Afternoon announcements: The Dalai Lama tweets about education

The Dalai Lama has chimed on education, on twitter no less. His thoughts: “Education is the way to achieve far-reaching results, it si the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society.” The Answer Sheet

Jon Stewart responds to critics of pre-kindergarten funding in this video. The Daily Show

Students in Iowa who were excited to visit the White House for a tour are feeling the impact of sequestration, as all tours have been suspended due to the budget cuts. However, the Easter Egg Roll is still a go. Education Week

Philadelphia officials voted to close 23 schools as public education supporters rallied on Thursday to save them. More than a dozen people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges. Education Week

Diane Ravitch, an education historian and modern reform critic, has begun her own education advovacy organization, named Network for Public Education. The organization will support candidates who oppose high-stakes testing, mass school closures, and a move towards charter schools. Politics K-12 Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: March 30, 2012

Happy Friday! Before rushing out to enjoy the weekend, get your last educational news fix for week with the latest headlines below.

From Education Week, as the U.S. House of Representatives debates a Republican budget for 2013 that would cut taxes and federal spending, Senator  Tom Harkin (D-IA) is offering a countermeasure that would spend more money on things like education and workforce training, and eliminate some corporate tax breaks.

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Morning Announcements: February 29, 2012

Good Morning and Happy Leap Day! February 29 only comes around once every four years so enjoy it now before you don’t see it again until 2016.

Education Week reports that the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a largely partisan, GOP-backed legislation reauthorizing portions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The bills, both introduced by U.S. Representative John Kline of Minnesota, would scale down the federal role in education and give states much more control when it comes to K-12 policy.

Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson is calling for national standards to guide educators in investigating claims of cheating on standardized tests, according to the Washington Post.  She contends that without those standards, school districts will continue to be second-guessed in their efforts to probe and punish such misconduct.

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Morning Announcements: February 23, 2012

Good Morning! Before you head to lunch, catch up on the latest in education news with the following headlines.

Anti-bullying initiatives made be having an impact in the classroom and schools across the county. According to the Associated Press, violent crime in U.S. schools is declining, and students and schools are reporting less bullying and gang activity. This is welcome news for anti-bullying advocates.

After protests from unions, community activists and parents, Chicago’s public school board voted to shake up the teaching staffs at 17 low-performing public schools. As the Wall Street Journal reports, this is a minor victory for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in his battle with the teachers union over his aggressive stance on education overhauls. The debate over school closure continues.

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Stats that Stick: February 22, 2012

Number of public schools in Chicago that are in danger of closing: 17

Community activists, parents, students and union leaders all across the Midwestern city are gathering at the headquarters of Chicago Public Schools to object to a reform package that includes closing or overhauling 17 struggling schools. They hope to pressure the board to reject the measure.

Number of public schools in New York that are in danger of closing: 33

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seeking to close of 33 of the city’s struggling schools. In addition, city officials have called off plans to head to Albany, the state capitol, to petition the New York State Department of Education to restore federal funding for the schools. Read Entire Post

Morning Announcements: February 22, 2012

Enjoy the middle of the week fatigue, but before exhaustion sets in, take in the latest headlines in education!

Education Week brings you a new report by the New Teacher Center. The report scrutinizes states’ teacher-induction policies and finds as there are more and more novice teachers in the ranks of the profession, states' teacher induction policies are generally disorganized.

Teachers continue to be the focus of educational reform. According to the Associated Press, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy is pushing for tightening teacher tenure rules, contending that the state has some teachers who "don't belong" in the classroom. Tough words for tough reform.

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Morning Announcements: February 17, 2012

Thank goodness it’s Friday! We get a double dose of goodness this weekend with an extra day to kick back and relax. Well, actually, you get a triple dose of goodness because we’re also bringing you the latest in education news. Enjoy your weekend and enjoy the clips!

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing ahead with a plan to update the federal No Child Left Behind education law according to the Associated Press. This plan would incorporate shifting more control to states and school districts in determining whether children are learning.  As Education Week reports, the focus of education reform for the GOP is deciphering what is the right role for the federal government to play in helping to improve K-12 education?

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Morning Announcements: February 10, 2012

Enjoy your Friday Morning Announcements quickly before you head off to your Friday afternoon hiatus.

The New York Times (NYT) is providing all sorts of tidbits in the realm of education news today. The editorial staff wants you to know of a city board’s vote to close 18 poor-performing schools and eliminate the middle school grades at five others, despite a show of the strong voices of opposition from protestors including hundreds of teachers’ union members, parents and students.

The NYT also shines a light on the growing disparities between the rich, middle class, and poor and how economic hardships transfer into educational gaps in productivity. The achievement gap between affluent and low-income students is widening but is often over-looked when compared to the gap between white and black students. The racial achievement gap has actually narrowed.

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Afternoon Announcements: January 26, 2012

Don't fret. It is Thursday and the incentive to Thursday is... it's almost Friday. But since we're not quite there take a break from the huslte and bustle and get up-to-date in the world of education and educational reform.

The Alliance for Excellent Education is highlighted in the New York Times as they pinpoint President Obama’s call during the State of the Union address for every state to require students to stay in school until they turn 18. This would be the federal government’s first direct involvement in an issue that many state and local governments have been reluctant to address. Alliance President Bob Wise in the article mentions that the policy is a tough sell but would ultimately benefit the economies of all states that comply.

In other news, underperforming schools are the topic of the day and around the country proposed measures to address these institutions are creating a lot of controversy. In Washington D.C, a new study commissioned by Mayor Vincent C. Gray recommends that the city increase the number of high-performing charter schools. But according to the Washington Post, this would result in the turn around or closure of more than three dozen traditional public schools in D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods.

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Afternoon Announcements: January 5, 2012

Time is up, turn over your paper, drop your pencil. Stop all work, take a break and enjoy the latest in education news.

The changing ethnic makeup up of the United States presents many opportunities for cultural engagement and diversity within the classroom. However, as National Public Radio reports, the shifting in demographic also presents challenges for communities unequipped to keep up with rapidly developing populations. In Mississippi, Vardaman Elementary is set to become the state's first predominantly Hispanic school. This milestone has also made it difficult to find teachers able to assist Spanish-speaking students in adjusting to American classrooms.

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