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Star Ledger—OP-Ed: I have 2 kids in charter schools. Why is the state still asking the wrong questions about our school options?
The state Department of Education has embarked on a review of charter schools in New Jersey and recently visited the school my children attend, Uncommon Schools’ North Star Academy in Newark.
As a parent who is deeply involved and passionate about my children’s education, I felt it was important for me to take time out of my day to participate in the conversation.
I joined a dozen other parents who were eager to tell our stories about how our children were thriving at the school. We wanted to let the DOE know that our children deserve to have fair funding for their school because charter schools in the state receive less funding than the district schools and no funding for facilities.
That’s just not fair.
Jasmine Morrison| Star-Ledger Guest Columnist| Updated Jan 22, 11:04 AM; Posted Jan 22, 11:04 AM
Press of Atlantic City--NJ must quickly end threat to high-school graduation for 170,000
State leaders have made another fine mess out of standardized testing of high school students, which is required by federal and state law to demonstrate student progress and the effectiveness of schools.
A state appellate court ruled on New Year’s Eve that the current test can’t be used to meet requirements for high school graduation, threatening the advancement of nearly 170,000 juniors and seniors who had already passed it.
The court said the state’s old testing law specified a single test in 11th grade as the main path to graduation, with retesting using the same exam.
Press of Atlantic City| January 23, 2019
The Atlantic--America’s Teachers Are Furious
From West Virginia to Los Angeles, educators are ushering in a new era of labor activism.
In Los Angeles, more than 30,000 teachers remain on strike; it took union and city officials more than a week to eke out a tentative agreement that, they announced Tuesday morning, will likely bring them back to their classrooms this week. Last Friday, teachers from a handful of public schools in Oakland, California, staged a one-day walkout, too, and they’re planning for another demonstration this Wednesday. Meanwhile, a citywide strike is brewing a few states over in Denver, as could soon be the case in Virginia, where teachers are gearing up for a one-day rally in Richmond later this month. An educator uprising is even percolating in Chicago, where the collective-bargaining process is just getting started: “We intend to bargain hard,” the teachers’ union’s president told the Chicago Tribune last week.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/01/teachers-are-launching-a-rebellion/580975/
Alia Wong| Jan 22, 2019
