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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
Selling the NCLB Act Rewrite to Conservatives
Now that a new version of the No Child Left Behind Act looks headed to the House floor next week, the bill’s sponsors, U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., and Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., are in full-on member-education mode, meeting with rank-and-file Republicans who may not be familiar with the key pieces of the bill—and may have campaigned on dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, which the bill wouldn’t do. (Want to see what kind of material they are distributing? You can find all the messaging right here.) (Education Week – Politics K-12)
Bridgeport Superintendent Is Ordered to Step Down
A Connecticut Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered that Paul Vallas must immediately step down as Bridgeport’s school superintendent while the city appeals a ruling that found him unqualified for the job. (Wall Street Journal)
Good Reads: Pre-k Costs and Teacher Eval
New First Focus report looks at the costs of pre-k or childcare on the private market relative to income and typical household expenditures for families at different income levels. (Education Week – Sara Mead’s Policy Notebook)
Tougher Requirements Ahead for Teacher Prep
A panel tapped by the national accreditation body for teacher preparation has finalized a set of standards that, for the first time, establishes minimum admissions criteria and requires programs to use much-debated “value added” measures, where available. (Education Week)
Rift Among Democrats Stalls Effort to Reverse Rise in College Loan Rates
A bipartisan Senate coalition on Wednesday blocked a Democratic proposal to retroactively cut interest rates on higher education loans in half, leaving any student loan rescue in doubt and laying bare divisions among Democrats about how to resolve the dispute. (New York Times)
North Carolina:
New report shows that only 31 percent of North Carolina 8th-graders are proficient in reading
CarolinaCAN: The North Carolina Campaign for Achievement Now launched today as an education reform advocacy organization with the release of its inaugural ‘State of North Carolina Public Education’ report. (CarolinaCAN)