March 3, 2015
Delaware News
The News Journal
Lawmaker: Wilmington needs a high school
Rep. Earl Jaques, a Glasgow Democrat and chair of the House Education Committee, told Bond Bill lawmakers Monday that as long as there are studies on the future of education in the state’s largest city, financial planning for a new high school has to begin sooner rather than later.
UD’s Harker leaving for Philly Fed
Patrick Harker, whose 8-year tenure as president of the University of Delaware was alternately hailed and reviled, surprised members of the school’s community Monday morning by announcing his resignation to become head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Harker made his mark on UD
The News Journal Opinion
In his almost eight years with the university, President Harker oversaw enormous changes, some of which will affect the school and Delaware for decades.
Voter fraud alleged in Red Clay
Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, has asked Attorney General Matt Denn to investigate possible voter fraud in last Tuesday’s referendum to raise property taxes in the Red Clay School District.
Voters don’t understand strains on school budgets
Opinion by Representative John Kowalko
Last Tuesday the voters of Christina School District rejected CSD’s requests for operating revenues. A second referendum will be scheduled in the coming months. Unfortunately for the children and teachers in Christina there was much more misinformation and misunderstanding about the need for referendum approval than actual and accurate facts that supported the need for passage.
WHYY
UD president announces resignation
The Delaware chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement saying that although it had “differences” with Harker, “he has made many important contributions to the University of Delaware during his tenure as president.”
Delaware State News
Polytech sophomore triumphs at Poetry Out Loud
Twenty-three schools and more 2,000 Delaware students participated in the Poetry Out Loud program this school year. The state Poetry Out Loud competition is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition.
National News
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wolf strips Green of SRC chairmanship
Days after Bill Green defied Gov. Tom Wolf by voting to approve new charter schools, the governor stripped Green of his chairmanship of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. Marjorie Neff, a retired Philadelphia principal, will be the new chair of the five-member governing body of the Philadelphia School District. Green, a former city council member who will continue serving as a commission member, said he would fight the demotion in court.
The New York Times
New York City teachers’ union is closing portion of its Brooklyn Charter School
The New York City teachers’ union announced on Friday that it was closing the kindergarten-to-eighth-grade portion of a charter school because of students’ low scores on state tests, ending an experiment intended to prove that such schools could thrive even with strict labor rules.
The Washington Post
Contentious teacher-related policies moving from legislatures to the courts
Opponents of the nation’s teacher unions won a landmark victory last year in a California lawsuit that challenged tenure protections, a case that became the beginning of a national effort to roll back teacher tenure laws in state courts. Now the largest unions in the country are using a similar tactic, as teachers turn to the courts to fight for one of their most pressing interests: An end to test-based evaluations they say are arbitrary and unfair.
Colleges are trying to get students to make a course correction
Barely half of college students in the United States earn degrees within six years, and that is pushing up the amount of outstanding student debt in this country, estimated to be $1 trillion. Students who spend an extra year or two often finish up with crushing debt. And the dropouts are left with debt and dismal prospects of earning enough money to repay the loans.
Education Week
Hillary Clinton’s K-12 record could be campaign fodder
From her days as first lady of Arkansas—and in the White House—to her tenure as a U.S. senator and as Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton has a long record on education and children’s issues that could offer clues to what she might emphasize should she decide to run for president in 2016.
Confronting poverty’s challenges, a district regains academic footing
Superintendent Tiffany Anderson drew on community resources to alleviate obstacles to learning in the high-poverty Jennings, Mo., school district.