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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was back in Massachusetts Wednesday visiting Springfield Technical College to talk about the important role that community colleges play in job training. Ducan has been with the Obama administration since the very beginning, and with the upcoming resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder, Duncan will soon be one of only two original cabinet members left. (Radio Boston)
Albert Shanker, former president of the American Federation of Teachers, was a towering figure in the political history of 20th-century education. In a prescient speech at the National Press Club in March 1988, he outlined his vision of a new kind of public school, one that would spur innovation by letting groups of teachers form autonomous units within other public schools. They would have the freedom to try doing things differently, and if their methods worked, other teachers would adopt them. (Education Next)
Enrollment is up in both D.C. charter and traditional public schools this year, according to unofficial numbers released this week by officials from the D.C. Public Charter School Board and D.C. Public Schools. (Washington Post)
New York
The state approved 17 new charter schools for New York City on Wednesday, substantially increasing the size of one of the city’s largest and most polarizing charter networks, Success Academy, and setting up a battle over where the schools will be located. (New York Times)
Pennsylvania
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is vowing to fight a surprise move by the city school district to unilaterally cancel its contract and make changes to its members’ health benefits that would require union members to pay part of their health insurance costs for the first time. (Education Week)