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Here’s what educators, advocates, wonks and policymakers are talking about today:
News & analysis
Obama urges students to set their sights on college
“I want all of you to set a goal to continue your education after you graduate,” Mr. Obama said to students at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington. “And if that means college for you, just getting into college isn’t enough. You also have to graduate. Our country used to have the world’s highest proportion of young people with a college degree,” the president said. “We now rank 16th. I don’t like being 16th; I like being No. 1.” (New York Times)
Federal government to grant money to successful charters
The new grant will give the largest share — nearly $10 million — to help build the KIPP network another 16 schools throughout the U.S. In New York City, the Success Charter Network, run by Eva Moskowitz, will receive almost $2 million to construct six new schools in New York. The network runs nine schools in the city. (Hechinger)
NEA hits the airwaves in support of Obama’s jobs plan
President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act may not have much of a shot in a Congress bent on reigning in spending, but the National Education Association is trying to give the legislation some momentum anyway. (Politics K-12)
Rhode Island: One-third of RI students proficient in science
Statewide, fourth-grade scores remained the same as last year, at 43-percent proficient; eighth graders improved by 3 points, to 25-percent proficient; and eleventh graders improved by 5 points, to 26 percent.There are now 15 elementary schools where at least 74 percent of the students achieved proficiency or above in science. But there are also 102 schools where only 24.4 percent or fewer students reached proficiency. (ProJo)
Minnesota: Alexandria voters OK property tax hike for new high school
Voters in Alexandria have overwhelmingly approved a property tax hike to pay for a new $65 million high school. Of the roughly 10,000 people who cast votes, 57 percent supported the measure. (MPR)
Minnesota: One-third of schools seek levy approval
With years of lagging state support behind them and seeing little chance of a turnaround in the future, about a third of Minnesota school districts intend to go to their taxpayers for help this fall, the Minnesota School Boards Association reported Wednesday. (SC Times)
New York: Buffalo schools to be aided by state consultant
State officials plan to appoint a “distinguished educator” to the Buffalo Public Schools to help the district turn around its low-performing schools. The educator will act in an advisory capacity to interim Superintendent Amber M. Dixon and sit as a nonvoting member of the Board of Education. (Buffalo News)
New York: Timeline sees naming of new superintendent by June
The Buffalo School Board on Wednesday informally adopted a timeline that would see the next permanent superintendent named by next June—after a search that board members vow will be far more transparent and inclusive than the one that resulted in the appointment of James A. Williams in 2005. (Buffalo News)
New York: How charter schools fared in NYC’s progress reports
The debate over the performance and value of charter schools is hardly going to be resolved with one new set of data, but it is worth looking more closely at how charters did in the city’s recent school progress reports. (School Book)
New York: Technology contractors accused of fraud
Aided by lax oversight and a personal connection, the owners of a technology firm stole at least $6.5 million from the city’s Education Department by vastly overstating how much they paid their workers and submitting false documents to city agencies, the special investigator for the New York City school system charged in a report issued on Wednesday. (School Book)
New Jersey: Appeals court ordered to hear Victory Gardens’ challenge of school formula
The state Supreme Court has ordered a state appeals court to hear Victory Gardens’ challenge to the formula used by the state apportioning the tax levy between the tiny borough and Dover after the two school districts merged. (Star Ledger)
New Jersey: State senator challenges department of education to reveal those who voluntarily select new charter schools
Citing possible conflicts of interest on the part of volunteer reviewers who helped select new charter schools, a New Jersey state senator filed a legal challenge to force the state Department of Education to turn over the reviewers’ names. (Star Ledger)
California: Second Los Angeles school suspected of cheating
Virgil Middle School’s misfortune brings to 23 the number of schools in California that have lost their important Academic Performance Index rating because of suspected cheating, other misconduct or mistakes by teachers. But in this instance, officials are concerned that the suspected actions of one teacher could cost the school a state grant worth more than $3.5 million over the next three years. (LA Times)
Opinion
Rick Hess explains where achievement gap mania came from
Reformers demanded that schools seek to do better by those hard-to-serve students who were too often passed over or ignored. So far, so good. But, as with so much else in schooling, a sensible and healthy impulse was stretched into caricature. (Straight Up)