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Here are news and opinion stories educators, advocates, policy wonks and makers are talking about today:
News and Analysis
A survey of more than 500 district superintendents and administrators from 48 states shows that most of the local K-12 leaders are firmly behind the Common Core State Standards. But it also finds general sentiment that the standards are being implemented too quickly, that strict accountability based on the standards needs to slow down, and that there’s insufficient support to make sure the transition to the standards goes well. (Education Week)
Maryland
As we celebrate another notable anniversary of the civil rights era – Thurgood Marshall’s 1954 victory in the five cases we know, collectively, as Brown v. Topeka Board of Education – we should take a moment to thank Harry and Eliza Briggs and their neighbors in Clarendon County, S.C. Their efforts to assure that Clarendon County’s Black children were provided a school bus, just as were Caucasian children, were the foundation for Briggs v. Elliott, one of the five Brown cases and the beginning of the end for legally-sanctioned, public school segregation in this nation. (Afro)
New Jersey
New Jersey education officials have moved to return some aspects of local control to two of the state’s largest state-run school districts. (Philly.com)
It’s been a while since we’ve updated readers on states adopting the Next Generation Science Standards, so here’s the latest from what I can tell: New Jersey may well be the next to adopt. (Education Week)
New York
New York City teachers have approved a nine-year labor contract, their union announced on Tuesday, a deal that raises pay by 18 percent but leaves questions about the future of their health benefits. (New York Times)