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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
News emanating from the U.S. Senate these days centers on Republican determination not to give even a passing glance to any nomination that President Obama sends to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by the recent death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. What got less attention was the astounding pass the Senate education committee just gave to Obama’s nominee as the new education secretary, John King. (The Washington Post)
Closing the achievement gap between the United States’ disadvantaged students and the rest of our students has been the major focus of federal education policy since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. Compared to the countries with more successful education systems in the world, how is the U.S. doing? The answer is not very well. (The Atlantic)
President Barack Obama is launching a version of “take your child to work day” that’s focused on America’s science laboratories instead of its corporate workspaces. It’s part of Obama’s effort to encourage young people, especially girls and minorities, to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. (Associated Press)
It has been seven years since the organization known as TNTP released a seminal study that showed that fewer than 1 percent of teachers were rated “unsatisfactory” on annual evaluations. The report accelerated a nationwide movement to overhaul teacher evaluations to more accurately reflect the range of teacher performance in U.S. classrooms. (The Washington Post)
The Chicago Teachers Union will gear up to strike as soon as April 1, if Chicago Public Schools follows through on its threat to unilaterally cancel the 7 percent pension pickup it has made for decades, a top union official said Monday. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Diane Tavenner scanned the list of names a staffer at Summit Preparatory Charter High School had just handed her. She began to cry. They weren’t happy tears. Where many would see signs of success, Tavenner saw failure. (Los Angeles Times)
JerseyCAN in the News
There are more than 2,500 schools in nearly 600 school districts in the state of New Jersey. There are more than 1.37 million students enrolled in public schools in the state. There are more than 113,000 teachers charged with the future of these students. (myCentralJersey.com)