Thursday, July 31, 2014

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Top Stories

The Key to Fighting Privatization? Preparation The Key to Fighting Privatization? Preparation

By John Rosales Spring is usually the season when private contractors across the nation seem to crawl out of the woodwork seeking public school contracts. Why? Easy prey. Privateers know school board members are desperately trying to balance budgets for the upcoming school year. And nothing is easier for cash-strapped trustees needing to strike a zero... [Read more]

Americans Overwhelmingly Favor Expanding Early Childhood Education. Is Congress Listening? Americans Overwhelmingly Favor Expanding Early Childhood Education. Is Congress Listening?

By Richard Naithram A new bipartisan national poll released by The First Five Years Fund reveals that both Republicans and Democrats favor a strong federal investment in early childhood education. According to the poll, 71 percent of voters—including 60 percent of Republicans—support this investment even if it increased the deficit in the short... [Read more]

Educators Defeat Attempt to Strip Teacher Licenses Over Test Scores Educators Defeat Attempt to Strip Teacher Licenses Over Test Scores

By Luke Towler School districts continue to make high-stakes decisions about teacher performance based on how well students perform on state mandated tests, despite mounting opposition across the nation. Yet no state has tied renewal of teaching licenses to test scores – but Tennessee recently came close. Last year, Tennessee Education Commissioner... [Read more]

New Report Spotlights Stagnant Wage Growth for Mid- and Late-Career Teachers New Report Spotlights Stagnant Wage Growth for Mid- and Late-Career Teachers

By Tim Walker While most Americans agree that teachers do not receive the professional pay they deserve, the conversation has generally been framed around the difficulty of attracting people to the teaching profession. Less attention has been paid to educators who have been in the classroom for at least ten years and the stagnant salaries that are squeezing... [Read more]

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Must Reads

NEA’s Lily Eskelsen Garcia on Teaching, Testing and Fighting Back

The National Education Association has been moving toward a more confrontational response to the push, from Democrats as well as Republicans, for public education to be more and more dominated by standardized testing. That testing is taking over the time students spend in the classroom, as well as being used as a weapon against their teachers—and it’s all a distraction from real problem of inequality. In an interview with Daily Kos, NEA President-Elect Lily Eskelsen Garcia discusses testing and where she wants to take the NEA. Source: Daily Kos

Race to the Top Is Five Years Old, But Did It Actually Improve Student Achievement?

Race to the Top just had its fifth birthday and almost all of the $4 billion in federal cash states were awarded under the programs has been spent. So did the program actually move the needle on student achievement? Did the money make a difference in states that had it and states that didn’t? We’ll know all those answers…eventually.

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Ahead in Ed

NSTA New Science Teacher Academy – Deadline August 22

The National Science Teachers Association is currently accepting applications for the 2014–2015 New Science Teacher Academy. The Academy is a professional development initiative created to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. Visit NSTA for more information.

2014 NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly, June 26-July 6

Beginning this week, educators from around the country will arrive in Colorado’s Mile High City to rise to the challenge of setting public education policy. Nearly 9,000 National Education Association members from every state will come together to address issues facing schools, students, and the teaching profession during the National Education Association’s 152nd Annual Meeting and 93rd Representative Assembly (RA). Visit NEA.org for more information.

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