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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
The education community has been waiting all summer for the U.S. Department of Education to release proposed spending regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act. These rules would govern the ESSA requirement that federal funds be used in addition to (and not fill funding gaps left by) state and local education money. (Education Week)
With policymakers across the country increasingly worried about teacher shortages, one after another, state licensing authorities have been loosening certification rules. (Education Week)
Ellie Pline, a 17-year-old senior at Annapolis (Md.) High School, sets her alarm to ring three times starting at 5:30 a.m., with the last sounding at 6 a.m. That is so she makes it to class by 7:17 a.m., one of the earliest school start times in the country. (The Wall Street Journal)
The California Supreme Court last week upheld an appellate decision rejecting key contentions in Vergara v. California, the much-watched suit that argued the state’s teacher-protection laws make it nearly impossible to fire “grossly ineffective” teachers and thus pose a direct harm to students. But while the ruling put an end to the case, it’s not likely to resolve the battles over teacher tenure and other teacher job protections in the state or elsewhere. (Education Week)
In the field of education, success is too often an orphan while failure has many fathers. The stories of the high-performing charter-school networks featured in Richard Whitmire’s important new book, The Founders: Inside the revolution to invent (and reinvent) America’s best charter schools, provide a welcome antidote to the pernicious notion that high-performing schools for disadvantaged students are isolated flukes, dependent on a charismatic educator or the cherry-picking of bright students. Whitmire’s account reveals the secret of the sauce: What is it that schools can do at scale for children to close achievement gaps, even in the face of the real burdens of poverty? (The Atlantic)
Thirty-eight branches of the Los Angeles Public Library that offer homework help to poor and homeless students will receive a boost from a $1-million donation. (Los Angeles Times)
For decades, wealthy children have far outperformed poor ones in school, creating a chasm that researchers and advocates say only exacerbates society’s inequalities. (Los Angeles Times)