Beth’s Briefings (8-22-16)

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

 

In the past several years, more than 100,000 children from Central America have fled the violence and poverty of their home countries to travel north—often all alone—for the chance at a better life in the United States. (The Atlantic)

 

Online higher education continues to grow in popularity, and a deeper dive into data offers insight into the types of online programs where students are flocking. About 5.8 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2014, according to a report released earlier this year from the Babson Survey Research Group, an organization that explores trends in education. (U.S. News)

 

Donald Trump said a few things recently about education that are, well, perplexing. One set of comments left anyone who knows anything about the past few decades of public education reform  wondering how much the Republican presidential nominee knows about it, while the other raised questions about where Trump is getting education policy from — besides his daughter, Ivanka. (The Washington Post)

 

Fueled by their fury over cuts to K-12 budgets, low pay, and an array of other grievances, a scrappy group of teachers is attempting to upend Oklahoma’s political establishment this election season. (Education Week)

 

Kristyn Ferguson, a first-year teacher at Deer Park Middle Magnet School in Baltimore County, has spent a week turning her classroom into a vibrant place to teach drama. She rolled out a black plastic sheath on the floor at the front of the room to serve as a stage and painted one wall black. She covered a mirror on the wall so her students can learn to express emotion by instinct and unselfconsciously. (The Baltimore Sun)

 

Twenty-two districts across a vast swath of southern Louisiana were forced to close last week by a historic flood, delaying or interrupting the start of the school year for tens of thousands of children. Although some districts remain closed indefinitely — and the superintendent of one hard-hit district is living in an emergency shelter — the majority plan to welcome students back within the next two weeks, according to John White, the Louisiana state superintendent. (The Washington Post)

 

Chicago is a city with a rich black heritage. And the South Side, fondly dubbed the “heart of black America,” is where much of the city’s cherished history emanates. Comprising a mix of poverty-stricken, working-class, and upper-income black residents, the South Side can lay claim to the country’s first black woman senator, the nation’s first black president, and various black elites. Chicago also holds the inglorious distinction of being one of the country’s most segregated cities. This is also the South Side’s legacy—and it encompasses its public schools. (The Atlantic)

 

First a delivery truck plastered with pictures of smiling children started making the rounds of the northeast San Fernando Valley last spring. Then came a billboard on Van Nuys Boulevard for the same 90-year-old product: a Los Angeles public school. (Los Angeles Times)

 

When the NAACP called for a moratorium on charter schools and the Movement for Black Lives, a sub-group within the Black Lives Matter movement, announced its opposition to charter schools, some African-American supporters of both groups found themselves perplexed. Among the most vocal about their strong disagreement are community leaders and education reformers who say moving backward on school choice will hit hardest at the minority students those groups claim to represent. (Watchdog.org)