EduClips: NYC Finance Watchdog Seeks Answers on ‘Renewal’ Program; LAUSD Interviews Finalists for Schools Chief — and More Must-Reads From America’s 15 Biggest School Districts
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EduClips is a roundup of the day’s top education headlines from America’s largest school districts, where more than 4 million students across eight states attend class every day. Read previous EduClips installments here. Get the day’s top school and policy news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for the
Top Story
PRE-K — About one-third of American 4-year-olds were enrolled in state-funded preschool programs in 2017, a sharp increase from the 14 percent enrolled in 2002, though spending on those programs and their quality hasn’t necessarily kept pace, a new report finds.
Enrollment is growing, but not fast enough, and it shouldn’t come at the expense of quality, said Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, which released its annual “State of Preschool” report Wednesday. Eleven states meet fewer than half of the institute’s 10 quality benchmarks, including factors like maximum class sizes and mandatory degrees and professional development for teachers. Those states include Texas, Florida, and California, which enroll some of the largest numbers of preschoolers. (Read at The74Million.org)
National News
TEACHER STRIKE — Possibility of Arizona teacher strike creates some confusion ()
TEACHERS — Here’s How the Public Views Teachers, Their Salaries, and Their Impact ()
INDIANA ELECTION — K-12 Education Policy Heavyweights Squaring Off in ‘Nasty’ Indiana GOP Senate Primary (Read at The74Million.org)
KENTUCKY — Kentucky education commissioner resigns; advocate for charter schools appointed ()
ESSA — State, Local Officials Tussle Over Who’s in Charge Under ESSA ()
CHARTERS — Internal memo offers candid postmortem of charter fight in Massachusetts ()
ESSA — ESSA Innovation: How 2 States and Puerto Rico Aim to Transform the Way They Assess Student Learning (Read at The74Million.org)
District and State News
NEW YORK — New York City’s finance watchdog demands answers on $600 million school turnaround program ()
CALIFORNIA — L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader ()
ILLINOIS — Supporters rally for gay teacher amid discrimination claim after he told first-graders about same-sex marriage ()
FLORIDA — Florida wants to delay new test-score rules; educators still worry about graduation impact ()
NEVADA — Teachers protest Clark County district’s decision to fight pay raises ()
CALIFORNIA — African-American students would get extra aid under California’s K-12 funding formula in proposal before Legislature ()
NEVADA — Letter to School Board alleging discrimination triggers inquiry ()
TEXAS — Andrew White to propose declaring an education emergency ()
NEW YORK — Pols, activists call for City Hall to fund homeless-student aid ()
ILLINOIS — Opinion: Here’s how area schools are working to hire more teachers of color, and why that matters ()
TEXAS — Tensions Escalate During Eaton High School Walkout ()
Think Pieces
ACHIEVEMENT GAP — Opinion: A Generation of High-Performing, Low-Income Students Is Getting Lost in the Crowd. Some Reasons Why — and What Can Be Done (Read at The74Million.org)
COMMON CORE — Education report card shows Common Core still fails U.S. students ()
SCHOOL FUNDING – I’m an Oklahoma educator who had become complacent about funding cuts. Our students will be different. ()
ED TECH — What Principals Really Think About Tech ()
DUAL-LANGUAGE PROGRAMS – Dual language charter schools attract the longest waiting lists in D.C. ()
Quote of the Day
“The problem with devolution and decentralization is that, by definition, you’re going to get a lot of variation … in terms of effort, political will, and the effectiveness of those efforts.” —Patrick McGuinn, political scientist at Drew University, on changes in federal education policy under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ()
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