July 28, 2016

Delaware News

Delaware State News
State’s teachers union endorses three Democrats
The Delaware State Education Association announced Wednesday it has endorsed Bethany Hall-Long for lieutenant governor and Trinidad Navarro for insurance commissioner. Both are Democrats. State Sen. Hall-Long, who represents the Middletown area, is one of seven candidates, including six Democrats, seeking the vacant lieutenant governor’s office.

Delaware 105.9
Indian River School District students surpass state average on Smarter Balanced Assessment
Scores from the 2016 Smarter Balanced Assessment, released by the Delaware Department of Education on July 21, revealed the percentages of Indian River School District students who were proficient in English language arts (ELA) and math were higher than the overall state averages.

Sussex Countian
Milford tackles hunger with free food
Milford School District is working to make sure hunger is the least of students’ problems when they return in the fall. The Milford School District Board of Education approved the Community Eligibility Provision at its meeting July 11. The program provides every student with a free breakfast and lunch.

Sussex County Post
IRSD among grant recipients to support college access efforts
Indian River School District is among nine Delaware school districts/high schools that are receiving grants from the state’s College Access fund to implement comprehensive, innovative strategies to increase college readiness and access during the 2016-17 school year.

The News Journal
WEIC pushes back redistricting timeline
The timetable for redistricting schools in Wilmington has been pushed back, but the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission is still working toward consolidating half the city’s students into one district. Although the plan to redistrict didn’t get state funding and failed to pass the general assembly in June, the commission that created it isn’t finished, “not by any stretch,” said Tony Allen, who heads the commission made up of educational and civic leaders.

National News

ABC News
New Department of Education guidelines for schools aimed at helping homeless students
As a young teen, Levi Bohanan was homeless, fending for himself on the streets. Now, Bohanan is working alongside the nation’s top education experts at the U.S. Department of Education — as a special projects manager in the office of the Secretary — which issued federal guidelines today for states and school districts across the country to better serve students without a permanent home as part of federal legislation that was signed into law last year by President Obama.

Education Week
Democratic Convention speakers praise teachers, decry gun violence in schools
Odes to teachers and calls to prevent gun violence in classrooms highlighted the K-12 talk during Wednesday night’s Democratic National Convention program, devoted mainly to boosting presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. During the final speech of the night, President Barack Obama said he was proud of teachers, but that more work remained to be done “for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty” and access to a quality education.

News 9
Oklahoma leaders looking at ‘Iowa Model’ to improve education
Oklahomans will decide this November whether to add a one-cent sales tax dedicated to education. A big chunk of the money would be set aside for teacher raises. But would that be enough to improve Oklahoma schools? If you ask folks in Iowa, the answer is a resounding “no.”

Peninsula Clarion
State seeks to throw out “highly qualified” teacher requirements
The State Board of Education wants to repeal the requirement that all teachers be highly qualified. It is the first step to align Alaska’s policies that prove educators are equipped to instruct in their content areas with new regulations set forth in the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the 2015 reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Atlantic
A conversation with a teacher who decided to go on strike
Last September, the public-school teachers in Seattle, Washington, voted to go on strike on the first day of school. The most high-profile reason for striking was the teachers’ pay: Between 1999 and 2012, salaries for public-school teachers in Washington declined by 4.5 percent.