January 12, 2015
Delaware News
The News Journal
In final stretch, can Gov. Markell recapture Legislative Hall?
Markell’s proposals to fix failing Wilmington schools have been the source of public consternation and controversy for months. Lawmakers and key stakeholders, including the superintendent of one of Delaware’s largest school districts, complain that a lack of simple communication is partly to blame.
Free community college? Local leaders want specifics
While Delaware leaders welcome the broad idea of getting more students degrees or workforce training, they want to see specifics. But they’re hopeful the proposal, if implemented, would supplement or options already to students.
WHYY
Markell advisory committee urges Delaware stall priority schools plan
The Wilmington Education Advisory Committee wrote a letter Friday asking the state to stall its plans to turnaround six, low-performing Wilmington schools. The so-called priority schools initiative is now well into the planning stages
Facing sudden shutdown, a charter tries to rally
Family Foundations has been dangling in the bureaucratic breeze since last month, when the Delaware Department of Education declined to renew the school’s charter. Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said the department had become aware of allegations that the school mismanaged funds and needed more time to decide the school’s fate. The state now says it will rule on the school’s charter at its January 15 board meeting.
WDDE
Chancery Court rules Moyer to close at end of school
Delaware’s Court of Chancery has rejected an effort by Moyer Academic Institute and the City of Wilmington keep the Wilmington charter school open beyond this school year.
Middletown Transcript
Proposed Appoquinimink school district’s book policy is unconstitutional says ACLU
A proposed policy that would require parents to authorize or deny what their children can read at Appoquinimink School District schools is unconstitutional, according to one of the nation’s leading civil liberties advocacy organizations.
National News
Politico
Barack Obama to seek limits on student data mining
President Barack Obama on Monday is expected to call for tough legislation to protect student privacy, adding his voice to a sizzling debate about the best way to bring the benefits of technology into the classroom without exposing students to commercial data mining.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Who has a stake in Obama’s free community-college plan?
President Obama’s proposal to make community college free is getting an enthusiastic reception from two-year colleges and their advocates across the nation. Not surprisingly, though, representatives of other higher-education sectors aren’t quite so bullish.
Education Week
Administration doubling down on K-12 priorities, Ed. Sec. Arne Duncan declares
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is using a speech here Monday to assert that the Obama administration is not backing off on K-12 policies it has pushed for the past six years, even as Republicans in Congress are poised to release proposals to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that would significantly scale back the federal footprint in education.
New York Times
Study finds reading to children of all ages grooms them to read more on their own
Fewer children are reading books frequently for fun, according to a new report released Thursday by Scholastic, the children’s book publisher.
Press & Sun Bulletin
Few NY parents seeking teacher evaluation scores
After battles in Albany over who should have access to results of state-mandated teacher evaluations, the group given the right to see them — parents — appears to be showing little interest. Associated Press queries to districts around the state revealed that few, if any, parents have asked for their child’s teacher’s rating since New York began requiring teachers to be classified every year as “highly effective,” ”effective,” ”developing” or “ineffective.”