January 16, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
Family Foundations to stay open despite allegations
After a bombshell audit found that its co-leaders used school credit cards for personal purchases like car payments, fine watches, concert tickets and spa treatments, state leaders decided to keep the Family Foundations Academy charter school open, citing dramatic changes the school made to its leadership.

Wilmington City Council: No more charter schools
The Wilmington City Council sent a request to state leaders Thursday night: Don’t allow any more charter schools to open in the city for the time being, and give the city more say over which schools get approved.

Delaware Department of Education
State grants support innovation in educator mentoring programs
A press release
Districts and schools across Delaware are providing better and more customized support for novice educators through enhanced mentoring programs with the support of state grants.

Family Foundations Academy charter renewed, school placed on formal review
A press release
Family Foundations Academy Charter School will remain open next year after the State Board of Education assented to Secretary of Education Mark Murphy’s decision to renew its charter today. Meanwhile, State Board members also assented to his decision to place the school’s new charter on formal review.

National News

Education Week
Battle lines drawn on testing in ESEA renewal
As Congress kicks off new efforts to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind mandates on state assessments are at the heart of the debate.

P-TECH ‘Playbook’ gives gcoop on replicating business-focused school
The forces behind the Pathways in Technology Early College High School, or P-TECH, do not want their innovative school model to be a best-kept secret. The P-TECH 9-14 School Model Playbook web site, launched late last year, includes action items by year, details on how to map skills into the curriculum, manage a mentoring program, and craft job descriptions and 15 case studies to help others replicate the model.

Las Vegas Review-Journal
CCSD partnership with private sector yields budget reports
The Clark County School District released the first reports from an initiative announced last year to bring business leaders in to analyze the district’s budget.

The Hechinger Report
The push for standards is seeping into arts education
Advocates for arts education are in the midst of a counter offensive. Arguing that post-recession budget cuts and Bush-era testing policies have prompted schools to cut art (in order to spend more time prepping kids for math and reading tests), they’ve come up with an idea: convince states to adopt new art standards –à la Common Core — to get schools to focus on art again.

It takes a community: Obama’s free college plan will need a broad coalition to become a reality
We shouldn’t expect Congress put the money where the public’s mouth is. It’s time for disparate educational groups as well as civil rights organizations to move Congress to make universal pre-K and the first two years of college as accessible as elementary and high school.