March 24, 2016

Delaware

Delaware 105.9
Cape Henlopen schools superintendent pleased with referendum results
Reaction to Wednesday’s Cape Henlopen school district referendum vote, where support from voters was nearly three to one in favor of the proposal. Voters in the Cape Henlopen school district showed heavy support Wednesday for a $48 million property tax referendum. School District Superintendent Robert Fulton says he’s grateful to the voters: “We have a lot of work to do,” Fulton says. “We’re growing, we have aging buildings. We were looking to convey that message to the public.”

Delaware Public Media
Two of three school referendums pass on “Super Wednesday” in Delaware
“Super Wednesday” for school tax referendums in the First State brought good news to two of the three districts seeking tax hikes. Voters in the Christina and Cape Henlopen School Districts said “yes” while residents in Brandywine rejected their proposal by less than 200 votes. The third time was the charm in Christina – but just barely.  After rejecting two referendums last year, voters there OK’s a plan to raise $16.2 million.

Department of Education
Arts educators prepare to shift to new standards
Arts educators in public schools and in community and cultural institutions across Delaware will collaborate this summer to study the state’s new arts standards and begin aligning classroom instruction to the new standards. The State Board of Education adopted the new, teacher-developed arts standards last week. They replace the standards that have been used to guide instruction in arts classrooms for the past 20 years for dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts.

Newark Post
Voters narrowly approve Christina referendum
After two failed tax referendums last year, voters in the Christina School District approved a tax increase on Wednesday night by less than 150 votes. The proposal, which will raise taxes 30 cents per $100 of assessed property value or an average of $192 a year, passed by a vote of 6,770 to 6,625. The tax increase is expected to bring in about $16 million to the district, which last year cut $9 million from its budget in reaction to the previous referendum defeats.

The Milford Beacon
State puts brakes on new test educators aren’t ready
The Delaware Department of Education has postponed a new standardized test. The test, aligned with the state’s new science standards, was to be released during the 2016-17 academic year. Educators said they need more time to learn new standards. Michael Watson, chief academic officer for the Department of Education, said the state is giving teachers more time to understand the Common Core aligned Next Generation Science Standards.

The News Journal
Christina, Cape win referendums; Brandywine fails
After two failed attempts last year, Christina School District’s third try at a referendum narrowly passed Wednesday night. Cape Henlopen also got a referendum passed on Wednesday, by a wide margin, but the Brandywine School District failed to get its referendum through. All three districts went to voters in order to collect more money through property taxes – Christina was asking for a 21 percent increase to fund its regular operating budget.

National

Education Week
Federal grants boost N.C.’s “early college” high school push
The students bent intently over their desktop computers at East Surry High School on a recent afternoon weren’t all working on the same lesson, or in the same course—or even as part of the same school. Senior Ben Chilton sat in a corner, reading for an online political science class at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, while a handful of other students were earning credits at East Carolina University in a classroom in an online community in which students and teachers are represented by avatars.

Newsworks
Without fiscal code, will budget deal be lifeline or loss for Pennsylvania schools?
Major questions remain about the details of Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision Wednesday to end the state’s historically protracted budget impasse — particularly when it comes to funding for public schools. Almost nine months beyond last year’s budget deadline, Wolf has agreed to allow a $6 billion supplemental spending plan passed by the Republican-held General Assembly to go into effect at the stroke of midnight Monday.

The Kansas City Star
Kansas lawmakers reject efforts to repeal Common Core
Kansas House members rejected a proposal that would have repealed Common Core standards for math and reading education. They voted 44-78 against the measure Tuesday, following a debate of more than three hours. Under the proposal, school districts would have been forbidden to use any national curriculum in tests, programs and materials.

The Washington Post
New York is in for a sea change in education policy. Here’s what and why.
Something big has happened in New York, something potentially huge. A new education chancellor was named, and, on April 1, a new direction for public schools could start to be forged. In this post, Carol Burris, a former New York high school principal who is now executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education, introduces you to the new chancellor and analyzes the legacy of the one who is soon departing.

WBEZ
CPS sues state commission over charter school closures
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool filed a lawsuit against the Illinois State Charter School Commission, challenging the commission’s ruling that three Chicago charter schools can stay open. In November, CPS board members had voted to close Amandla, Bronzeville Lighthouse and Betty Shabazz-Sizemore, citing continued poor performance. But the Charter School Commission said it would keep the schools open because the district didn’t follow its own policy.