Friday’s news roundup:
1. Jacques Barzun–teacher, public intellectual, historian–has died at age 104.
2. Montanans need school choice, says scholarship funder Greg Gianforte.
3. Charles Murray on central problems in education.
4. Four Oklahoma teachers have been stripped of their certifications for sex crime convictions.
5. After a statewide “listening tour,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott releases a moderate education platform.
6. The National Education Association has given $400,000 to stop a ballot initiative that would restrict Michigan’s ability to raise taxes.
7. Why a Nevada teachers union is stuck in a school-spending Catch-22.
8. A jury has deadlocked over a lawsuit charging the University of Iowa denied a woman a job because she had conservative views.
9. See 92 ways schools are attempting to engage parents and communities.
10. “Value-added” student test scores poorly measure teachers when students have been divided into ability levels, conclude two studies.
Thursday’s news roundup:
1. Public school enrollment has increased 98 percent since 1950, but administrators and non-teaching staff increased 702 percent. Hawaii has one of the most overstaffed systems.
2. Take a look at current state school board races.
3. Ohio’s ‘third grade reading guarantee‘ could hold back 10,000 students in 2014.
4. What would a President Romney do with K-12 education?
5. After the elections, Indianapolis Public Schools may see nationally notable reforms.
6. Ohio teachers run for office.
7. An auditor discovered a University of Iowa official allegedly stole approximately $272,198 from taxpayers in extra trips and bonuses.
8. Colorado special interests make more from K-12 tax increases than taxpayers.
9. What lawmakers can learn from online Khan Academy.
10. West Virginia school redistricting gets touchy.
Wednesday’s news roundup:
1. A review of the education ballot issues in California, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington.
2. Apple vs. Amazon in the classroom.
3. The new iteration of a federal grant program gives school district applicants bonuses for modifying students’ behavior, emotions, and social “needs.”
4. Pennsylvania public schools are less than nine months away from implementing Common Core knowledge requirements but a poll shows only 20 percent know what they are.
5. Bible verses don’t belong on school cheerleader banners, argues the Washington Post.
6. As more second-career teachers enter schools, charter schools train their own.
7. Five reasons college enrollment may be dropping.
8. A Nevada judge rules a teacher union tax proposal misled petition signers into thinking the extra $800 million must go to public schools, when legislators could spend it any way they wanted.
9. According to a new, non-scientific survey, younger teachers are more open to career restructuring than older teachers.
10. Kansas Democrats launch a counter-website calling for families to complain about education cuts. Backstory.
Tuesday’s news roundup:
1. Voters in five states will face ballot questions about raising taxes to spend more on education.
2. Idaho lawmaker: Families need school choice because public schools are “godless.”
3. Georgians debate whether to pass a state constitutional amendment allowing charter schools.
4. A new law reverses California’s push into higher math achievement.
5. Are Americans losing confidence in teachers?
6. Texas school districts can’t find ways to do things cheaper beyond using windows for lighting, so they’re suing the state to increase property taxes.
7. In 2007-2008, just 1.3 percent of Virginia teachers were fired for poor performance.
8. North Carolina will soon outlaw student-on-teacher cyberbullying.
9. More Minnesota students default on their student loans in the last three years.
10. Thirteen states elect schools chiefs.
Monday’s news roundup:
1. Minnesota retracts its prohibition on residents taking free classes online.
2. Rick Hess roars back against progressive Parent Trigger advocates who spurn businesses in education.
3. Voters aren’t keen on a proposal to add more government-sponsored pre-K in San Antonio.
4. An Iowa zoo uses Skype to reach rural students with wild animals.
5. Record numbers of parents “shop” for public schools in Palm Beach County, Florida.
6. Pennsylvania’s legislature should not have adjourned without passing long-awaited charter school legislation, opines the Philadelphia Inquirer.
7. Will Washington voters approve charter schools on the fourth attempt?
8. A Denver appeals court allows Kansas parents to bring a suit demanding to pay more in education taxes.
9. Florida education companies attempt to counterbalance union influence over elections.
10. Leaders of a union representing approximately 6,000 faculty of Pennsylvania universities have taken another step towards a strike.
For last week’s School Reform News roundup, click here.
For other top-notch school reform news selections, visit:
Image by Mo Riza.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
