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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
For years, Mark Racine, the technology director of the Boston Public Schools, and his team plodded through a cumbersome exercise at the start of each school year: transferring student roster information from school databases to the various learning apps that teachers wanted to use in the classroom. (The New York Times)
This past school year was the first time in history that racial and ethnic minority students outnumbered their white counterparts. The U.S. Department of Education has projected that by 2022, non-white students will make up 54.7 percent of the public-school student population, largely due to the national increases in U.S.-born Hispanic and Asian populations. (The Atlantic)
Former U.S. Secretary of State and White House contender Hillary Clinton has proposals to eliminate college-debt and expand universal pre-kindergarten. And two of her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, have also put out far-reaching proposals for significantly boosting access to higher education. (Education Week)
In 2010, Target set a goal of donating $1 billion for education by the end of this year. Last month, the retailer celebrated reaching that goal, having donated to schools both inside and out of the U.S. Now, Target says it will end its “Take Charge of Education” program next spring and shift to health and wellness initiatives as the focus of its cause marketing efforts. (Forbes)
Members of Seattle’s educators union voted Sunday to approve their contract deal with Seattle Public Schools, officially ending a strike that began nearly two weeks ago. (The Seattle Times)