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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis:
‘Insiders’ Not Sanguine on Federal Teacher-Prep Regulations
Nearly two-thirds of the “education insiders” questioned in a recent survey are skeptical that the U.S. Department of Education “will take concrete steps to improve teacher preparation in 2013,” according to a release today from Whiteboard Advisors, a Washington-based consultancy. (Education Week – Teacher Beat)
Scott wants $2,500 raises for full-time public school teachers
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday proposed $2,500 across-the-board pay raises for all full-time public school teachers, a bold move that would help the pocketbooks of 168,000 educators but also shrink a small projected budget surplus and potentially pit one public employee group against others. (Tampa Bay Times)
California Governor Jerry Brown Decries Testing: “Distant Authorities Crack the Whip”
In today’s State of the State speech, (available here) California Governor Jerry Brown continued to blaze a path in a new direction on education reform. He explicitly rejected the dominant reform paradigm which closely manages schools through test scores, and embraced local control, which he argued for using a concept called “subsidiarity.” He also called for funding that recognizes the burdens poverty imposes on schools. (Education Week – Living in Dialogue)
Pennsylvania:
New report reveals a nearly 40% achievement gap in eighth-grade math
PennCAN: The Pennsylvania Campaign for Achievement Now today released its inaugural 2013 ‘State of Pennsylvania Public Education’ report revealing Pennsylvania is home to one of the widest achievement gaps in the nation.
At school-closings forum, young students worry about safety
The biggest fear for the young students who came out to the school-closings meeting at Overbrook High School on Tuesday night was clear: Would their safety be at risk? (The Notebook)
View Point:
Nicholas Kristof: For Obama’s New Term, Start Here
Point to a group of toddlers in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in America, and it’s a good bet that they will go to college, buy nice houses and enjoy white-collar careers. Point to a group of toddlers in a low-income neighborhood, and — especially if they’re boys — they’re much more likely to end up dropping out of school, struggling in dead-end jobs and having trouble with the law. (New York Times)