May 12, 2017
Delaware News
Coastal Point
Teachers, secretaries change contracts to help IRSD
Some Indian River School District staff won’t make as much money this year as they were originally entitled to. They’ve reduced their next three years of raises to help the district deal with budget shortfalls and impending state budget cuts. The teachers and secretaries in Indian River Education Association (IREA) agreed this week to spread next year’s pay raise over the next few years.
PCS students painting for the stars
Local elementary-school students’ artwork could someday be described as “out of this world,” as first-graders at Phillip C. Showell Elementary School were invited in April to paint the top of a sounding rocket. Around 4 feet tall, the nose cone would be attached to the top of a small rocket that carries experiments into the atmosphere, collects data and falls back to earth within 30 minutes.
The News Journal
Students spend the morning at Colonial’s Penn Farm
Sage Phillips crouched down in the middle of the field and steadied himself in the dirt. In one hand, the sixth-grader held a small trowel. In the other, he held a freshly uprooted tomato plant. “It’s pretty sticky,” he said of the upturned soil. He dug a hole, placed the fledgling tomato into it and then used his hands to gently pat the earth back around its base.
Newark Post
Christina School Board cuts 77 educator positions
In an attempt to deal with the dramatic reduction in state funding proposed by Gov. John Carney, the Christina School Board has cut 77 academic positions from district schools. The decision passed 4 to 2 on Wednesday, with Harrie Ellen Minnehan and John Young as the opposing votes. If the state legislature approves Carney’s proposal at the end of June, Christina will lose approximately $6 million but will have a one-time chance to recoup up to $4 million by raising taxes without a referendum.
Rodel Blog
The link between career/technical education and student success
Blog post by Jenna Bucsak, senior program officer at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
Just one career and technical education course above the average can boost a student’s odds of graduating high school and enrolling in a two-year college, according to a study by the Fordham Institute. It can also lead to a higher likelihood of college enrollment, employment, and better wages.
Digging Deeper: Why graduation rates don’t tell the whole story
Blog post by Jenna Bucsak, senior program officer at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware
It may be stating the obvious, but a high school diploma is not the sole determinant of student success. Instead, we usually need to examine a student’s entire academic career—from kindergarten through 12th grade—to get a picture of how well prepared they are to pursue their interests after high school.
National News
CBS Seattle
Washington State to license outdoor preschools
The state will set up a pilot program to license outdoor preschool and childcare programs under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. Inslee signed the measure Thursday. Senate Bill 5357 passed with strong support in both chambers. The legislation directs the state Department of Early Learning to set up a four-year pilot program to license full-time nature-based preschools or childcare programs that operate primarily outdoors.
Education Week
Pruning dead-end pathways in career and technical ed.
Warren County High School leaders knew they had a problem on their hands. Too many of their graduates were fixing lawnmower engines, a dead-end job in a declining industry, while right down the road, manufacturers were clamoring for workers with sophisticated technology skills to support the area’s booming automotive industry. This small-town high school decided to right that imbalance.
The Atlantic
How to recruit black principals
Principal Macquline King-Morris stepped out of the way of two lines of students heading to the Courtenay Language Arts Center gym. But the stream of elementary-school kids rerouted themselves to deliver hugs, high fives, and huge grins. Creating a pre-k-8 school where every student feels welcome is at the top of King-Morris’s list of priorities. With a student population that is 48 percent black, 35 percent Hispanic, 9 percent white, and 6 percent Asian, Courtenay is one of the most diverse schools in Chicago, a city known for its stark racial segregation, and King-Morris thinks about inclusivity a lot.
The Hechinger Report
Most colleges enroll many students who aren’t prepared for higher education
The vast majority of public two- and four-year colleges report enrolling students – more than half a million of them–who are not ready for college-level work, a Hechinger Report investigation of 44 states has found. The numbers reveal a glaring gap in the nation’s education system: A high school diploma, no matter how recently earned, doesn’t guarantee that students are prepared for college courses.
The Wichita Eagle
Lawmakers discussing ‘tax on a tax’ to pay for schools
A surcharge on personal income taxes to raise money to fund schools is among the ideas Kansas lawmakers have been discussing privately. A surcharge would effectively operate as a tax on a tax, with taxpayers paying an additional amount on top of their total income tax bill. Lawmakers described the idea as one among several potential options as they seek to coalesce around a plan that can solve the state’s budget shortfall and pay for increased spending for education.