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: March 7, 2012

Happy Wednesday! Two days in, two more to go. So treat yourself to a mid-week snack. You’ve gotten this far so you deserve it. While munching, take in some of the latest in education news.

The second round of No Child Left Behind waiver applications have been collected and the U.S. Department of Education has doubled its team of outside peer reviewers who will help decide what changes states must adopt before they can get their second-round proposals approved. As Education Week reports, this includes 42 judges who will examine the 27 waiver applications.

Teachers are not happy campers. The Huffington Post reports that with budget cuts, booming class sizes, radical hiring changes and governors who curtailed a collective-bargaining rights, teachers' job satisfaction is at a two-decade low, according to a new survey released Wednesday.

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Morning Announcements: September 7, 2011

Today's morning announcements:

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is going on a road trip this week to the “Great Lakes Region” – which includes electorally important states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin – to discuss education reform. According to Education Week, Duncan says he believes K-12 education is a bipartisan issue that he hopes to work on with both sides of the aisle. Duncan’s first top will be today in Pittsburgh, where he’ll talk about the importance of collaboration, and then it’s on to Erie, Pa, where he will discuss the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Fund. View the entire bus tour schedule here.

Negotiations over Chicago extending its school days continues. The Chicago Tribune reports the city’s public schools officials have expanded their offer of financial incentives to schools and teachers in exchange for working longer hours. Three schools have voted to move to a longer day, despite union opposition.

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