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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
There have been 142 school shootings in the U.S. since 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012. Incidents were classified as school shootings when a firearm was discharged inside a school building or on campus, as documented in news accounts. Incidents in which guns were brought into schools but not fired, or were fired off school grounds after having been possessed in schools, were not included. (Los Angeles Times)
Soccer or lacrosse, Whole Foods or the farmers market, microbrew or Pinot Noir? Suburbanites tend to relish their many options for food and entertainment. At block parties, neighbors engage in hearty debates about the best place to vacation or the optimal car for shlepping one’s kids. So wouldn’t these very same parents—individuals who likely enjoy the privilege of choosing between a week on a beach or ski slope—want more choice when it comes to their children’s schools? (The Atlantic)
Puerto Rico’s economic outlook is not rosy at the moment. The island is sinking under the accumulated weight of roughly $72 billion in debt and a declining population as inhabitants flee to the mainland in search of better jobs and opportunities. (The Atlantic)
From the beginning, long before she attended the University of Pennsylvania on an academic scholarship, Carolyn Lynch saw firsthand the impact education could have on lives. Her father was an educator, and at different points had been her chemistry teacher and her school principal. She graduated in a high school class of only 40. (Boston Globe)
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson focused on signs of progress during her third annual State of the Schools event Wednesday night, including a recently released uptick in graduation rates, new investments in electives and college-level classes in the city’s high schools, and more engaging courses systemwide. (The Washington Post)
New Jersey
It was hailed as a breakthrough when the bargain was struck: Top-performing teachers in Newark could get bigger paychecks. The provision in a 2012 contract struck between the state-run school district and the Newark Teachers Union was the first of its kind in New Jersey, and it was made possible because of a massive donation intended to improve education in the city. (Huffington Post)
Pennsylvania
Two school closures, two new schools, three charter conversions, and up to three district-led turnaround schools. Those were among the proposals announced Thursday in Philadelphia as Superintendent William Hite presented updated plans for the school district’s future, one shaped by diminishing resources and the urgent need to improve school options for more students. (Education Week)