blog
Personalized learning – we still have work to do
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wavering on early education could ruin our future
From a public health perspective, resolving to invest in our future by increasing access to early childhood education for all children, is a good thing supported by both data and our values as a society. Sadly, however, hopes for universal pre-school have been dashed for the moment. Sequestration, the budget-slashing result of both parties’ failure to reach a more palatable deficit-cutting compromise, has led to 5% funding cuts for all current Head Start programs, not to mention the President’s proposed expansion.
NATIONAL NEWS
Ed.gov
U.S. Department of Education announces 10 states Will receive funding to turn around their lowest-performing schools
Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 10 states will receive funding to turn around their persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Department’s School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. Four of the states will receive awards to run a new competition for previously unfunded schools, and six states will receive continuation funds for the third year of implementing a SIG model. The states receiving new awards are: Indiana—$9.2 million; Nebraska—$2.6 million; Colorado—$5.2 million; and Louisiana—$9.6 million. The states receiving continuation awards are: Alaska—$1.5 million; Iowa—$3.0 million; North Dakota—$1.2 million; Oklahoma—$5.5 million; Texas—$49.7 million; and Wyoming—$1.1 million.
Education Week
Dozens of Chicago schools to close
The district announced this afternoon that it recommends that 54 schools be closed, 11 co-located, and six “turned around.” That’s 71 schools affected overall, and 61 elementary school facilities that will no longer be in use by the district. A slew of information for affected parents, students, and staff and a list of planned community meetings is posted on the district’s website. The district’s announcement highlighted new technology, facilities upgrades (air conditioning!), and safe passage programs planned for affected schools. The Associated Press reported that administrators and families at some affected schools got the news earlier today. This is the most schools the district has ever closed in a single year.
The Texas Tribune
Special-education programs steel themselves as cuts loom
In 2011, Texas schools were hit with a $5.4 billion cut in state financing. And now that the state is also facing automatic federal spending cuts that went into effect on March 1, administrators say they are running out of cost-saving options to maintain services that receive federal money. The Texas Education Agency estimates that for next fiscal year, up to $51 million in federal money could be slashed from special-education programs and $65.4 million from Title I, a federal initiative that aids low-income students, along with cuts to teacher professional development, career-technical programs and English language acquisition classes.
PewStates.org
Can Better Organization Produce More Graduates?
Under Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s education overhaul, every student will have to meet academic milestones on the road from preschool to college. To reinforce this unified approach, Kitzhaber appointed a chief education officer who is charged with overseeing every stage of education. Oregon is part of a small but growing number of states trying to improve academic results by aligning the education system.