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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
Chicago Teachers Give Notice of Possible Deadline for Strike
As parents here prepare to send their children back to school next week, the union representing Chicago Public Schoolsteachers gave a 10-day notice on Wednesday of its intent to strike, the next legal step in a series of maneuvers amid continuing contract bargaining with the city. “C.P.S. seems determined to have a toxic relationship with its employees,” Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said at a news conference announcing the move. “We have been belittled, bullied and betrayed by this administration.” (New York Times)
Teachers union vows to fight imposed evaluation system
The Boston Teachers Union threatened legal action against the School Department on Tuesday if it unilaterally implements a new teacher evaluation system that could quicken the dismissal of unsatisfactory teachers. The union told the School Department in a letter that it was “dismayed” the department would impose the new system on Sept. 4 without the union’s consent and said it may pursue the matter with the state Department of Labor Relations. (Boston Globe)
African-American Males in Policy Spotlight
An African-American teenager recently told William R. Hite, Jr., the incoming schools superintendent in Philadelphia, that there are more adults working in his high school who could arrest him than could help him fill out applications for college financial aid. That story, shared Monday with an audience of educators, advocates, and state and federal policymakers, punctuated an issue of increasing concern: the persistent vulnerability of black boys. (Education Week)
Detroit’s Education Manifesto
Excellent Schools Detroit is a non-profit organization that supports the Excellent Schools Detroit coalition. The coalition includes leaders of Detroit’s school systems, philanthropic partners, grassroots and civic organizations, as well as those in the business community. Together we are pursuing an audacious goal of “90/90/90.” The three 90s call for Detroit to be the first major U.S. city where 90 percent of students graduate from high school, 90 percent of those graduates enroll in college or a quality postsecondary training program, and 90 percent of those enrollees are prepared to succeed without remediation. Although those goals are focused on results at the end of schooling, to reach them our coalition works on issues impacting children from birth through adulthood. (Huffington Post)
Minnesota:
New Minn. schools performance ranking to be released today
Detailed information released today will show Minnesota educators how students are performing academically, as well as ranking the state’s public schools on several measures. As part of a report being released from the state Department of Education, the data will identify which schools need to make improvements and mark a shift in how the performance of Minnesota students and their schools are measured.
Called Multiple Measurement Ratings, or MMR, it represents the alternative that state officials presented to the U.S. Department of Education when they asked to opt out of the requirements of No Child Left Behind. (Minnesota Public Radio)
Pennsylvania:
Pittsburgh schools start to roll out equity plan
Pittsburgh Public Schools is starting to put into place a new equity plan aimed at closing the racial achievement gap, beginning with Pittsburgh Perry High School on the North Side and Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood. The lessons learned at those schools will be applied at other schools, urban sociologist Pedro Noguera said at a school board workshop Monday. Mr. Noguera, an education professor at New York University, was called in to help the district develop an equity plan and work with certain schools. “The district has made progress but, we know, not enough,” said schools superintendent Linda Lane. (Education Views)