Beth’s Briefings (2-24-15)

Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:

 

2016 is shaping up as an awfully tough time to be a governor and run for president. Caught between legal mandates to balance their state budgets and the prospect that raising taxes could derail their national ambitions, several Republican state executives eyeing White House bids are proposing deep budget cuts this month to square their state finances. The moves threaten to damage their standing at home, upset some GOP allies and cause a distraction as they ramp up for presidential campaigns. (Politico)

 

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is blasting House Republicans’ effort to rewrite the federal No Child Left Behind law, saying that the bill — which is expected to pass easily along party lines — would be “devastating” for minority children in the nation’s poorest schools and school districts. (Washington Post)

 

Research shows that missing school in the crucial early days of school leads to problems later on. In Los Angeles, educators are working to raise kindergarten attendance. (NPR)

 

The sponsor of a bill passed by the New Jersey state Assembly to curb the use of the tests aligned with the Common Core standards said he has never received more concern about any other issue in his 14 years as a lawmaker. (Breitbart)