Friday’s ed news
WISCONSIN: The state department of education constantly attempts to undermine Wisconsin’s vouchers program, says a new report.
LOUISIANA: More legal wrangling in the Obama administration’s lawsuit against vouchers for poor black kids. This time, the administration says the state wants it to cough up too much paperwork.
WISCONSIN: Why the first voucher program in the nation doesn’t get particularly good results.
MILITARY: More military families are turning to homeschooling, and bases have begun to support their choice.
TEACHING: Why kids need to memorize lots of facts.
COMMON CORE: Why computer programs that assign “text complexity” really don’t get it.
BACKGROUND CHECKS: Unions want loopholes in a proposed national background check system for teachers.
NEW MEXICO: The governor and state superintendent want to set up online “parent portals” that track student information into one database.
Thursday’s ed news
CALIFORNIA: The U.S. education secretary threatens to take $3.5 billion from California for deciding to ditch state tests for Common Core.
EDTECH: Pediatricians are trying to get parents to reduce their kids’ screen time.
HISTORY: It’s spooky how little U.S. schools care about history instruction.
COMMON CORE: The upcoming national tests are prompting schools to spend millions on computers and tech infrastructure.
NEW MEXICO: The state teachers union won’t sign on to a renewal of its No Child Left Behind waiver until the union gets new laws it wants.
MARYLAND: The state is $50 billion in the hole for teacher pensions and healthcare.
PENNSYLVANIA: The teachers union demands more money while itself offering none to get teachers back in Philadelphia schools.
WISCONSIN: Five teachers file a lawsuit demanding secret ballots for union elections.
MICHIGAN: Lawmakers consider holding kids back if they can’t read in third grade.
Wednesday’s ed news
PARENT RIGHTS: The U.S. Senate will soon consider a United Nations treaty that displaces parent rights over children in education and otherwise.
RHODE ISLAND: A poll finds majorities of Democrats and Independents in the state support vouchers and education tax credits.
SURVEILLANCE STATE: Schools start hiring companies to monitor what students say and do online.
COLORADO: Uber-wealthy out-of-staters are supporting a ballot campaign to raise taxes ostensibly to pay more for education.
TEACHERS: A new study finds teachers’ academic preparation has improved somewhat from its spot at the bottom of the barrel.
EDTECH: Apple, Inc. says it has 94 percent of the education market.
MICHIGAN: The average Detroit student misses one day of school every week, says a union president.
NEW JERSEY: A school district cancels Common Core tests after someone anonymously posted several online.
Tuesday’s ed news
DEMOGRAPHICS: The nation will soon have a boom in old and young; since both groups consume most of government spending, this will create a huge strain on taxpayers.
OREGON: A school district allows teachers to bear arms in school.
CHOICE: Several states are interested in Arizona’s pioneering education savings accounts.
SOUTH DAKOTA: It will cost the state more money than a federal grant is worth to keep the grant.
INDIA: Poor parents greatly prefer private schools.
BOYS: How schools can help boys succeed—and they need all the help they can get.
LIBERAL ARTS VS. TECH: Why employers want both communication and technical skills.
ALABAMA: Yet another state makes yet another meaningless non-change to Common Core.
Monday’s ed news
LOUISIANA: Thirty U.S. Senators write the Obama administration to protest its lawsuit against vouchers that help poor kids escape failing schools.
INDIANA: State superintendent Glenda Ritz appears to have chaired the meeting she sued the state board for having without her.
BULLYING: A national poll finds online bullying has declined.
NEVADA, MASSACHUSETTS: Communities mourn slain teachers.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS: Why teachers will take a large pay cut to work in private schools.
TECH: More very young children are using computers more often, a survey finds.
WISCONSIN: Half of online schools get low marks for student performance.
NEW YORK: The department of education makes some concessions on the number of state tests students must take.
NEW MEXICO: Teachers unions are agitating against a new statewide evaluation system.
NEW JERSEY: A school district tries out social reprogramming on preschoolers.
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.
