June 11, 2014

Local News

The News Journal
Coalition wants school discipline changes
Out-of-school suspensions in Delaware are disproportionately affecting black, Hispanic and special-needs students, putting them on the fast-track to prison and setting them up for social failure, a group of Wilmington and New Castle County leaders and state activists say.

National News

Education Week
Gates Foundation backs two year accountability delay under Common Core
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced its support for a two-year moratorium on tying results from assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards to teacher evaluations or student promotions to the next grade level.

Survey says superintendents back Common Core, wary on implementation
A survey of more than 500 district superintendents and administrators from 48 states shows that most of the local K-12 leaders are firmly behind the Common Core State Standards. But it also finds general sentiment that the standards are being implemented too quickly, that strict accountability based on the standards needs to slow down, and that there’s insufficient support to make sure the transition to the standards goes well.

The Post and Courier
New state education standards will be ready as early as January
After approving a bill to replace the Common Core with homegrown education standards, South Carolina said those new standards will be ready by the time the General Assembly returns in January.

Chalkbeat Colorado
Launch delayed for new early childhood rating system
The state has backed away from its planned July start date for a new mandatory quality rating system for early childhood education and officials now say they are aiming for a November launch.

The Associated Press
California judge rules public school teacher tenure law unconstitutional
California’s tenure protections for public school teachers were ruled unconstitutional by a judge presiding in a lawsuit brought by nine students.

Teachers, pols: Change NYC high school admissions
The New York City teachers union says it has several state lawmakers who will help push a bill that would change the extremely competitive process for getting into eight specialized high schools.