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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
Rich and poor students don’t merely enroll in college at different rates; they also complete it at different rates. The graduation gap is even wider than the enrollment gap. (The New York Times)
“WE’RE doing Common Core in New Jersey and we’re going to continue. And this is one of those areas where I’ve agreed more with the president than not,” said Chris Christie, New Jersey’s Republican governor, in August 2013. The potential 2016 presidential candidate went on to criticise the “Republican opposition” to national education standards, calling it a “knee-jerk reaction” to anything the president likes. (The Economist)
The revised version of the SAT college entrance exam won’t be offered until March but students can start preparing for it Tuesday with a new, free online study program affiliated with the test. (The LA Times)
Following Google’s announcement last week of its new skill-based degrees in partnership with Udacity, the interest in online education continues. On Tuesday, online course marketplace Udemy said it has raised $65 million in new funding, though it declined to disclose its valuation. (Fortune)
On May 31, lawmakers approved House Bill 2804, which would extend to individual schools the state’s current method of giving letter grades to districts. The bill now heads to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, for his signature. (Education Week)
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is starting to clean house at a Chicago Board of Education that approved and defended the $20.5 million no-bid principal-training contract at the center of a federal investigation with a company that once employed former Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pennsylvania
Only 6 percent of students attending high-poverty schools in Allegheny County are going to schools that are breaking the link between poverty and low achievement. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)