DELAWARE: The Every Student Succeeds Act, a Briefing for Delaware
NCSL Presentation on ESSA
read moreARIZONA: Governor’s Veto Confirms Pattern of Disrespect for Arizona’s Teachers and Students
Phoenix, AZ – May 23, 2017 – As teachers are saying goodbye to their students after another year’s hard work Governor Doug Ducey announced his veto of Senate Bill (SB) 1209, delivering a final insult to teachers across Arizona.
read moreNATIONAL: Trump’s Budget Slashes Education Funding, Declared “Dead on Arrival” by Republicans and Democrats Alike
President Trump released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget on May 23 and immediately received bipartisan criticism from members of Congress concerned with deep cuts to education, health-care programs for low-income adults and children, and a variety of other federal programs. “I can understand why President Trump wanted to be overseas when he released a […]
read moreNATIONAL: Betsy DeVos defends school spending plan that cuts $9 billion
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos refused to say Wednesday whether she would block private schools that discriminate against LGBT students from receiving federal dollars, explaining that she believes states should have the flexibility to design voucher programs and that parents should be able to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs.
read moreNATIONAL: A Growing Recruitment Strategy for a Diverse Teacher Workforce
“Black students matched to [B]lack teachers have been shown to have higher test scores but we wanted to know if these student-teacher racial matches had longer-lasting benefits. We found the answer is a resounding yes.”
read moreWest Virginia Continues to Rank Among Top States in Access to Quality of Early Learning
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s Universal Pre-K Program once again ranks among the top in the nation, according to the 2016 Yearbook released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).
read moreNATIONAL: NASBE Identifies Pros and Cons of Fifth Indicators
A new series of policy updates from the National Association of State Boards of Education explores the pros and cons of five frequently discussed indicators: career and technical education, school climate and student discipline, social and emotional learning, chronic absenteeism, and access to high-level course…
read morePENNSYLVANIA: PA Education Advocates Stress Importance of Teacher Voice in Creating ESSA Plan
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera and 2015 Teacher of the Year Mairi Cooper stress the need for policymakers to listen to teachers in the classroom when it comes to creating the state’s ESSA plan and ensuring greater educational equity. Citing ESSA as an “opportunity…
read moreNATIONAL: Initial analysis of Administration’s FY2018 Budget request to Congress
Tuesday, May 23, President Trump released the Administration’s FY2018 budget request to Congress which calls for a number of program eliminations within the U.S. Department of Education, a few of which would impact K-12 programs. For a number of programmatic changes that are proposed, the…
read moreVIDEO: Five startling things Betsy DeVos just told Congress
Secretary of Education Betsey DeVos testified before Congress on the Trump administration’s 2018 budget proposal. During the hearing, DeVos discussed Title I funding and school choice, and underscored her belief in local control. She stressed that she “believes states should continue to have flexibility in…
read moreNATIONAL: Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.
WASHINGTON: Murray Announces Plans To Expand Soda Tax To Help Address Disparities In Education, Access To Healthy Foods
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced an $18 million proposal to fund education and healthy food programs, including nearly $10 million for the Education Action Plan, a series of programs aimed at eliminating the opportunity gap between white students and African American/Black and other students of color.
read moreNATIONAL: NSBA Statement on Trump administration’s proposed education budget
NSBA Executive Director & CEO Thomas J. Gentzel today released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s Proposed FY 2018 Education Budget: “President Trump’s proposed $9.2 billion cut to education initiatives will deliver a devastating blow to the country’s public…
read moreILLINOIS: ALSC Releases Comforting Reads for Difficult Times Booklist
CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has released a new booklist called Comforting Reads for Difficult Times. This list includes titles meant to help children understand and heal from challenging situations like the death of loved ones, unexpected moves, catastrophic illness, and more.
read moreNATIONAL: SETDA Response to President’s FY18 Budget
Of particular interest to state digital learning leaders is the elimination of the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) Grants, also known as Title IVa of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
read moreCharter School Efforts Not Mentioned in Most State ESSA Plans
Education Week finds that few state ESSA plans are mentioning charter school efforts. Jennifer Thomsen, the author and director of the Education Commission of the States Knowledge and Research Center, argued that, “what we’re really seeing in most of the accountability sections is that district and charter schools are being treated exactly the same.” States that did mention charter school efforts included Maryland, Tennessee, and New Mexico, as well as the District of Columbia.
read moreNATIONAL: Career and Technical Education Overhaul Bill Approved by House Ed. Committee
The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, with Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi as the lead co-sponsors, passed unanimously out of the committee. It now moves to the full House for consideration, and could become the first major education legislation sent to President Donald Trump during this Congress.
read moreNATIONAL: School Infrastructure Spending Plan Introduced by House Democrats
Legislation that would direct more than $100 billion into building and upgrading school infrastructure around the country was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the House education committee’s top Democrat.
read moreNATIONAL: Trump Budget Reported to Use Title I, Research Aid to Push Choice
President Donald Trump’s full education budget proposal for fiscal 2018 would make notable cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, and leverage existing programs for disadvantaged students and K-12 innovation to promote school choice, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
read moreNATIONAL: Trump’s full education budget cuts deep, documents show
Funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, public-service loan forgiveness would end and hundreds of millions of dollars that public schools could use for mental health, advanced coursework and other services would vanish under a Trump administration plan to cut $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives, according to budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.
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