July 17, 2015

Delaware News

Office of Governor Markell
Governor vetoes opt-out bill, signs legislation to reduce testing for all students
A press release
Governor Markell announced today that he has vetoed House Bill 50, which would allow for any student to be opted-out of any state or district assessment, while he signed Senate Joint Resolution 2, which aims to eliminate unnecessary, ineffective, or redundant tests required by the state, districts, and individual schools.

The News Journal
Markell vetoes Delaware testing opt-out bill
Gov. Jack Markell has vetoed a controversial bill that would allow parents to pull their kids out of Delaware’s standardized test. Lawmakers and parent groups who supported the bill are furious and demanding the General Assembly override the action when it returns in January, which would require a three-fifths majority in both chambers.

Markell right to veto opt out bill
An editorial
It is unfortunate Gov. Markell felt he had to veto this bill. But he was right to do so. Delaware taxpayers spend more than $1 billion a year on their schools. Parents put their faith in the schools. They have a right to know how the schools are performing.

WHYY
Markell axes Delaware opt-out bill
Opt-out became a lightning rod. For those who oppose Markell’s education reform agenda, the bill became a platform for attack. The measure served an inverse purpose for those who like the governor’s policy positions on education–which tend to rely on data analysis and broader accountability.

WDDE
Gov. Markell vetoes student testing opt-out bill
State Board of Education president Teri Quinn Gray says the governor made the right call. “We’re delighted for the governor as well as for the state to have the courage to do what we think is the absolutely right thing, to encourage all 135,000 of our students to take on the rigorous challenge of higher standards from a standards perspective, curriculum that’s rigorous and accountability in testing that allows us to understand if our students are learning.”

Sussex Countian
Markell vetoes opt-out bill
Markell administration spokeswoman Kelly Bachman said SJR 2 builds on an initiative started by the governor earlier this year when he announced an inventory of all required state assessments, and support for districts to take stock of assessments required at the local level. The legislation signed today brings legislators and other key groups into the process of reviewing the inventory results and making recommendations about what assessments should be cut, Bachman said.

Delaware State News
Markell vetoes student test opt-out bill
Sen. Dave Lawson, R-Marydel, a co-prime sponsor of the bill, said in response to the governor’s veto that parents have the right and responsibility to look out for the best interests of their children. “This action by Gov. Markell proves, without a doubt, that he and the ‘We know best’ bunch have NO regard for what parents and the legislature approve.”

WDEL
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell vetoes Opt-Out bill
One of the primary focuses for supports of the now-vetoed bill was the targeting of the Smarter Balanced Assessment, tied to Common Core standards and heralded by Markell as Delaware undergoes the assessment’s adoption. In the middle of the issue, the question was raised as to whether Delaware even has a firm grasp on where its students ranked relative to the rest of the country.

National News

Inside Higher Ed
Potential transcript would look outside classroom
Two associations of registrars and student affairs administrators will work with eight colleges on prototypes for a new form of transcript – a comprehensive record that includes learning outside the classroom.

Columbus Dispatch
OH program training school leaders
A joint effort is helping future principals to work in Ohio’s most challenging schools. No education experience is required.

Tennessean
TN Promise students head to ‘boot camp’
Hundreds of Tennessee Promise students are beginning a three-week “academic boot camp,” an effort officials hope will help them clear some of the hurdles typically faced by first generation college students.

Hechinger Report
LA policies close off college opportunities for many
Scores of New Orleans high school graduates who just missed Louisiana’s cutoff score on the English ACT entrance examination were left with one lone option for pursuing public higher education in Louisiana: community college. That’s because a state policy approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents in 2010 barred those universities from accepting students who need extra academic help, starting last fall.

Route Fifty
VT works on admin issues, small student numbers
Vermont is seeking to rein in the high costs of a largely rural system whose administrative structure has not been reduced despite steep declines in the students it serves.

Associated Press
IN has trouble filling positions
School districts across Indiana are having trouble finding people to fill open teaching positions as the number of first-time teacher licenses issued by the state has dropped by 63 percent in recent years.