Beth’s Briefings (7-2-15)

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

 

The Supreme Court’s decision to reconsider a challenge to affirmative action at the University of Texas at Austin has universities around the country fearing that they will be forced to abandon what remains of race-based admission preferences and resort to more difficult and expensive methods if they want to achieve student diversity. (The New York Times)

 

A nonprofit education foundation established by Jeb Bush has released a full list of donors dating back to its founding in 2007. The list comes a day after the former Florida governor released 33 years of tax returns. (The Washington Post)

 

Ronald Thorpe, president and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, died today after a battle with lung cancer. He was 63 years old. (Education Week)

 

Erica Oliver has worked for the Atlantic City School District for a decade, teaching first grade and a few reading programs. Early in her career, Oliver typically taught no more than four students at a time. The small classes meant that students who struggled could be easily targeted, lessons could be tailored to individual needs, and progress could be expedited, she said. Over the years, however, Oliver has seen her class sizes grow: first to 16 students, and then to 24 or 25 kids per class. She found it harder to manage her classroom, properly supervise reading groups, and encourage her students to complete projects efficiently. All of this slowed down the group’s collective achievement. (The Atlantic)

 

The legislative session that closed in the wee hours of Wednesday had some of the fiercest education policy debates Delaware has seen in years. (Delaware Online) 

 

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has vetoed a bill requiring the state’s education commissioner to have classroom and administrative experience, saying enshrining job requirements in state law could hamstring a governor’s ability to choose the best candidate. (Hartford Courant)

 

Before choosing Steve Zimmer as their new president, L.A. school board members gave him a lecture: He would need to build consensus, welcome those with differing politics and varying approaches to education, and speak for them as a whole. (Los Angeles Times)

 

A year after the city reduced the influence of test scores on grade promotion and summer school decisions, the number of students headed to summer classes has fallen to its lowest level in six years and the share of students held back a grade has declined by half. (Chalkbeat New York)