Friday’s ed news
1. The Georgia Assembly passes a tax-credit scholarship increase.
2. GOP legislators join unions to oppose expanding vouchers in Wisconsin.
3. Read a star-studded symposium on What’s Wrong with Higher Education.
4. An Indiana teacher speaks out against Common Core, as does Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Alabama could become the first state to administer Common Core-aligned tests.
5. Alaska sees a proposal for tax-credit scholarships.
6. Why voucher opponents should reconsider.
7. Banning dodgeball at school? Might as well ban boys.
8. The Gates Foundation strikes out in higher ed research.
9. Two Tennessee bills would reduce tax-subsidized perks for union leaders.
10. Indiana teachers unions not only lost their anti-voucher lawsuit, courts are suspicious about how they handle teacher pensions.
Thursday’s ed news
1. Twice as many Louisiana children want to enroll in the state’s vouchers as are currently enrolled.
2. The Texas Senate education committee considers updating the state’s Parent Trigger.
3. Indiana’s Senate drops a preschool bill and parts of a voucher expansion.
4. The California governor wants to redistribute school wealth. Latinos like it, whites don’t.
5. Pennsylvania unions insist the state raise taxes rather than cut pension benefits to fill a $41 billion hole.
6. A Florida legislative committee approves a gun-toting teachers bill.
7. Teachers report their well-being is second only to doctors’.
8. North Carolina lawmakers consider giving charter schools a separate governing board.
9. A Florida House committee approves a bill to create three types of high school diploma.
10. Oklahomans protest Common Core education standards.
Wednesday’s ed news
1. The Indiana Supreme Court‘s decision to uphold the state voucher program could provide a model to other states crafting similar laws.
2. An Idaho Senate committee votes down a tax-credit scholarship bill.
3. Why school choice programs should not require testing.
4. Why we should go back to grouping students by ability.
5. The Texas House voted 145-2 to reduce state tests of high school students from 15 to 5.
6. Oakland’s school board made the wrong decision to close some of the best-performing schools in California.
7. Supporters of the Parent Trigger hold a press conference in Florida.
8. A charter school bill loses a vote in Mississippi, but may still survive.
9. More evidence Common Core means fuzzy math.
10. View the growing number of cases where schools discipline students outside of school.
Tuesday’s ed news
1. School choice becomes a hot issue in Wisconsin‘s state superintendent race. Meanwhile, Gov. Walker attempts to expand charter schools.
2. Virginia Gov. McDonnell signs legislation to extend the time it takes a teacher to get tenure, grade schools A-F, and take over failing schools.
3. A mental health professional’s perspective on Common Core data collection.
4. The Kansas House defeated a tax-credit scholarship proposal 63-56.
5. Today the Texas legislature has its first major floor debate over an education bill: One to restructure state testing requirements, which faces 165 amendments. Why Texas desperately needs school choice: Its growing academic underclass.
6. The Supreme Court decides it will again review Michigan affirmative action policies.
7. Louisiana voters should be able to choose the state superintendent, says a lawmaker.
8. California‘s new schools reading list also contains LGBT books.
9. Does an Indiana legislator have a conflict of interest with Common Core?
10. Florida lawmakers debate giving parents of special-needs students the last word in their education plans.
Monday’s ed news
A dozen states have considered Parent Trigger legislation this spring.
Wisconsin bureaucrats complain vouchers would take money away from a system they made unsustainable.
A ‘firestorm’ over Common Core embroils Arizona.
With one of the highest charter school waitlists in the country, Chicago should allow more of the independent schools and adopt a Parent Trigger, the Chicago Tribune argues.
California’s new K-12 booklist contains 7,800 titles. Its “undifferentiated mountain” won’t help kids read better, says Ben Boychuk.
Why Common Core doesn’t matter, and why it does.
Oakland, California’s school board votes 4-3 to close three of the best public schools in the state.
It’s easier to get into Harvard than this DC charter school.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will announce a state takeover of urban Camden schools.
Wyoming teachers will soon be the ones getting graded.
For last week’s School Reform News roundup, click here.
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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.
