posted on
Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
National
The Teachers Are Winning. What Does It Mean for the Profession?
The extraordinary wave of teacher strikes highlights these crucial but often forgotten facts: In number, teachers are the largest profession in the United States. And collectively, they have the power to demand and win changes to funding and salaries. It’s a stark reminder in an era characterized by diminishing labor influence. And yet political scientists, researchers, and labor-watchers say it’s tough to predict how teachers’ reawakened activism will continue to evolve. (Education Week)
Why So Many Gifted Yet Struggling Students Are Hidden In Plain Sight
Scott Barry Kaufman was placed in special education classes as a kid. He struggled with auditory information processing and with anxiety. But with the support of his mother, and some teachers who saw his creativity and intellectual curiosity, Kaufman ended up with degrees from Yale and Cambridge. Now he’s a psychologist who cares passionately about a holistic approach to education, one that recognizes the capacity within each child. He recently edited a volume of experts writing about how to reach students like himself: Twice Exceptional: Supporting And Educating Bright And Creative Students With Learning Difficulties. (NPR)
States
Delaware
Delaware school board election results announced
Voters took to the polls Tuesday to elect new school board members, participating in races held up and down the state. Typically, less than 2 percent of eligible voters participate in school board elections in Delaware. That leaves only about 7,000 people responsible for electing the officials who will shape school budgets and policy for almost 140,000 students and 9,000 teachers, said Atnre Alleyne, founder and executive director of the education advocacy organization DelawareCAN. The nonprofit’s campaign to boost voter turnout this year, called Who Runs Our Schools?, appears to have helped. Just over 8,600 votes were cast statewide. (Delaware Online)
Georgia
School Choice Legislation Signed into Law in Georgia
In a move to expand educational opportunity to thousands of additional children and families in Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal signed two school choice bills into law. House Bill 217 increases the cap on tax credit scholarships from $58 million to $100 million, meaning fewer families will be turned away from accessing a private school of their choice. House Bill 787 creates greater equity in funding for public charter schools. The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, released the following statement. (AFC)
New Jersey
Phil Murphy supports hearings on ‘unacceptable’ NJEA videos
Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he supports the state Senate’s move to hold hearings to investigate hidden-camera videos appearing to show local leaders of New Jersey’s top teachers union discussing protecting teachers accused of abusing students. Murphy’s comments came shortly after state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, announced the hearings, which have not yet been scheduled. “I don’t blame him,” Murphy, a fellow Democrat, said at an unrelated news event in Trenton. (NJ Advance Media)
New Mexico
Supreme Court verdict on textbooks expected this year
With a number of students in attendance, the New Mexico Supreme Court revisited a yearslong case Monday on whether state money should pay for textbooks for private schools. Plaintiffs argued that allowing the state to pay for the textbooks is unconstitutional because it puts state money toward a private entity that isn’t under the direct control of the state. The other side argued that the decision hurts rural areas, in particular, and discriminates against certain New Mexico residents by excluding them from receiving resources available to others. (Albuquerque Journal)
North Carolina
‘CMS vs. suburbs’: Town charter school movement spreads north of Charlotte
The push for town charter schools spread to Huntersville on Monday, when the town board voted 6-0 to ask for new taxpayer-funded alternatives to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Current and former officials cited decades of conflict between the northern suburbs and the countywide district, saying they’ve often been left with overcrowded schools and distrust of school board leaders. (Charlotte Observer)