NJ Spotlight--Bill to End Banking of Sick Days Draws Angry Outcry from Public-Sector Unions
Assembly panel moves bill, despite PBA president saying he is ‘befuddled’ by Democratic backing. Other union heads join in outraged chorus
Most New Jersey public workers would no longer be paid for future unused sick leave and would only be eligible to get $7,500 to pay for healthcare expenses after retirement under legislation that has begun moving through the Legislature, despite complaints from angry union leaders.
Colleen O'Dea | May 29, 2018
Star Ledger--Small schools in this rural part of N.J. are under threat
Over 100 people sat in folding chairs and at cafeteria lunch tables in the Califon School gym, and when those seats ran out they stood in the back and lined the walls.
They were there to hear a discussion on the results of a feasibility study that looked at closing the school, one of the smallest in the state, and merging the district with neighboring Lebanon School District.
Olivia Rizzo| Updated May 28, 9:16 AM; Posted May 28, 6:43 AM
Education Week--Gamers Are the New High School Athletes: The Rise of Esports
Amy Whitlock’s varsity team at Oswego East High School in Illinois is a state champion. Whitlock, a French teacher at the school, leads her students in practices three times a week. They review footage of competitions, strategize for upcoming games, and scrimmage to prepare for future events.
But the students Whitlock coaches are involved in a form of sports much different from traditional high school athletics. They are playing League of Legends—one of the most popular video games in the world of esports.
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/05/24/gamers-are-the-new-high-school-athletes.html
Sarah Schwartz: May 24, 2018
The Atlantic--The Two Most Important College-Admissions Criteria Now Mean Less
When so many students have outstanding grades and test scores, schools have to get creative about triaging applicants.
For generations, two numbers have signaled whether a student could hope to get into a top college: his or her standardized test score and his or her grade-point average.
In the past 15 years, though, these lodestars have come to mean less and less. The SAT has been redesigned twice in that time, making it difficult for admissions officers to assess, for instance, whether last year’s uptick in average scores was the result of better students or just a different test. What’s more, half of American teenagers now graduate high school with an A average, according to a recent study. With application numbers at record highs, highly selective colleges are forced to make impossible choices, assigning a fixed number of slots to a growing pool of students who, each year, are harder to differentiate using these two long-standing metrics.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/05/college-admissions-gpa-sat-act/561167/
Jeffrey Selingo| May 25, 2018