Morning Announcements April 18, 2012

Happy (and hopefully not hectic) Wednesday! It’s the middle of the week, so in between thanking your lucky stars that it’s not Monday or Tuesday and praying for Friday, get caught up on the latest in education news.

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney is coming under fire for expressing his intent to largely slash the Department of Education. The two-time Harvard professional degree recipient told a room full of campaign donors that he'd slim down the U.S. Department of Education if he were elected president, according to Education Week.

That battle for public schools continues in Chicago; between teacher unions, schools days, and funding, every day is a different fight. With changes to the length of next year's school day, a continuing budget deficit and ongoing teacher contract talks that pose the potential for a strike,  Chicago Public Schools principals are Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: October 3, 2011

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the department’s proposed reforms to improve teacher preparation programs and better prepare educators for classroom success, according to Ed.gov. “America’s teachers and America’s children deserve world-class preparation programs that prepare teachers for today’s classrooms and students for today’s information age,” he said.

According to US News & World Report, most high school districts offer some sort of dropout prevention program. A new report released last week by the National Center for Education Statistics shows a majority of high schools (approximately 8 in 10) offer services such as tutoring and remediation classes for students who have fallen behind, but less than half of school districts offer an after-school program for high school students at risk of not graduating.

The New York Times report if no deal is reached by Friday, 716 of New York City’s lowest-paid workers — school aides, parent coordinators and other members of school support staffs — will lose their jobs, the latest victims of budget cuts to the public schools. Nearly 350 schools will be affected, in a scattered pattern, according to a list of layoffs by school, which was obtained and analyzed by The New York Times. The newspaper found the poorest and most struggling schools will be hit the hardest.

Read Entire Post