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NJ Spotlight--Does NJ Have Model in Place to Fix Schools Segregation?
Under state choice program, roughly 5,000 students already go to schools in districts other than their own
Could New Jersey have an answer to its school-segregation patterns already in place? Those behind an existing school-choice program are making that case, led by a prominent figure in state educational circles.
The association representing more than 100 districts in the state’s Inter-district Public School Choice Program have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the potentially landmark challenge to the lack of diversity in New Jersey schools now before state Superior Court.
https://www.njspotlight.com/2020/01/does-nj-have-model-in-place-to-fix-schools-segregation/
John Mooney | January 22, 2020 | Education
Star Ledger--Murphy vetoes bill allowing depression screening in public schools
An effort to screen middle and high school students in New Jersey for signs of depression will not move forward, as Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday declined to sign the bill into law.
The measure would have applied to public school students in seventh through 12th grade and required parents to consent to the computerized surveys.
Amanda Hoover | NJ Advance Media For NJ.com| Posted Jan 21, 2020
Star Ledger--Kids can do laundry, get health screenings at 1st N.J. school funded by federal gov’t
Tutoring, anti-bullying prevention, family nights and even free laundry are among the wide-ranging services being offered at the state’s first-federally-funded, full service community high school in Paterson.
Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| Posted Jan 21, 2020
Education Week--Long History Underlies Fight Over Religious-School Funding
Twenty years ago, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a call to arms of sorts, in a case in which the court upheld the use of federal education aid to private religious schools for the loan of library books, computers, and other materials.
Mark Walsh|January 14, 2020
Politics K-12-Education Department Launches New Civil Rights Outreach Initiative
The U.S. Department of Education plans a new initiative designed to help schools, educators, and students understand and apply education civil rights laws, the agency announced Tuesday.
The Outreach, Prevention, Education and Nondiscrimination, or OPEN Center, will have about five employees housed within the Education Department's office for civil rights.
While the civil rights office has largely focused on investigating complaints that schools or districts have violated civil rights laws, the new center will focus on "proactive compliance" by providing technical assistance to schools and guidance to the public, an announcement said.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2020/01/education-civil-rights-outreach-center.html
Evie Blad on January 21, 2020 3:54 PM
This Supreme Court case could deliver a win for school choice advocates. What might happen next?
The American Federation of Teachers and the Center for Education Reform don’t agree on much. But they both think a Supreme Court case, with oral arguments set for Wednesday, about whether a state can prohibit public funds from going to religious schools is a very big deal.
“The stakes truly don’t get any bigger than this,” said CER founder and CEO Jeanne Allen, who supports private school vouchers.
https://chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2020/01/21/vouchers-montana-espinoza-supreme-court/
Matt Barnum, Kalyn Belsha| January 21, 2020
