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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sat down with me on April 11 for a wide-ranging interview, including a discussion of the waivers President Barack Obama’s administration has granted to states under the No Child Left Behind Act, criticism of the Common Core State Standards, and challenges involving the legacy of the administration’s Race to the Top program. He also outlined his agenda for the next couple of years. (Education Week)
Annaly Lopez moved to Harlem two years ago when she and her young daughter Renee got a great deal on an apartment. But there was a catch: Her new building was zoned for P.S. 149, a notorious elementary school where 82 percent of third graders failed the state achievement tests and violence among students is common. (Reason)
Anxious students — not to mention their parents — can get a heads-up for how the redesigned SAT might look in two years. (NPR)
States and districts would be encouraged to help grow high-quality charter schools—and ensure that they enroll and retain English-language learners and students in special education—under a bipartisan bill approved overwhelmingly by the House Education and the Workforce Committee last week. (Education Week)
New York
As negotiations drag on over a new contract for the city’s teachers, one sticky issue involves how to handle teachers who lost permanent jobs during cutbacks but keep getting full paychecks as they bounce around schools for brief stints, filling in for absent staff. (New York Times)