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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
One little-noticed provision in the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, seems to be raising some consternation in the teacher-prep field: a proposal to allow states to use federal teacher-quality funds to sponsor a new kind of teacher-preparation program. (Education Week)
Millions of teenagers in high schools nationwide are using a smartphone app to anonymously share their deepest anxieties, secret crushes, vulgar assessments of their classmates and even violent threats, all without adults being able to look in. (The Washington Post)
For the second time, the Supreme Court is hearing a white Texan’s challenge to the use of race in college admissions. Abigail Fisher has been out of college since 2012, but the justices’ renewed interest in her case is a sign that the court’s conservative majority is poised to cut back, or even end, affirmative action in higher education. (Associated Press)
Maryland
Less than 40 percent of Montgomery County students in grades 3 to 8 met or exceeded expectations on Maryland’s new standarized tests in math, earning scores that show they are on track for the next grade and eventual college readiness, according new state data. (The Washington Post)
New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that he would sign a bill that would allow private and parochial schools to hire security guards at a cost of nearly $20 million annually to New York City, drawing criticism from some of his usual allies, who called it a giveaway to religious schools. (The New York Times)
North Carolina
If you pull into Hertford County High School in northeastern North Carolina, pass the bus circle and the soccer fields, and continue to a patch of woods, you find three, cheerful, two-story apartment buildings. Knock on any door here and you’ll find the home of a teacher or employee of the local school district. (NPR)