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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
National
Warren: It’s time to hold DeVos accountable
Betsy DeVos recently completed her 100th day as Secretary of Education, and the resistance to her agenda has spread across this country like wildfire. Last week, Secretary DeVos and President Trump’s Department of Education released a budget that would upend the student aid program and make it much harder for students to afford college and repay their student loans. At the same time, the head of the federal student aid office abruptly resigned amid reports of political meddling by DeVos. (CNN)
Most Americans Want To See More School Integration As Trump Destroys Existing Efforts
Over 63 years after Brown v. Board of Education made state-sanctioned school segregation illegal and set off a wave of controversial efforts to diversify districts, many schools have settled back into old patterns. Although the law no longer endorses it, schools are still divided along fault lines of race and class. And a majority of Americans today want this to change, at least in theory. (Huffington Post)
Improving accountability measurement under ESSA
Despite the recent repeal of federal guidelines for states’ compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are steadily submitting their proposals, and they are rightfully receiving some attention. The policies in these proposals will have far-reaching consequences for the future of school accountability (among many other types of policies), as well as, of course, for educators and students in U.S. public schools. (Fordham)
Kids In Rural Areas Need School Choice, Too
When someone mentions the phrase “failing school,” what image comes to mind? For most, it will be an urban school with a significant population of disadvantaged, minority kids. While this image is no doubt reasonable—many of the worst school districts in the country are urban—the problems of poor schools in other areas are too often forgotten. Particularly in America’s rural areas and small towns, performance doesn’t look all that different from central cities. (The Federalist)
State
Georgia
Georgia charter schools queried on low performances
Several of the state’s low-performing charter schools met with their authorizer, the State Charter Schools Commission, Wednesday to explain what they’re doing wrong and how they can improve. A half dozen schools were scheduled for performance reviews with the commission, which granted the charters and can take them away. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Maryland
6 Baltimore schools, no students proficient in state tests
A Project Baltimore investigation has found five Baltimore City high schools and one middle school do not have a single student proficient in the state tested subjects of math and English. We sat down with a teen who attends one of those schools and has overcome incredible challenges to find success. (Fox 45)
New York
Bronx, Queens get short end of stick when it comes to charter schools
Bronx and Queens parents have been woefully underserved by charter-school expansion despite growing demand, according to a new report. The New York Center for Charter Schools found that the northeast and central Bronx — along with Jamaica and Jackson Heights in Queens — host just 12 of the city’s 191 charter schools. Despite their sparse options, families in these sections accounted for 37,328 charter applications for next year, the report found. (New York Post)
Washington D.C.
Hot for Teachers
Eric Christopher is the kind of young, gifted, committed teacher that any principal would want to hire. A straight-A student from a public high school on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, he gave up a chance for an Ivy League education to take care of his sick mother and attend nearby Washington College, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 2006. He spent the next seven years at a public elementary school near his hometown, teaching the Spanish-speaking children of agricultural and poultry workers while earning a master’s degree in bilingual education. But opportunities to advance were mostly based on teacher seniority, the pay was low, and he was eager for a fresh challenge in a new environment. So, in 2013, he moved to the big city—Washington, D.C. (Washington Monthly)