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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
Seeking Better Teachers, City Evaluates Local Colleges That Train Them
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used data to rate restaurants, track the repair of potholes and close lackluster schools in New York City. Now he is bringing his results-oriented approach to an area far outside his usual purview: teacher colleges. (New York Times)
DCPS and union leaders strike collegial tone in welcoming new teachers
Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Elizabeth Davis, the new Washington Teachers Union president, struck a collegial and cooperative tone Wednesday morning at an orientation for new D.C. Public Schools teachers. (Washington Post)
New York:
New York City Teacher-Training Programs Analyzed
In what officials called a first-of-its-kind effort in the nation, the city Department of Education released reports Wednesday on colleges that educate the city’s public school teachers. (Wall Street Journal)
An uphill climb toward online testing awaits New York schools
Political and logistical impediments could thwart New York’s participation in a multi-state consortium formed to improve the quality of standardized tests. When New York adopted the Common Core learning standards in 2010, education officials also committed to participating in a federally funded consortium that would produce a computer-based assessment system tied to the standards. (Gotham Schools)
Pennsylvania:
No solution yet as Philly schools deadline looms
Another day, another news conference, and still no solution in sight for finding the $50 million the school district says it needs to open schools Sept. 9. Just as Mayor Nutter, City Council President Darrell Clarke and state lawmakers from Philly gathered yesterday to call on the Corbett administration to release a $45 million grant for Philly schools, the governor’s budget secretary issued a statement saying that ain’t happenin’ – at least not until the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers agrees to a contract with “substantial progress toward achieving the fiscal savings and academic reforms.” (The Philadelphia Enquirer)
Philly superintendent seeks to suspend seniority
The leader of the city’s struggling school system wants to suspend rules that require laid-off workers to be rehired based on seniority, a move the teachers union said it would fight. (Education Week)