| |||||||||||||||||||
Press of Atlantic City—Op-Ed--Our view: State’s teacher of the year deserves unprecedented national honor
South Jersey teachers have done well in the annual state Governor’s Educator of the Year program. In the past two decades, six times the state honor has gone to teachers from the southern region — including 1999 from Ocean City, 2003 and 2013 from Gloucester County, 2011 from Burlington County, and 2015 from Salem County.
Now another educator in Ocean City schools — Amy Andersen, of Cape May Court House — has been named New Jersey Teacher of the Year. And for the first time since 1972, she has made New Jersey one of the four finalists for National Teacher of the Year, an honor never won by a Garden State teacher.
Press of Atlantic City Editorial Board| Febr. 5, 2018
NY Times--Republicans Stuff Education Bill With Conservative Social Agenda
Religious colleges would be able to bar openly same-sex relationships without fear of repercussions.
Religious student groups could block people who do not share their faith from becoming members.
Controversial speakers would have more leverage when they want to appear at colleges.
A 590-page higher-education bill working its way through Congress is a wish list for a wide range of people, groups and colleges saying that their First Amendment rights — freedom of speech, religion or assembly — are being trampled. Many of them are religious, right-leaning or both, and the Republicans behind the bill have eagerly taken up the cause, correcting what they see as antipathy toward conservative beliefs on American campuses.
ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS| FEB. 1, 2018
Education Week--Betsy DeVos Opens Up ESSA Pilot Allowing Federal Money to Follow Students
School districts: Interested in having your local, state, and federal funding follow children, so that kids with greater need have more money attached to them? Now's your chance.
The U.S. Department of Education is officially opening up the "Weighted Student Funding Pilot" in the Every Student Succeeds Act. The department can allow up to 50 districts to participate initially, and ESSA leaves open the possibility of opening that up to more districts down the line.
So what's the weighted student funding pilot? Participating districts can combine federal, state, and local dollars into a single funding stream tied to individual students. English-language learners, kids in poverty, students in special education—who cost more to educate—would carry with them more money than other students. Some districts, including Denver, are already using this type of formula with state and local dollars.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/02/essa_weighted_student_funding_pilot_devos.html
Alyson Klein on February 2, 2018 10:34 AM
