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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
A new report released by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, examining the disciplinary practices of the country’s 97,000 public schools, shows that excessively punitive policies are being used at every level of the public school system — even against 4-year-olds in preschool. This should shame the nation and force it to re-evaluate the destructive measures that schools are using against their most vulnerable children. (New York Times)
We already have a market in education: the real estate market. Controlling for other factors, houses in districts with higher-performing government schools are more expensive than those in areas with lower-performing schools. In 2012, the Brookings Institution issued a report finding that in “the 100 largest metropolitan areas, housing costs an average of 2.4 times as much, or nearly $11,000 more per year, near a high-scoring public school than near a low-scoring public school.” The report also found that “the average low-income student attends a school that scores at the 42nd percentile on state exams, while the average middle/high-income student attends a school that scores at the 61st percentile on state exams.” (Education Next)
New York
As the mayor tries to reset relations with the charter-school sector, he announced a working group Wednesday devoted to addressing the contentious issue of school space-sharing that will include the schools chancellor and the co-founder of a major charter school network. (Chalkbeat)
Top allies sued Mayor de Blasio Wednesday to overturn his decision to open 14 charter schools in city-owned buildings this fall. (NY Post)
Pennsylvania
When it comes to staffing teachers in Pennsylvania public schools, “last in, first out” is a strict rule. But Philadelphia is using the power of its School Reform Commission to waive the law that makes seniority the basis for hiring, firing and reassigning educators. (Pennsylvania Independent)