Court: Schools must identify students who complain about teachers

A Florida appellate court on Thursday ruled that the identities of students who submit complaints about teachers to public schools — including colleges and universities — are a matter of public record, and must be disclosed to citizens, the Associated Press reports. Former Santa Fe College math instructor Darnell Rhea believes the school didn’t his semester-to-semester contract for part-time teaching at two campuses because a student complaint email alleged that Rhea made humiliating remarks in class, and that his teaching methods were unorthodox. Rhea said he believed the email was sent by a student who had only attended one class. The 70-year-old retired public school teacher successfully argued in front of a three-judge panel that the student’s name is not covered by state and federal laws granting confidentiality to education records because such complaints don’t directly relate to students…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Taxing sales to fund Ohio schools?

As Ohio considers new ways to pay for public schools, legislative analysts said Wednesday one option is to replace local property tax revenue with an increase in the state sales tax, but they cautioned that it might be a risky move, the Associated Press reports. To raise the more than $9.9 billion that’s needed, policymakers would need to more than double the sales tax rate — from 5.5 cents on the dollar to 13.2 cents. It’s one of many ideas being kicked around by an Ohio House subcommittee laying the groundwork for a new state funding formula for schools. Jean Botomogno, principal economist for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, said in a memo that such a steep increase could affect how much the tax brings in because people don’t like to spend as much when the tax rate on their purchases is high. Wednesday’s hearing on school tax policy was the second held in the Republican-led House as Gov. John Kasich works on a new strategy for doling out education dollars. Ohio’s current formula has been repeatedly declared unconstitutional for relying too heavily on property tax revenues that tend to be higher in wealthier districts…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Chicago school board, teachers reject report

A fact finder’s recommendation to give Chicago teachers a double-digit raise was rejected Wednesday by both the city’s teachers union and the governing board of the Chicago public school system, paving the way for a teacher strike, the Associated Press reports. The 6-0 vote by the school board came about an hour after the union vote. The union cited classroom quality issues in its vote, while school board officials cited the district’s financial difficulties.

“Quite simply, the board does not have the resources to accept the fact finder’s recommendation,” Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale said.

But he was optimistic that both sides could reach a deal. Vitale noted that the district and the union have used collective bargaining for 25 years without a strike, and said “it is a record I believe we both want to extend.”…Read More

Fact finder recommends raise for Chicago teachers

An independent fact finder has recommended that Chicago teachers receive a 14.85 percent raise to “compensate teachers for working a longer school day and year,” a union official union said Monday, the Associated Press reports. The announcement is the latest turn in acrimonious negotiations that prompted teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district to authorize their leaders to call a strike this fall. However, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis did say whether the report would make a strike more or less likely.

“We are not making that kind of judgment,” Lewis told The Associated Press after a news conference. “Now we will start talking to our members.”

Lewis declined to release the report. But she said a key finding supports what teachers have been complaining about throughout an acrimonious negotiating process that led them last month to overwhelmingly authorize a strike. She said the fact finder, Edwin Benn, not only found that teachers are being asked to work an average of 19.4 percent more thanks to a longer school day, but that it is unrealistic to expect teachers to work that much longer without additional compensation……Read More

NJ lawmakers want tuition aid for immigrants’ kids

Lawmakers are pushing for the state to offer college tuition assistance to citizens — even if their parents are living in the U.S. without permission, the Associated Press reports. A bill was introduced in both chambers of the state Legislature after a U.S.-born high school student sued the state last year claiming she had been denied tuition assistance because her mother is an illegal immigrant. Assemblywoman Marlene Caride, a Democrat from West New York, announced Friday that she had introduced a bill last month to rectify that.

“College is terribly expensive,” Caride said. “We should be looking for ways to make it more affordable for our students, not costlier.”

She called the situation for students born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally “difficult and unfair.”…Read More

GOP teachers balk at Obama-centric NEA convention

It had all the trappings of a re-election rally: thousands packing a convention center, Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president, the Associated Press reports.

“You are our knight in shining armor — Sarah C., Norman, Okla.,” read one inscription.

