October 4, 2017

Delaware News

Office of the Governor
Governor Carney to Christina Board: Let’s partner to improve Wilmington schools
Governor John Carney on Tuesday met with the Christina Board of Education during a study session at Bancroft Elementary School to discuss a proposed partnership between the state and Christina School District to more effectively serve educators and students in Christina schools in the City of Wilmington.

The News Journal
DuPont grant supports William Penn’s agriculture education
Penn Farm, located behind William Penn High School, held a dedication of a pollination field on Tuesday with DuPont along to help celebrate a partnership to help students learn about food.

New fields, lab show DowDuPont’s commitment to agribusiness in Delaware
Krysta Harden grew up in a family of farmers in southwest Georgia. So walking around the fields at Penn Farm, showering wildflower seeds on the grounds near William Penn High School, Harden felt right at home. The DuPont vice president of public policy and sustainability officer was on hand Tuesday when DuPont and William Penn High School celebrated Agriculture Education Awareness Day in Delaware by dedicating a wildflower pollination field.

WDEL
Millennials and their money: Survey finds strong connection between education and financial well-being
A college degree still opens the door to financial security for millennials, if they can save for it or afford it. That’s according to a Wilmington-based company’s study. More than 3,000 people, between 22 and 35, were surveyed for Navient’s 3rd “Money Under 35,” a snapshot of how young adults feel about their financial health. The survey revealed that those young adults who had tried college but were unable to obtain a degree were most likely to have financial concerns – even more than those who had a high school diploma.

How to talk to your kids ‘when the talking gets tough’ and other tips for parents
Keeping the lines of communication open with children–it’s a must for parents in the wake of national tragedies like the Las Vegas country music massacre that left 59 people dead and injured hundreds. “It’s really unrealistic to think that you can shield your children from things happening in the news, happening around the world. I think one of the biggest mistakes we might make as a parent is to assume that the children don’t know about issues,” explained Dr. Debra L. Berke, director of the psychology program at Wilmington University, whose viewpoints align with research out of Purdue University entitled, Talking to Children When the Talking Gets Tough.

National News

Education Week
Trump taps Common-Core foe Mick Zais for No. 2 post at Ed. Dept.
President Donald Trump has tapped Mitchell “Mick” Zais, the former South Carolina chief state school officer and a vehement opponent of the Common Core State Standards, as deputy secretary, the number two position at the U.S. Department of Education. Trump ran on getting rid of the common core—something he doesn’t have the power to do. But it’s hard to imagine Zais cheerleading the common core from his new post.

Inside ESSA plans: How do states want to handle testing opt-outs?
Parents who opted their children out of state exams in recent years became the focal point of major education debates in the country about the proper roles of testing, the federal government, and achievement gaps. Now, under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states have a chance to rethink how they handle testing opt-outs. So how are states responding in their ESSA plans they submitted to the federal government?

Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe school board opposes new state science education standards
The Santa Fe school board has decided in a unanimous vote to oppose the state’s proposed new science education standards and is asking the New Mexico Public Education Department to adopt, instead, an already established set of guidelines created by a coalition of science teachers. Following the board’s 5-0 vote on the action during a public meeting Tuesday, Santa Fe Public Schools is one of the first districts in the state to formally voice opposition to the state’s standards, which have met with harsh criticism from educators, scientists and others since they were released last month.

The Virginian Pilot
There’s a growing racial disparity between teachers and students in Virginia schools, report warns
The lack of diversity among Virginia’s public school teachers is “significant,” and the state should take steps to hire more minority educators, a report presented Thursday to the state Board of Education said. Minority students comprise about 49 percent of the population, while only 21 percent of teachers are minorities, according to an analysis by the Task Force on Diversifying Virginia’s Educator Pipeline, a group the state created this year.

Vox
How Betsy DeVos is quietly erasing Obama’s education legacy
US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos came into the Education Department with a bold vision: that parents should be able to send their kids to school wherever they wanted, by way of government-funded vouchers. Nine months later, she’s made little progress on that goal. But her Education Department has made other, quieter changes that affect millions of students.