Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

4-27-17 Education in the News

The Record--Trump Tracker: Education spending cuts proposed

In his first three months, President Trump has proposed deep cuts to education spending and boosted school choice.

When it comes to education policy, Donald Trump has made it clear that he's an ardent supporter of the "school choice" movement.

That means he supports funding and programs to help students go to the school of their choice, whether it's a regular public, private, magnet or charter school. He has even called school choice "the new civil rights issue of our time," to the outrage of critics who say the movement has worsened segregation and taken needed dollars away from regular public schools.

It's a controversial area of education across the country, including in New Jersey, where critics have opposed the rapid expansion of charter schools during the Christie administration. Gov. Chris Christie has pledged to ramp up financial and legislative support to charter schools as he finishes his second term. His efforts could get a boost when Trump takes office.

http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/16/school-choice-common-core-repeal-trumps-list/95924664/

Hannan Adely , Staff Writer| April 27, 2017

 

Washington Post--Trump orders study of federal role in education

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that requires Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to study whether and how the federal government has overstepped its legal authority in K-12 schools, a move he framed as part of a broader effort to shift power from Washington to states and local communities.

“Previous administrations have wrongfully forced states and schools to comply with federal whims and dicate what our kids are taught,” Trump said at the White House. “But we know that local communities do it best and know it best.”

The order does not invest DeVos with any new authority. She already has broad powers to revise or withdraw policies that her predecessors promulgated.

Rob Goad, a department official, said the order gives DeVos 300 days to conduct a review to identify any regulations or guidance related to K-12 schools that is inconsistent with federal law. The review will be led by a task force headed by Robert Eitel, a senior counselor to DeVos who previously worked for a for-profit college company.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-expected-to-order-study-of-federal-role-in-education/2017/04/26/577dddbc-2a19-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html?utm_term=.5e4a5e84aa66

Emma Brown April 26 at 4:43 PM

 

Education Week--School Districts Update Professional Development

In Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine school district, teachers can personalize their own professional learning by earning microcredentials in areas that interest them. In Florida's Lake County school district, ingenious scheduling models allow teachers to collaborate more often. And on the other side of the country, California's Long Beach Unified district has developed new methods to collect evidence on the effectiveness of the professional development it offers teachers.

School districts are moving toward a menu of professional learning options that get creative about improving teacher practice. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law in December 2015, established a new definition of professional learning that makes it clear districts should move away from the quick-hit type of generalized workshops that take teachers out of the classroom. The law instead prioritizes PD that is woven into the school day and allows for educators to cooperate.

Michelle R. Davis|April 25, 2017

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