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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
National
Trump Ed. Dept. Gives States, Districts Extra Time on ESSA Financial Transparency Requirement
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her team are giving states and districts an extra year to comply with new financial transparency requirements in the Every Student Succeeds that are aimed at shining a light on how much schools spend on each student. And at least one key civil rights group is unhappy about the delay. (Education Week)
The School Voucher Research Wars
When researchers released new studies on the effectiveness of private school voucher programs in Louisiana and Indiana this week, advocates and opponents of such policies were quick to parse the findings and plant a victory flag for their respective causes. The president of the 1.5-million member American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said the findings from Indiana showed “negative or negligible results for student outcomes.” (U.S. News & World Report)
State
Florida
Historic Achievement: No ‘F’ Graded Schools In Miami-Dade County
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is celebrating an historic achievement in performance grades released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Education. There weren’t any schools in Miami-Dade County that received an ‘F’ performance grade for the very first time. (CBS Miami)
Hawaii
Hawaii Part-time Teachers, Subs Lose Legal Battle For Millions In Back Pay
In a unanimous decision, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that substitute and part-time teachers who worked in Hawaii between 2000 and 2012 were not entitled to the $56 million in back pay and interest that they were seeking. The ruling likely brings an end to a long-running legal fight on behalf of the 28,000 subs and part-timers who taught during that period. In two class-action lawsuits, the teachers had claimed the state Department of Education violated a 1996 equal pay law by paying them less than certain teachers. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
Maryland
Maryland board approves new rating system for schools
Every public school in Maryland will be judged on a five-star rating system beginning next school year, under a plan the state school board approved Tuesday. The rating system, which will award one star to the lowest performing schools and five stars to the highest performing, is designed to give parents and others a simple guide to the quality of a school. (The Baltimore Sun)
New York
Report Finds No Challenge for City in Plan for Diverse Schools
New York City’s Department of Education released a plan this month to make its schools more racially and socioeconomically integrated, and it highlighted two goals as a barometer of its commitment, inviting critics to hold it to account. An independent report released on Wednesday said meeting those goals would require no significant changes. Instead, it said, existing trends could continue at similar rates, and the goals would be reached. (The New York Times)
Tennessee
Nashville schools board shoots down charter school resolution
A resolution brought before the Nashville school board that focused heavily on advocacy and respect for charter schools and their families didn’t garner enough votes to pass at Tuesday night’s meeting. The resolution, introduced by Board member Mary Pierce, was tabbed as a way for the board to recommit to its policy to “advocate for the organization and all of the students it serves.” (The Tennessean)