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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
National
From the classroom to the campaign trail: Emboldened teachers run for office
One recent afternoon, reading teacher Karen Mallard settled into a kindergarten classroom at Greenbrier Primary School in Chesapeake, Va., as young readers worked through a book about pets. Then, she headed home to brush up on Iran nuclear policy. Mallard has been leading a double life for the past several months, spending her days helping young readers and then heading to a faculty bathroom to change into a suit when the afternoon bell rings so she can hit the campaign trail. Mallard, who calls herself the “Teacher for Congress,” is running a campaign for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. (The Washington Post)
A Third of Students Need Eye Exams, Study Finds
Despite the spread of nearsightedness among U.S. schoolchildren, nearly 1 in 3 has not had a vision screening in at least two years, according to a new Education Week Research Center analysis of federal data, and research suggests several ways schools may help reduce children’s risk of bad eyesight. Myopia, or nearsightedness, means that a person has good vision for close objects but difficulty seeing things farther away. The problem, caused when the eyeball grows too long from back to front, can in more severe cases mean that a student cannot see clearly even a foot in front of her face. (Education Week)
The Trump Administration’s Approach to School Violence Is More Style Than Substance
On Thursday President Trump met with residents of Santa Fe, Texas, including family members of students killed in the shooting at the town’s high school last month. The hour-long conversation on Houston’s Coast Guard base was closed to the press, and Trump left without giving comment, heading immediately to a $5,000-a-plate Republican fundraising luncheon at the St. Regis Hotel. The only thing that was evident was that he’d started his day off in high spirits: “We are going to have a little fun today,” he told a gaggle of reporters that morning before boarding Air Force One near Washington, D.C. (The Atlantic)
States
Delaware
State announces annual free, reduced price meal policy
The Delaware Department of Education announces the U.S. Department of Agriculture policy for free and reduced price meals for children unable to pay the full price for meals served under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and After School Snack Program. Each participating school and its administrative office has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by any interested party. (Delaware Department of Education)
New Jersey
Camden let families choose charter or district schools under a single enrollment system. Here’s what happened
Like parents across Camden, Veronica Ramirez had a choice to make. Preparing earlier this year to enroll her son in kindergarten, Ramirez initially hoped to send him to an elementary school run by KIPP, a charter-school operator. But when she visited the school on a bus tour, she decided the environment might overwhelm her son, who has special needs. She preferred a school operated by Mastery. (The Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News)
New Mexico
Teachers: APS plans to cut special ed at Hoover
For kids living with autism, change is extremely difficult. Routine is ideal and safe. But a change teachers say is planned by Albuquerque Public Schools would mean a big swap in some middle schoolers’ life: a new school. Hoover Middle School teachers say they were told Hoover’s special education program would be dissolved in the 2019-20 school year, and the students will have to move to Hayes and Madison middle schools. (Albuquerque Journal)