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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
How much have school closures from the Louisiana Flood of 2016 disrupted families? At least 22 of the state’s 70 public school districts closed because of flooding, with several others closing as a precautionary measure due to weather forecasts. (nola.com)
Superintendent Michelle King wants Los Angeles Unified School District officials to speed their efforts to create a “one-stop shop” where parents can browse and apply for all the district’s popular choice programs — like magnet schools, open enrollment and gifted programs — from a single website. (KPCC)
In November 2015, the Seattle School Board voted to delay school start times for high school students so they could get more sleep. At the time, board leaders called it a “historic moment” designed to prioritize student health over district logistics. The change made Seattle one of the largest districts in the country to delay school start times for teenagers. (Huffington Post)
The federal investigation involved one school district, one private special education subcontractor and one student. But advocates say they are hoping that the probe of the Oakland Unified School District, the Anova Center for Education Contra Costa and the education of 9-year-old Stuart Candell – which included a finding that Oakland Unified violated federal education law – will prompt districts everywhere to think twice before outsourcing the education of students with disabilities to private schools that routinely use harsh behavior control techniques. (EdSource)
Ted Mitchell, the under secretary of education and the top higher-education official at the U.S. Department of Education, talks often about the need for colleges to innovate so they can better serve adults, working people, and others he calls the “new normal students” of today. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
The Obama administration is rolling out an experimental plan that will allow employers and training programs to partner with accredited universities to teach students work-related skills. This pilot will enable students to receive federal financial aid for programs that are typically ineligible for these funds, like coding boot camps. (The Atlantic)