Afternoon Announcements: April 9, 2012

Mondays are a little busy (and sluggish). Since we're bringing you the news a little later in the day today, that gave us ample opportunity to provide you with a little more. Enjoy!

Education Week poses an intriguing question regarding the potential effect of proposed budget cuts on your community’s K-12 program. If Congress forges ahead with big, giant across the board cuts set to hit (almost) every education program next January, the publication analyzes exactly what that would mean for you.

A way of gaging the expected impact of budget cuts in education programs in the look at schools in the state of Texas. The New York Times does just that and uncovers that budget cuts have increased class sizes, reduced services and supplies and thinned the ranks of teachers.

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Afternoon Announcements: March 23, 2012

Happy Friday. We’re sure you’re anxious to get a head start on your weekend celebrations but before you head out the door make sure you’re caught up on all the education news.

According to the Associated Press, the leader of the American Federation of Teachers called on Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and state lawmakers to boost funding for education in in the state, saying that teachers and schools already have sacrificed all they can.

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Morning Announcements: March 5, 2012

Greetings and Happy (or not-so-much) Monday! Get back into the grind of the 9-5 by being up-to-date on the latest in education news.

According to Stateline, after making sever cuts in the state budget, Florida Governor Rick Scott urged legislators to put back $1 billion toward K-12 education. Educators appreciate the help, but say they will still be struggling in 2013 because the restored education funds will not make up for the damage already done through cutbacks.

Budget cuts are also a key focus in New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s cuts to education and childcare may threaten city programs for children as reported by the New York Times. Advocates are concerned that cuts to the city’s child care and after-school programs could result in 47,000 children losing access to those services.

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Afternoon Announcements: January 13, 2011

Congratulations, you made it! Friday has arrived and soon you will be on your way to watching Saturday morning cartoons. That is, if you haven’t already started. But if you happen to still be in the office, enjoy the latest in education news.

The Washington Post reports the United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania has activated a hotline where citizens can report “suspected possible corruption in public education.” This stems from a probe of schools throughout the state regarding improprieties from the 2009 PSSA tests.

According to the Associated Press, California educators and childcare advocates are protesting Governor Jerry Brown's proposal to dismantle a new program for children who are no longer old enough for kindergarten. The plan doesn't provide funding for "transitional kindergarten," a new grade level created when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that raised the starting age for kindergarten.

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Afternoon Announcements: January 10, 2012

The Alliance wishes you a productive (and quick) Tuesday. As you speed through the afternoon take in the latest in education news.

The state of New York has yet to comply with the goals it set when applying for financial assistance through the federal Race to the Top program. According to the New York Times, the state is one of three on the federal government’s watch list and therefore may be in jeopardy of losing federal aid.

The Los Angeles Times reports that federal reforms to address quality and accountability concerns are forcing more than 130 Head Start agencies to compete for funding. The report analyzes potential risks for the agencies.

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Stats that Stick: January 4, 2012

The end of the year 2011 is sure to provide many new stats and numbers on American educational development. Enjoy the first of what is sure to be many exciting stats for the year 2012.

Amount of dollars (in millions) donated to the University of Maryland by entrepreneur William Polk Carey: 30.

The founder of a New York-based investment firm donated millions of his $11.8 billion fortune to numerous Universities and institutions around the country. Carey died recently at the age of 81. The businessman's many donations included $30 million to the University of Maryland law school, $50 million to John Hopkins University for the Carey School of Business, and $50 million Arizona State University.

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Afternoon Announcements: August 4, 2011

In a recent Education Week blog post, the author asks, “Are 82 percent of schools ‘failing’ under NCLB, as Duncan warned?” According to the post, so far, most states that have released their results are not coming close to this number.

The New York Times reports that the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a blunt acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances.

In California and around the United States, the public, private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors alike are investing resources and forging new partnerships to address America's glaring education crisis in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) (Huffington Post)

Education Week reports that at least twenty-three states have approved cuts to K–12 education for the coming year, reductions that will shrink or eliminate a broad array of school programs and services, particularly those serving the neediest communities.

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Morning Announcements: July 6, 2011

Illinois high school juniors will no longer be tested on writing skills during the state's standardized tests every spring, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution elaborates on the investigation into Atlanta Public Schools’ cheating.

More states are defiant on NCLB compliance; some say they’ll flout the 2014 deadline on AYP, writes Education Week.

When asked about his role in overhauling England’s national history curriculum, famed historian Simon Schama understates his contributions by telling the Huffington Post, “It’s not a very sexy field.”

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Report Round-Up--The July 4th Holiday Edition

Happy Friday! As we close out the week before the Independence Day holiday, here's a quick look at some of the education-related reports that were released this week. If there's a report we missed that you think deserves to be mentioned, feel free to post a link to the report in the comments section.

Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: the Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College, released by the Center for Law and Social Policy. This report says the number of U.S. high school graduates is not projected to increase, regardless of academic improvement, because population demographic trends are pointing to lower numbers of graduates by 2020.

Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, by the National Research Council of the National Academies, seeks to answer the question, "what can schools do to provide all students with access to high-quality education in STEM?" It provides an overview of the landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective STEM education practices, and identifying some conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in STEM.

Strained Schools Face Bleak Future: Districts Foresee Budget Cuts, Teacher Layoffs, and a Slowing of Education Reform Efforts, by the Center on Education Policy. This report includes data from a survey of more than 400 school districts and finds that districts are facing a grim financial future and the situation won't get better any time soon.

And, finally, just to get you into that Fourth of July mood (if you're not there already), here's a short highlight video from the 2007 "A Capitol Fourth," PBS's annual coverage of the fantastic fireworks display on the National Mall, including wonderful shots of the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, and Lincoln Memorial.

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Morning Announcements: June 20, 2011

States seeking relief from the requirements of the 9-year-old No Child Left Behind Act are taking a wait-and-see approach to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s plan to offer those that embrace his reform priorities wiggle room when it comes to the law’s mandates, Education Week reports.

In the Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson writes about the great jobs mismatch:

One puzzle of this somber economy is the existence of unfilled jobs in the midst of mass unemployment. You might think (I did) that with almost 14 million Americans unemployed — and nearly half those for more than six months — that companies could fill almost any opening quickly. Not so. Somehow, there’s a mismatch between idle workers and open jobs. Economists call this “structural unemployment.”

Just how many jobs are affected is unclear; there are no definitive statistics. Economist Harry Holzer of Georgetown University thinks the unemployment rate might be closer to 8 percent than today’s 9.1 percent if most of these jobs were filled. That implies up to 1.5 million more jobs. Economist Prakash Loungani of the International Monetary Fund estimates that 25 percent of unemployment is structural; that’s more than 3 million jobs. A recent survey of 2,000 firms by the McKinsey Global Institute, a research group, found that 40 percent had positions open at least six months because they couldn’t find suitable candidates.

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