July 14, 2017
Delaware News
Delaware 105.9
Indian River School District approves property tax increase for 2018
At its regular monthly meeting on June 19, the Indian River Board of Education approved a property tax rate of $3.097 per $100 of assessed value for Fiscal Year 2018. The new rate represents an increase of 51.9 cents from Fiscal Year 2017. Most of the increase (49 cents) is the result of a successful current expense referendum on March 2, 2017.
Education Week
How one state changed its ESSA plan in response to the Trump team
You might have heard a lot by now about The Feedback That Shook the World—also known as the official comments from the U.S. Department of Education about states’ Every Student Succeeds Act plans. Late last month, Delaware, one of the first three states to get feedback from the department, submitted a revised ESSA plan in response. In fact, the feedback the department gave Delaware might be the most controversial so far.
The News Journal
Delaware gets highest federal rating for special education services
Just three years after Delaware was told its special education program needed intervention, it has earned the highest rating possible from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. For the past two years Delaware received the second-highest rating, “needs assistance,” falling just shy last year of earning the top “meets requirements” rating earned this year, according to the Delaware Department of Education.
National News
Canton Rep
Ohio creates crisis fund to help kids with behavioral issues
Of all the anguish that befell Mark Butler as he fought to obtain care for his severely autistic son, the worst came when he and his wife had to sign away their parental rights. So Butler couldn’t help but linger over the part of Ohio’s new biennial budget that speaks — finally, he and other advocates say — about parents and guardians “at risk of relinquishing custody of the youth” in order to access badly needed services.
Daily Herald
Chromebooks prepared for all District 73 middle school students
The devices were delivered and preparation began this week for a middle school learning initiative in Hawthorn Elementary District 73. About 25 parents, staff members and others Wednesday unpacked, assembled and categorized about 1,500 Dell Chromebooks that will be distributed to every sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grader in the Vernon Hills-based district’s two middle schools.
Education Week
Georgia to ask feds for $49 Million for school nurses
With Medicaid under assault in Washington, Georgia’s top community health agency on Thursday approved a program that could more than double the number of school nurses in the state by tapping the federal fund. In a joint effort with the Georgia Department of Education, the Department of Community Health board voted to approve a nursing services reimbursement program that would draw an estimated $48.6 million in additional federal dollars, assuming no major changes to Medicaid.
The 74 Million
House subcommittee advances education funding bill as Democrats protest ‘anti-teacher’ cuts
A House subcommittee Thursday approved a bill that eliminates some funding for the Education Department, even as Democrats protested cuts to teacher training and other education programs. The bill would fund the department at $66 billion, $2.4 billion less than the current fiscal year. Almost all of that decrease comes from ending $2 billion in grants that support teacher training and salaries.
The New York Times
How universal college admission tests help low-income students
There is widespread concern about over-testing in schools. Yet we need all students to take the right tests if low-income and minority children are to have a good shot at a quality college education. The two standard college admission tests — the SAT and the ACT — could be administered universally and free of charge to students.