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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News & analysis:
House Passes Partisan NCLB Rewrite, But Rocky Road Still Ahead
After two days of partisan debate on an issue that used to bring Democrats and Republicans together in a kumbaya chorus, the House of Representatives passed a GOP-only reauthorization of the long-stalled No Child Left Behind Act. (Education Week – Politics K-12)
Chicago Schools Hit With New Round Of Layoffs
Chicago’s school district is laying off 2,000-plus workers, more than 1,000 of them are teachers. These layoffs are in addition to 855 employees who were laid off in June because of the decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program. Chicago Public Schools is blaming this round of layoffs on the schools’ $1 billion budget deficit and the lack of pension reform. (NPR)
Down in the Delta, Outsiders Who Arrived to Teach Now Find a Home
If you are from around here, you know Doug Friedlander is not. Doug Friedlander at his Chamber of Commerce office in Helena. A New York native, he arrived in 2004 to teach high school science.
Born in New York City and reared on Long Island, Mr. Friedlander is Jewish and vegetarian and has a physics degree from Duke. (New York Times)
Change Agent in Education Collects Critics in Connecticut Town
Paul G. Vallas, a leader in the effort to shake up American education, has wrestled with unions in Chicago, taken on hurricane-ravaged schools in New Orleans and confronted a crumbling educational system in Haiti. (New York Times)
Law on Racial Diversity Stirs Greenwich Schools
Just a few minutes’ drive from the polo fields, the fieldstone walls guarding 10-acre estates and the Greenwich Country Day School, from which the elder George Bush graduated in 1937, is far denser terrain, where the homes are smaller and closer together and part of a public housing complex that seems escaped from New York City. (New York Times)
View Point:
It Starts With Hiring
As a veteran teacher, I hear a lot about the importance of providing our students with 21st century skills. I’m often left scratching my head every time I watch our schools employ antiquated practices when it comes to setting themselves up to be successful. (Eduwonk)