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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
You’d think an effort to improve school standards and promote higher expectations for students — adopted by 45 states, embraced by the business community, and endorsed by governors and education reformers from both parties — would be about as controversial as motherhood and apple pie. (USA Today)
New Jersey
An event next month for Community Options, Inc. will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the organization’s founding and honor Governor Tom Kean, Sr., a was an advocate over 25 years ago for bringing individuals with developmental disabilities out of state institutions into small group homes. (Politicker NJ)
New York
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration publicly has maintained confidence in its ability to quickly expand quality pre-kindergarten programs in New York City and touted its strengths, including a precedent of high-quality city programs to build on and ongoing cooperation among city agencies to open new pre-k classrooms by September. (WNYC)
North Carolina
Two North Carolina districts have won a temporary freeze from a 2013 state law that phases out tenure in favor of shorter-term contracts. (Education Week)
Rhode Island
Effective and highly effective teachers no longer have to undergo yearly classroom observations but still have to complete every other aspect of the evaluation process, the state commissioner of education announced Wednesday. (Providence Journal)