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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to buy struggling education company Apollo Education Group Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. (The Wall Street Journal)
If you’ve spent time in a college or university any time in the past quarter-century you probably aren’t surprised to hear that professors have become strikingly more liberal. In 1990, according to survey data by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA, 42 percent of professors identified as “liberal” or “far-left.” By 2014, that number had jumped to 60 percent. (The Washington Post)
Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Monday he would slash funding for the Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency if he is elected president. (The Wall Street Journal)
When the Tennessee legislature reconvenes on Tuesday, lawmakers will officially kick off the second half of the 109th General Assembly, which began in January of 2015. The session’s first half was dominated by debate about Common Core as legislators voted to tweak the academic standards review process already under way. The General Assembly also temporarily altered the weight of test scores in teacher evaluations; gave districts more flexibility in counting standardized test scores in students’ grades; and passed a law that’s basically a voucher system for students with severe disabilities. (Chalkbeat Tennessee)
For months, a high-profile head-hunting firm searched the nation for a new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. On Monday evening, the Board of Education gave the job to a candidate who was part of the district all along: Chief Deputy Supt. Michelle King. (Los Angeles Times)
New York
As New York State officials met on Monday to consider changes to high school graduation requirements, the state announced that the graduation rate inched up last year, with New York City’s edging above 70 percent for the first time. (The New York Times)