But this Obama love fest in Washington was not a campaign event. The nearly 9,000 gathered were teachers in town for the National Education Association’s weeklong annual convention.…Read More

No Child Left Behind waivers going to Wash., Wis.

The U.S. Department of Education is announcing that Washington and Wisconsin have won their bid to be relieved of some requirements of the federal “No Child Left Behind” law, the Associated Press reports. The two states are joining 24 other states that have earned waivers from the federal education law. Washington state education officials confirmed their state’s waiver. The Wisconsin waiver was reported by The New York Times. The department’s formal announcement was expected Friday. The 10-year-old federal No Child Left Behind law requires all students to achieve proficient math and reading scores by 2014, a goal that many educators say is impossible…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Kindergarten career test in the works by ACT

A new digital tool to test academic and behavioral skills will target students starting in kindergarten, the Associated Press reports. ACT, the organization that developed the ACT college-entrance exam, will start testing the tool in the fall. It will be available to schools starting in 2014.The tool tracks students’ career interests, academic performance and progress toward goals. It’s designed to follow students from kindergarten through high school. Jon Erickson, president of ACT’s education division, said the goal is to identify and address gaps in skills needed for college and the workforce. The assessment combines traditional testing with teacher-led projects to generate an instant, digital score…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Bullied school bus monitor ‘fine’ with bully punishment

The upstate New York school bus monitor who was bullied by four seventh-graders says she’s satisfied that they’re being suspended for a year, the Associated Press reports. Speaking one day after the boys’ punishment was announced, Karen Klein told The Associated Press on Saturday that she wants to meet with the boys who tormented her.

“Oh yes, I would like to talk to them!” said the 68-year-old, speaking from her home in Rochester. “I want to ask them why they did it.”

What the four boys did was captured on video, mercilessly taunting Klein as she sat on the bus, gradually breaking down in tears. On Friday, the school system in the Rochester suburb of Greece suspended the four middle school students for a year, keeping them from regular bus transportation. How does Klein feel about this punishment?…Read More

5 more states granted NCLB waivers

Five more states have been granted relief from key requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, bringing the total to 24 states given waivers, an Obama administration official said Friday, the Associated Press. Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia will be freed from the No Child Left Behind requirement that all students test proficient in math and science by 2014, a goal the nation remains far from achieving. In exchange, the states and all others granted waivers must develop accountability plans that set new targets for raising achievement, advancing teacher effectiveness, preparing all students for careers and college, and improving the performance of low-performing schools.

“We all understand that the best ideas don’t come from Washington, and moving forward, these states will have increased flexibility with federal funds and relief from NCLB’s mandates, allowing them to develop locally-tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in draft remarks released to The Associated Press…

Click here for the full story…Read More

Study released on library eBook borrowing

eBook readers have been relatively slow to borrow digital works from the library, frustrated by a limited selection and by not even knowing if their local branch offers e-releases, according to a new study, the Associated Press reports. The Pew Research Center published a survey Friday that reports around 12 percent of eBook users 16 years and older downloaded a text from the library over the past year. Earlier in 2012, Pew issued a study showing that around 20 percent of adults had read an eBook recently. Simon & Schuster, the Hachette Book Group and other major publishers have limited eBook offerings to libraries or refused to make any available, citing concerns that the ease of free downloads would hurt sales. Lack of awareness may be another factor. Around 60 percent of those 16 and older couldn’t say whether their libraries had eBooks. Pew’s Internet & American Life Project study, conducted with nearly 3,000 respondents between Nov. 16 and Dec. 11, 2011, suggests that library patrons trying to borrow digital texts have been deterred by the selection and by not having the right eBook device…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Confidence in U.S. public schools at record low

A new poll says that confidence in U.S. public schools has dropped to the lowest level in nearly four decades, the Associated Press reports. Twenty-nine percent of those questioned in a Gallup poll said they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in public schools. Forty percent had some confidence while 30 percent expressed little or none. When Gallup first measured confidence in public schools in 1973, 58 percent reported having a strong belief in the country’s educational system. Since then, that number has steadily tracked downward…

Click here for the full story

…Read More