Parents Defend Choice in AL, Common Core Wars, and More: Friday's Ed News Roundup
Friday's ed news
ALABAMA: Parents join a lawsuit to defend the state's new tax-credit scholarships.
CALIFORNIA: The second-largest school district tells voters it's cash-strapped but pays several hundred teachers for not teaching.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: After months of local activism, a school board decides 13-1 to repudiate Common Core and make its own education standards.
COMMON CORE: Jeb Bush tells opponents to stop spreading "conspiracy theories," while an associate says opponents “think it’s a secret plot controlled by red Chinese robots in the basement of the White House.”
NEW YORK: After canceling public Common Core meetings turned into a PR disaster, the state education commissioner is trying to come up with a new meeting format.
CALIFORNIA: Parents launch a petition to repeal a state law that allows students of different sexes into each other's bathrooms and locker rooms.
ILLINOIS: Lawmakers discuss shifting education funding away from property taxes.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Shortages of supply can lead to declines inquality, which spells trouble for the entire school choicemovement.
COMPARISONS: Why taking a well-run school or education system as an example for others often doesn't work well.
Thursday's ed news
DC: A study finds former Chancellor Michelle Rhee's teacher evaluation plan worked.
MERITOCRACY: Some schools are shutting top students out of advanced classes and admitting worse students instead.
OKLAHOMA: Here are some better alternatives to massive, useless government preschool programs.
IOWA: Gov. Terry Branstad signs an executive order concerning Common Core national standards.
SPENDING: Public schools almost never report their full spending.
ED REFORM: Why Diane Ravitch's prescription for reform is not supported by research.
POVERTY: Most school kids in the South and West are poor, for the first time in four decades.
FRACTURED FAMILIES: What to do about family breakdown, for the kids' sake.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: The Supreme Court appears favorable to banning race-based university admissions.
EYESIGHT: Kids are increasingly nearsighted, and scientists are guessing it's because of more early education and time spent indoors.
Wednesday's ed news
NORTH CAROLINA: The department of instruction announces it will randomly inspect homeschool homes statewide.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Moody's releases a report saying charter schools are endangering Detroit and Philadelphia by taking students, and therefore money, from the system. Children shouldn't pay for adults' financial mismanagement, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools responds.
FLORIDA: In response to public protest, the state board of education decides to cut voluntary parts of Common Core national standards.
TEACHERS: Why the feds shouldn't make states redistribute teachers.
FLORIDA, UTAH: The states refuse to let parents opt their children out of school data-tracking.
LOUISIANA: Concerns about Common Core hit the state school board.
ARKANSAS: The governer uses a teacher health insurance spike to redistribute local property taxes.
NORTH CAROLINA: The state supreme court considers a case insisting that all kids have a constitutional right to preschool.
ARIZONA: This year sees a jump in the number of school districts asking voters to raise their own taxes.
Tuesday's ed news
COMMON CORE: Kids who have barely learned to print are being rushed into typing classes so they can take new Common Core tests.
FLORIDA: A private schoolmaster seeks children who are "diamonds in the rough."
KENTUCKY: The state department of education rushes to phase in new national science standards ahead of a legislative session that may repeal them.
TEXAS: A once-vaunted statewide merit pay system for teachers quietly disappears.
MONTANA: Several retired teachers sue to retain higher cost of living increases for their pensions.
Monday's ed news
NEW YORK: The education commissioner cancels three public Common Core forums, saying parents have gotten too boisterous.
ARIZONA: Education savings accounts offer parents more choices than vouchers, a survey shows.
OREGON: Common Core extends to prenatal development, says the state superintendent.
MEDIA: Kids spend two hours a week on homework, but eight and a half each day staring at screens.
WISCONSIN: Lawmakers consider a bill to remove veto power over charter schools from local school districts, their competitors.
NEW YORK: Records show the state teachers union paid $370,000 to nonexistent consultants.
WISCONSIN: Gov. Scott Walker proposes reducing a schools property tax hike by $100 million, or 0.04 percent, statewide.
NEW JERSEY: A Rutgers University study compares the outcome of ZIP code-assigned schooling to "apartheid."
For last week's School Reform News roundup, click here.
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Image by Mo Riza.