June 24, 2015

Delaware News

The News Journal
Delaware House passes opt-out bill after see-saw drama
In a see-saw drama, the state House of Representatives first rejected but then revived the controversial bill to allow parents to opt out of the state standardized test Tuesday. That means one of the most fiercely debated bills of this legislative session ping-pongs back to the Senate.

Delaware First Media
Opt-out bill still alive, returns to State Senate
The legislative rollercoaster that is the opt-out bill continues to ride the tracks with House lawmakers first defeating, then passing it back to the Senate for a second time.

Auditor’s report highlights mismanaged finances at Dover charter school
A Dover charter school could face a criminal investigation after a report from the state auditor says the school mismanaged its finances for years.

National News

Chalkbeat Indiana
Indiana has seen a burst of new charter schools since 2011 law
The number of charter schools in Indiana has grown rapidly since a 2011 state law passed expanding authority to approve and oversee them to new sponsors, and the acceleration looks likely to continue over the next two years.

Times-Picayune
Some special education funding will change with Bobby Jindal’s OK
A controversial special education bill will become effective when Gov. Bobby Jindal signs it into law, the state Education Department’s attorney confirmed. The recent legal opinion is an answer to some educators’ questions.

Education Week
State chiefs group offers guidance on reducing testing
Last year, the national group that represents state education chiefs called on states to figure out ways to reduce the burden of testing on their schools. Now it’s following up with a framework that states can use to evaluate their assessment regimens and cut back where they can, and it announced that 39 states are working to ways to do that.

Senate Appropriators propose cutting Education Department by $1.7 Billion
Senate appropriators unveiled their fiscal 2016 education spending plan Tuesday afternoon, proposing to fund the U.S. Department of Education and its federal education programs to the tune of $65.5 billion, a $1.7 billion cut from fiscal 2015.