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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
The top GOP Senate lawmaker for education criticized accountability proposals from the U.S. Department of Education that would require summative ratings for schools, saying such a requirement is not found in the Every Student Succeeds Act and would infringe on state autonomy. (Education Week)
After some 10,000 online tutorials in 10 years, Sal Khan still starts most days at his office desk in Silicon Valley, recording himself solving math problems for his Khan Academy YouTube channel. (NPR)
The Obama administration has agreed to forgive $171 million in student debt held by former students of the defunct Corinthian Colleges Inc., the toll of a for-profit school boom that is likely to grow as the government continues to investigate schools accused of fraud. (The Wall Street Journal)
Kaya Henderson is stepping down after more than five years as chancellor of the District of Columbia’s public schools, ending a long tenure that included improvements in standardized test scores but a stubborn achievement gap between black and white students. (Associated Press)
Republicans in Congress and across the country are facing a puzzle not unlike the ones that beset the stodgy nuns in the 1965 classic Sound of Music: How do you solve a problem like the Donald? The brash businessman’s comments seem to force fellow Republicans to respond to some new outlandish statement every day, such as his continued calls to ban Muslims or monitor mosques, or questions on the impartiality of a judge of Mexican heritage. (The Atlantic)
New York
While New York City’s public school students reflect the global ethnic and racial mix of the city’s population, their teachers do not. That discrepancy is especially acute for boys of color who make up 43 percent of the student population; only 8.5 percent of all New York City teachers are men of color, according to the Department of Education. (WNYC)