Weekly News Round-Up for January 18th

posted by: Melissa | January 18, 2019, 07:39 PM

Each week, KANAAE brings its members a round-up of what’s happening in education. From big, eye-catching headlines to the stories most papers overlook, we find the news our members really want to see. This week, a teacher strike, shut down effects, teacher raises, and more!

L.A. Teachers Walk Out of Classrooms: The nation’s second largest school district went on strike this week for the first time in 30 years. The financial problems leading up to the impasse are deep and have been years in the making. Both the school superintendent and the head of UTLA laid out their positions on the issues to the New York Times. Meanwhile, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the role of charter schools in the district is one of the main sticking points. Despite the strike’s anti-charter tone, teachers in some of the city’s charter schools are also striking. These schools had been unionized by UTLA, but also have their own sticking points with their school’s administration.

Federal Shutdown Beginning Reaches to Schools: The current federal shutdown is the longest in history and its effects are starting to reach into the classroom. Even though the Education Department is still funded, some school programs receive funds from other departments. The biggest effect is being seen in in the National School Lunch Program, which is funded through the Department of Agriculture. Some districts are already making changes to school lunches. At the same time, schools are having to find ways to support children of federal workers who come from homes that are suddenly struggling with poverty. Not all is bleak, some districts see opportunity in the shutdown. More than one district is reaching out to furloughed workers to help fill substitute positions.

Texas Lawmakers Grapple with Education Funding: The Texas Senate is filing a bill that would raise the salaries of teachers. The $5000 per teacher raise would cost the state $3.7 billion over two years. This is part of a wider effort to increase education funding in the state. The Texas House also has a funding bill that is about $3 billion larger than the Senate bill. Indiana is also taking steps to increase teacher pay, as is Georgia.

Happening Elsewhere:

Second Lady Karen Pence is stepping back into the classroom

Introducing the 2019 State Teachers of the Year

Why it’s getting harder to count poor children

Why U.S. classrooms are looking more like video game rooms

Verizon charges new “spam” fee for texts sent from teachers to students

5 tips for designing multiple-choice quizzes

National Teacher of the Year joins House education committee

Is our education system the right fit for American workers?

South Carolina hasn’t enforced classroom size limits since 2010. It’s starting to show.

South Carolina’s deep teacher shortage got even worse in 2018, school survey shows

Schools ask what's next after governor suspends standardized tests and teacher evaluations