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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
There’s a little noticed provision in the Every Student Succeeds Act that could help states and districts use federal funding to expand or try out academic services for individual kids—including tutoring, credit recovery, expanded access to rigorous courses, and more, according to a new report from Chiefs for Change. (Education Week)
Good news for the class of 2016: companies are planning to step up their hiring of new grads. Employers expect to hire 5.2% more freshly minted grads this year than in 2015, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks college hiring. Last fall, companies on average predicted they would increase college hiring by 11%, but they pared those plans after 2016 got off to a rocky start. (The Wall Street Journal)
This winter, Jameria Miller would often run to her high school Spanish class, though not to get a good seat. She wanted a good blanket. “The cold is definitely a distraction,” Jameria says of her classroom’s uninsulated, metal walls. Her teacher provided the blankets. First come, first served. Such is life in the William Penn School District in an inner-ring suburb of Philadelphia. (NPR)
Unlike some other states, Alabama does not send extra money to districts that serve low-income kids or those that have limited income from local property tax dollars. That’s why, says principal Tramene Maye, at Livingston Junior High School in Sumter County, one former classroom leaks when it rains. Garbage cans catch some of the water, but the moldy smell and buckled floor prove they miss plenty. Around the school, it’s a similar story: broken windows, peeling paint, cracked floor tiles. Maye insists there just isn’t enough money to fix it all. (NPR)
New Jersey
After 25 years under state control, Paterson, N.J.’s school system this year regained local governance over a budget that is $32 million in the red this year, sparking criticism of New Jersey’s reign and a push to end such takeovers. (The Wall Street Journal)