Beth’s Briefings (6-16-16)

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

 

During our coverage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, we’ve focused on English-language learners, students of color, and students from disadvantaged economic backgrounds, among others. But the law also makes some noteworthy changes for a group of students that often gets ignored—those being educated in the juvenile-justice system. (Education Week)

 

The Education Department on Wednesday recommended that the organization that accredits many of the nation’s for-profit colleges and vocational schools shouldn’t be recognized, a step that could threaten access to nearly $5 billion in federal financial aid for more than 800,000 students. (The Wall Street Journal)

 

The nation’s colleges and universities just finished a school year of extraordinary debate on questions about racial inequality, with activists demanding steps to make campuses more inclusive for minority students. (The Washington Post)

 

Organizers of a controversial educational reform effort that initially sought a massive expansion of charter schools in Los Angeles now say they will support any effective programs – including traditional public schools – to bring high-quality options to the 160,000 students they identify as attending failing public schools. (Los Angeles Times)

 

Three major reform groups today are out with a set of recommendations addressing the chronically underperforming and troubled virtual charter schools sector, which is mostly controlled by for-profit entities. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 50CAN and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers write, “To be clear, our organizations support full-time virtual schooling … Unfortunately, the results clearly show that significant problems exist within this part of the charter school movement. Left unchecked, these problems have the potential to overshadow the positive impacts this model currently has on some students.” (Politico)