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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
School Standards’ Debut Is Rocky, and Critics Pounce
The Common Core, a set of standards for kindergarten through high school that has been ardently supported by the Obama administration and many business leaders and state legislatures, is facing growing opposition from both the right and the left even before it has been properly introduced into classrooms. (New York Times)
NCLB Waivers in Kansas, Oregon, Washington at ‘High Risk’
The U.S. Department of Education is threatening to revoke No Child Left Behind Act waivers for three states at the end of the 2013-14 school year over their failure to come up with new teacher-evaluation systems tied to student growth. (Education Week – Politics K-12)
Critics Blast Away at California Districts’ Waiver
By awarding a No Child Left Behind Act waiver to eight California districts, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has embarked on an experiment that redefines the federal role in school accountability—and that is sparking criticism from across the political spectrum and questions about whether the new flexibility goes too far. (Education Week)
New York:
DOE Announces Plans For Three More Career Technical Education High Schools
In a few years, 2,000 city students will attend high schools that don’t just have grades 9, 10, 11 and 12, but also grades 13 and 14. The first of these schools opened in 2011 in Crown Heights. Two more open next month, and plans for more were announced on Thursday. (NY1)
Pennsylvania:
Mark Gleason, Jonathan Cetel, and Tony Payton Jr.: A way forward for district
schools open, the city lacks a viable financial plan for running safe, high-quality schools – because leadership, courage, and creativity are lacking on all sides. (Philadelphia Enquirer)
A City Borrows So Its Schools Open on Time
Just a month after Detroit became the largest American city to file for bankruptcy, and with major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles struggling, this former manufacturing behemoth is also edging toward a financial precipice. But here the troubles are centered on the cash-starved public schools system. (New York Times)