AM News: Malloy Reforms Pass CT Senate

Conn. Senate approves education overhaul AP via Boston.com: Connecticut senators on Tuesday morning approved a series of education proposal championed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who just hours earlier had announced an agreement with legislative leaders on plans for changes that include helping low-performing schools and culling ineffective teachers from the classroom.

Scandal Distracts Klein From His Education Goals at News Corp. NYT:  Joel I. Klein’s involvement in helping News Corporation confront a phone-hacking scandal in Britain has delayed his own ambitions for improving the company’s efforts in education.

Report: Some charters spend more than traditional schools Washington Post: A new report concludes that charter schools operated by major charter management organizations in three states often spend more to educate children than the surrounding public schools.

Teachers Sue Over Closings WSJ: For the third time in as many years, the city teachers union is suing to try to stop school closings, saying on Monday that Mayor Michael Bloomberg had attempted an "end run" around the union to get rid of bad teachers. ALSO Unions Claim School Closings Violate Their Contracts NYT

MORE NEWS ITEMS INSIDE

Union Gears Workshops Toward Parent Power NYT: The United Federation of Teachers began a series of workshops for parents on Saturday morning, to help provide them with skills and motivation "to advocate on behalf of their children and schools, and demand education policy changes," GothamSchools reports.

Bringing the World Into the Classroom NYT: SchoolBook is examining the issue of how to incorporate news headlines into the classroom by hosting an event with teachers on Tuesday. Ahead of the discussion, WNYC's "Brian Lehrer Show" spoke with Peter Nelson, director of the New York City branch of the organization Facing History and Ourselves, to ask how to blend current events with curriculum demands.

Massachusetts to lift moratorium on new charter schools in Boston and Lawrence Boston Globe: Charter school cap lifted by state State education officials will lift a temporary moratorium on proposals to open charter schools in many cities across Massachusetts, a move that could allow for the creation of more than a thousand new seats in Boston. The decision is expected to open a floodgate of proposals in Boston - many to be pitched by existing charter schools with strong academic records - that will greatly exceed the number that can actually be approved.

D.C. mum on federal response to NCLB waiver bid Washington Post: D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) promised lots of outreach and transparency in itsapplication for relief from portions of the federal No Child Left Behind Law. Evidently that doesn’t include the U.S. Department of Education’s response to the application, which OSSE has in hand but declines to release.

Ndegeocello Credits Arts Education With Redefining Path to Success PBS: With nine studio albums under her belt and a world tour under way, bass player Meshell Ndegeocello was in her hometown of Washington, D.C., last week recalling how arts classes were key to ensuring that she stayed in school until graduation.

 

 

Comments

[Sarah]

(Regarding DC Mum) Ha, as if anyone expected OSSE to live up to any sort of transparency claim. Expecting government to be anything but... well... opaque is the kind of wishful thinking that will never attain a state of reality, like a non-partisan congress.

[Sarah]

(Regarding CT Senate) But at least government’s doing something in Connecticut, it seems. I’m not well-versed in the proposed policy changes, but they’re certainly another district that needs to see some sort of reform. Hopefully it’s for the better.