January 6, 2014
Delaware News
The News Journal
Reach charter school sues state again to stay open
Reach Academy for Girls is once again suing the Department of Education to avoid closure, making it the second Wilmington charter school fighting a legal battle with the state to stay open.
Kowalko bounced from House education committee
Democratic leaders have sent a message to Newark Rep. John Kowalko: back off. House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf has bounced Kowalko, a Democrat who has loudly opposed Gov. Jack Markell’s plan to turn around six Wilmington schools, from the House education committee and stripped his chairmanship of the House Energy committee.
Charter schools best choice for children
A letter to the editor by Jared Davis, Newark
Charter schools provide choices for children who want to join the military, specialize in music, or pursue a career in finance or science. Charter schools can identify a child’s skills and enhance those skills while simultaneously instructing them with the basic educational needs every child should receive. Charter schools provide parents with alternative choices for school in case a parent does not agree with private and public schooling. Charter schools allow children to be more diverse and interact with people from all over the country and world.
WHYY NewsWorks
Embattled Delaware charter school head placed on leave
The co-director of Family Foundations Academy, a Delaware-based charter school, has been placed on a 90-day leave of absence by the school’s board. Sean Moore’s suspension was announced Friday in a letter to parents and follows the release of a forensic audit detailing Moore’s misuse of a school credit card. The audit also implicated Dr. Tennell Brewington, the school’s other co-director. Brewington was placed on a 90-day leave in November.
National News
NPR
Kindergarten entry tests and more education predictions for 2015
NPR Ed offers a set of predictions for the education world in 2015, including kindergarten entry tests, a greater focus on competency-based education and a cooling of the Common Core debate.
Vox
Why 2015 is a crucial year for Common Core
This spring, hundreds of thousands of students will be tested against the Common Core for the first time. How those students fare, and how parents and teachers react, will be crucial to the standard’s future.
The Topeka Capital-Journal
Judges rule school finance inadequate
In a ruling more than 100 pages long, a Kansas district court stood by its 2013 ruling that school funding is unconstitutionally low, but declined to order the state to inject a specific amount of money.
Inside Higher Ed
Online, size doesn’t matter
The study finds that increases in online class size have no impact on student grades, student persistence in the course or the likelihood of students enrolling in future courses.
Matching the ‘undermatched’
Ever since a 2012 study found that a majority of high-achieving, low-income high school seniors don’t apply to a single competitive college, educators and policymakers have been debating what to do about “undermatching,” as the issue has come to be called.