Voucher Battles Continue Across the Country | NEA Today:
Voucher Battles Continue Across the Country
By Rita Zeidner
In August, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a New Orleans federal court to enjoin the state from awarding school vouchers to students attending school in districts operating under a federal desegregation order. According to DOJ, Louisiana has given vouchers to students in at least 22 of the 34 districts remaining under desegregation orders, undermining the desegregation process.
Louisiana’s voucher program suffered an additional challenge in May when, in an unrelated case, the Supreme Court of Louisiana upheld a lower court’s ruling that the voucher program violates the state’s constitution by illegally diverting money earmarked for public schools to private and religious institutions.
At least two other state courts, however, were more favorable to voucher programs.
The Indiana Supreme Court concluded in May that the state’s two-year-old school program doesn’t violate the state’s required separation between church and state—even when voucher dollars fund religious
How Much Freedom to Give Kids With School-Issued iPads?A growing number of school districts across the U.S. are handing out tablet computers and integrating the devices into their curriculum. But the old issue of how much Web access kids should have on school-issued devices is growing more complicated as kids surf on multiple devices and access multiple networks at home, school, public hot spots and more. Source: KQED MindShift Related posts: For Low-
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Colorado Education-Tax Measure FailsA ballot measure to raise income taxes to fund education in Colorado failed by a wide margin Tuesday, two years after state voters rejected a similar plan to increase taxes for schools. Roughly 66% of voters had rejected the tax proposal, with 85% of Colorado precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. The measure, known as Amendment 66, would have raised close to $1 billion a year for
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Bus Drivers Work to Strengthen Trespassing Laws on School BusesBy John Rosales Most trespass violations on a school bus are typically parents boarding the bus to check on their children. “Their intentions are harmless,” says Donna Nielsen, a school bus driver for 27 years. “But anyone entering a school bus can affect the safety of the students on board.” That’s why it is against the law in most states for any unauthorized person to board a school bus. In many
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Education Cuts Hang in Balance as Budget Haggling BeginsEducation advocates are keeping close tabs on a congressional conference committee charged with coming up with a budget solution in hopes that lawmakers may stop a series of blunt, across-the-board cuts known as sequestration. The cuts, which have already eliminated thousands of Head Start slots and caused some schools near Native American reservations and military bases to lay off staff, are slat
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Experts say Education Needs a Technological and Cultural ChangeWhile some technology enthusiasts celebrate new gadgets as the solution to the many challenges faced in the classroom, some educators say the answer is not the shiny new devices themselves, but how teachers use them. Education experts met Thursday in Washington to discuss both the potential of technology as a tool to help redesign teaching and learning, and the challenges of innovation in a static
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The Common Core Doesn’t Cut Literature – It Complements ItBy Cindy Long When it comes to fiction versus nonfiction, the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts isn’t “an either or thing,” says Marfè Ferguson Delano, a nonfiction children’s book writer whose books often connect her young readers to novels on the subjects she writes about. “They’re both page turners.” Delano was speaking before a group of educators at National Geog
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has information to assist in planning and starting charter schools; evaluating charter school petitions; developing partnerships with other schools and local districts; and increasing student achievement in the classroom. Two charter school-related groups have been created for educators to share ideas.
