I’m off to an elementary school today to talk about writing! I hope I manage to teach them something. But first, the newsblitz:
- Del Mar schools are planning to cut about 50 teaching jobs, the Union-Tribune reports. Teacher layoffs are also planned in Vista, the North County Times writes.
- KPBS reports on a new legal compact that helps smooth the way at school when military kids move from state to state. The Daily Transcript describes it in some more detail. Check out our earlier article about the problems facing military kids.
- The Los Angeles Unified superintendent is leaving the board of an educational publisher to avoid complaints about a perceived conflict of interest, the Los Angeles Times writes.
- In the San Francisco Chronicle, a Bay Area superintendent asks: Are schools content to live in this state of mediocrity?
- Sacramento schools are proposing to balance their books with administration cuts, the Bee reports. Surveys from the school district found that employees were most concerned about keeping classes small.
- The Oakland Tribune follows up with reader responses to its troubling article about easy As and low standards in an Oakland school.
- Educated Guess blogs about the technical problems that have halted the rollout of a statewide data system meant to help get better information about what makes students succeed or fail.
- Jay Mathews at the Washington Post writes that the new law allowing parents to spur school turnarounds in California is “a confusing distraction” to school reform.
- The Fordham Institute has a new report out on public schools that serve very few poor children. The group dubs them “private public schools.” Here’s their list of schools near San Diego that fit that bill.
- Walt Gardner blogs that teachers are left out of educational decisions too often.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that teacher layoffs across the country are sparking more questions about the “last in, first out” system of laying off teachers based on seniority.
- Well, this is creepy: A family claims that schools outside of Philadelphia used laptops to spy on students at home by activating webcams without their permission, the Associated Press reports.
— EMILY ALPERT