June 6, 2013
Local News
The News Journal
Charter school reform bill advances in state House
A bill aimed at reforming the state’s charter school system is headed to full House, despite objections that the measure needs public input and will hurt traditional schools. The House Education Committee narrowly approved HB 165, 7-6, after a motion to table the bill failed.
Hockessin Community News
Residents rallied to show support for Pike Creek Charter Middle School
More than 30 parents, students, and concerned residents packed the cabinet room of the John G. Townsend Building to support Pike Creek Charter Middle School, during a public hearing with the Delaware State Board of Education Accountability Committee June 4. The committee recently denied the school’s application for a charter.
Red Clay School District’s Preschool FRIENDS Program honored by Delaware Chamber of Commerce
Red Clay Consolidated School District’s Preschool FRIENDS program was one of seven programs honored by the Delaware Chamber of Commerce as Superstars in Education. The Preschool FRIENDS (Families Reading to be Invested, Engaged, Nurturing, Devoted, and Supportive) program was created in 2010, by Warner Elementary School teacher Dawn Alexander, as a way to support children’s reading skills by actively involving families in the learning process
National News
Education Next
Still Teaching for America
Within days of taking on their new roles as co-chief executives of Teach For America (TFA), Elisa Villanueva Beard and Matt Kramer planned to take off on a 100-day tour of the 46 cities and rural areas where TFA works, “leaving our agenda behind,” Kramer said.
Bangor Daily News
Maine Senate supports moratorium on Virtual Public Charter Schools
The Maine Senate approved a bill that would place a moratorium on the creation of virtual charter schools until enactment of laws and guidelines that govern them. The bill, LD 995, calls on the Maine Charter School Commission to study the issue and bring recommendations back to the full legislature. In 2011, Maine passed the state’s first-ever charter school law.
Education News
New York City education budget hits $25 billion
The 2013-14 fiscal year education budget for New York City schools will reach $24.8 billion — a $1 billion increase over the previous year, Corinne Lestsch and Ben Chapman report in the New York Daily News. While New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott says that classrooms will see more money, a significant portion of the increase will fund teacher pensions and debt service. New York City is struggling to fund several large-scale projects, including the adoption and implementation of Common Core standards and a new teacher evaluation program.
Education Week
Nation’s graduation rate nears a milestone
At the beginning of the last decade, before concerns about the nation’s graduation rate ascended to prominence on the policy agenda, only about two-thirds of U.S. public school students were finishing high school with a regular diploma. A new analysis from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that the graduation rate for America’s public schools stands just shy of 75 percent for the class of 2010, the most recent year for which data are available.
Related Topics: alternative teacher certification, charter schools, Cumulative Promotion Index, Delaware Chamber of Commerce, Delaware State Board of Education Accountability Committee, education budget, Elisa Villanueva Beard, Gov. Paul LePage, Governor Jack Markell, HB 165, House Education Committee, Joint Finance Committee, LD 995, Maine Education Association, Maine School Management Association, Matt Kramer, Pike Creek Charter Middle School, Red Clay School District, school funding, Secretary Mark Murphy, Superstars in Education, Teach For All, Teach For America, Teacher Evaluation, U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data, United Federation of Teachers, Warner Elementary School, Wendy Kopp