June 26, 2017

Delaware News

ABC 47
Program provides meals to children in need
First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney and the Delaware Department of Education are trying to spread the word to the public of the availability of free meals this summer for children in need. The Summer Food Service Program targets children in low-income areas to ensure they have nutritious meals during the summer.

Delaware Public Media
Generation Voice: A glimpse into Delaware’s alternative schools
The school year here in Delaware just ended and with it – another year of our Generation Voice youth media project at Mt. Pleasant High School in the Brandywine School. Over the next couple of weeks in Enlighten Me, we’ll want to highlight some of the work done by students there.

Delaware State News
No planning money for new Ennis school in Sussex
Indian River School District officials are counting on no planning money in the state’s fiscal year 2018 budget for a new Howard T. Ennis School. At the June 19 Indian River board of education meeting, district Director of Business Jan Steele told board members that Delaware’s Office of Management and Budget has notified the district that “we will not be getting planning money this next year as we anticipated. The state does not have those additional funds to grant us.”

Delmarva Now
Cape plans on raising tax rate
People living in the Cape Henlopen School District might be paying more in taxes next school year. At the Cape Henlopen Board of Education meeting on June 22, Superintendent Robert Fulton outlined the proposal to the board — 17.94 cents more for tuition. “It’s not something we want to do,” Fulton said. “But it’s something we need to do.”

Newsworks
‘I can sell’ non-referendum tax increase, Carney tells school leaders
Calling a feared backlash by voters an “inconvenient consequence,” Gov. John Carney urged a small contingent of upstate school officials Friday to levy a so-called “match tax” so districts can recoup up to $22 million of his $37 million in proposed cuts to education. Such a tax would cost the New Castle County property owner about $38, Carney told about 30 school board members and administrators at the Christiana Hilton near Stanton.

Rodel Blog
Digging Deeper: The shocking pervasiveness of ACEs and trauma among Delaware students
Blog post by Shyanne Miller, policy associate at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
Delaware kids are experiencing trauma at alarming rates. Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are alarmingly prevalent among Delaware’s children. One out of five kids in Delaware have experienced two or more ACEs. However, it’s not just low-income kids or kids of color that are afflicted. Trauma and ACEs impact all children, regardless of race, socioeconomic background, or ability.

Sussex County Post
School choice, capacity issues stir IRSD board concerns
School choice, school capacity and overcrowding are stirring serious concerns within the ranks of the Indian River School District board of education. Building principal recommendations to accept 48 or 63 school choice applications fueled discussion at the board’s June 19 meeting. It ultimately led the agenda item being tabled in lieu of further scrutiny and discussion.

The Dover Post
Community concerned about treatment of Cape LGBTQ students
About 80 people recently attended a meeting at CAMP Rehoboth to discuss the culture at Cape Henlopen schools and its effects on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning — those unsure of their sexual orientation — students. Many people voiced concern that LGBTQ students were being bullied and treated unfairly by both students and staff.

The News Journal
Preserve the positive momentum of our public schools
Opinion by Paul Herdman, president and ceo of the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
As we close in on the end of the legislative session, our elected officials have some hard choices to make. When it comes to our public schools, my hope is that they build on what’s working. The narrative on our public schools has been that better options exist over the state line in Pennsylvania, or at one of our private schools. That story is changing.

National News

Oregon Live
Oregon ranked best in country for educating homeless students
Homeless children in Oregon have a better chance of succeeding in school than their counterparts in any other state, according to a new ranking released Friday. The report by the New York City-based Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness found that Oregon ranked at the top when measuring how effectively school districts identify homeless children and enroll them in school.

PBS
White, wealthy communities are forming their own school districts
Currently, 30 states have laws that allowed geographic communities to break away from large public school districts and form their own. As a result, a growing number of predominantly white, middle class neighborhoods are doing just that and taking their local property taxes with them. That makes racial and economic disparities in adjacent school districts even worse.

The New York Times
School districts fight segregation on their own
The Trump administration made a terrible decision this spring when it killed a modest grant program that was intended to promote integration in this country’s profoundly segregated public schools. Fortunately, districts in scores of states — including Dallas, a segregated city with a lurid history of fighting desegregation — have recognized the dangers of racial and socioeconomic isolation and are taking steps to bring together children of different backgrounds.

The Texas Tribune
House education leaders won’t budge on school finance, private school choice
The top House education leader said Sunday that “private school choice” is still dead in the lower chamber. “We only voted six times against it in the House,” House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty said. “There’s nothing more offensive as a parent of a special-needs child than to tell me what I think I need. I’m prepared to have that discussion again. I don’t think [the Senate is] going to like it — because now I’m pissed off.”

U.S. News & World Report
Kentucky State wins grant to promote science, math education
Kentucky State University has been awarded a grant to work with high schools on science, technology, engineering, and math education. The university says the grant totals $147,469 over three years and comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. KSU says it will use the grant to offer short lectures and hands-on demonstrations to participating high school students.