Beth’s Briefings (6-25-15)

Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:

 

Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee were unsuccessful in several attempts to restore funding for federal education programs during Wednesday’s markup of a fiscal 2016 spending plan that would slash the current funding level for the U.S. Department of Education by $2.8 billion. (Education Week)

 

Last year, the national group that represents state education chiefs called on states to figure out ways to reduce the burden of testing on their schools. Now it’s following up with a framework that states can use to evaluate their assessment regimens and cut back where they can, and it announced that 39 states are working to ways to do that. (Education Week)

 

Jon Bullock was the principal of Redmond High School, in Redmond, Oregon, when he sat down at his kitchen table with colleagues eight years ago to hatch the beginning of an idea for what would become Redmond Proficiency Academy (RPA). (The Atlantic)

 

Powerful public-sector unions are facing another high-profile legal challenge that they say could wipe away millions from their bank accounts and make it tougher for them to survive. (Associated Press)

 

For nearly two decades, the federal government has barred for-profit colleges from relying entirely on its coffers for their revenues. These institutions tend to enroll disproportionately high percentages of low-income students, meaning they also rely heavily on the federal need-based aid those students receive. The rule, which was implemented in 1998, allows these institutions to take in no more than 90 percent of their tuition money in the form of such aid, which includes loans and grants. (The Atlantic)

 

Tennessee officials’ annual test-score announcement on Thursday will mark the end of an era. This year’s scores are the last for the multiple-choice tests known as TCAP that the state has administered for more than two decades. Next year, students are set to take a new exam that officials say will be a better measure of students’ skills. (Chalkbeat Tennessee) 

 

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a $167.6-billion budget Wednesday that added billions of dollars to public education. (The Desert Sun)

 

The backlash against public use of Confederate flags has built quickly since nine parishioners were gunned down inside a South Carolina church last week. (The Washington Post)

 

This time of year in the state Capitol, when bills that have been idle for months suddenly are awakened by the budget process, mysteries and conspiracy theories abound. (The Morning Call)