CER Daily Media Clips

Your Daily News Clips for March, 12 2021

CER Daily Media Clips for March 12, 2021

A deeper look at Catholic schools’ pandemic enrollment plunge

Mar 12, 2021 | National Catholic Reporter | catholic schools | National

In an unprecedented drop, U.S. Catholic school enrollment decreased by 6.4%, or more than 111,000 students, between fall of 2019 and the beginning of this school year.

Editorial: This isn’t the reopened school we’d expected

Mar 12, 2021 | Los Angels Times | teachers unions | Towns, States, West, California

Under L.A. Unified’s agreement with teachers, which is similar to those in other large California districts, students will still be taught remotely, but roughly half the time they’ll sit in classrooms on campus, if that makes any sense. Instead of traveling from classroom to classroom for each subject, they will stay with their advisory teacher — in the modern version of homeroom — and learn online from other teachers in other classrooms.

Struggling Boston teens find few support options, fueling record absentee rates

Mar 12, 2021 | Boston Globe | accountability | Towns, States, Northeast, Massachusetts

School district data shows that a full 40 percent of high school juniors and seniors were chronically absent between September and December; that means they missed at least 10 percent of classes. That’s a substantial increase — 500 students — from the same period the previous year. For the younger grades, the increase was far less substantial: fourth-graders, for example, went from a rate of 13 to 16 percent.

Community learning pods aim to meet shifting needs as Minnesota schools return to class

Mar 12, 2021 | Star Tribune | learning pods | Towns, States, Midwest, Minnesota

Since November, the Hope Youth Center has been operating its community learning pod in a donated former office space in the Midtown Exchange building. But now, faced with few ongoing funding sources and the gradual reopening of area middle and high schools, the center's leaders — who have so far been mostly volunteering their time — must decide how to proceed and what to offer this summer and fall.

Shifting gears with an education omnibus

Mar 12, 2021 | Montana Free Press | state policy | States, West, Montana

A major piece of education policy now in the Senate proposes to enhance local control, strengthen work-based learning and address Montana’s teacher shortage, all at the same time.

Arkansas Board of Education approves LISA Academy hybrid school

Mar 12, 2021 | Northwest Arkansas Gazette | charter schools | Towns, States, South, Arkansas

The Education Board’s vote Thursday allows for an increase in the charter system’s enrollment by 1,050 students to accommodate the addition of the hybrid school and an additional 200 students to the 300-student cap at the LISA Springdale campus.

Bill to allow local tax dollars to follow the child to a charter school advances

Mar 12, 2021 | Alabama Political Reporter | charter schools | States, South, Alabama

The House Ways and Means Education Committee on Wednesday voted to advance a bill that would allow some local tax dollars to follow a child to a public charter school. House Bill 487 is sponsored by state Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur.

New ruling could force School District of Palm Beach County to share millions in taxpayer money

Mar 12, 2021 | WPTV | charter schools | Towns, States, South, Florida

After voters overwhelmingly approved a tax hike in 2018 to benefit district schools and exclude charters, the charter schools fought back and now claimed a new victory involving your tax money.

Parents sue San Diego Unified for failing to provide in-person instruction

Mar 12, 2021 | San Diego Union Tribune | parent power | Towns, States, West, California

Three parents filed a class-action lawsuit against San Diego Unified this week alleging that the state’s second-largest school district failed to provide sufficient in-person learning and sufficient access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bear Grass Charter School teachers take extra time to help students after school

Mar 12, 2021 | WITN | charter schools | Towns, States, South, North Carolina

Bonds said they wanted to reach all students grades 6-12, and so to help those who are falling behind, ten teachers dedicated an extra hour of their workday to offer their one-on-one support.

Supreme Court says school boards need to defend rejection of first charter school applicant

Mar 12, 2021 | West Virginia Metro News | charter schools | States, South, West Virginia

West Virginia’s Supreme Court has issued an order requiring the Monongalia County board of education to defend why it rejected the state’s first charter school application.

‘I almost gave up’: A year in the life of Maryland students during the pandemic

Mar 12, 2021 | Baltimore Sun | other education issues | Towns, States, South, Maryland

The Baltimore Sun interviewed more than a dozen students, ages 8 to 18, about their year of learning in a pandemic. Brothers from Frederick County were sent to relatives in Montana so they could attend high school in person. Highlights for a 9-year-old from Towson are the friends he made in a private learning pod and the fort he built in his neighborhood’s woods. A 10th grader at Perry Hall High School delivered her lines for a school play to a computer in her bedroom.

Bellevue parents rally to reopen more schools

Mar 12, 2021 | KING5 | parent power | Towns, States, West, Washington

The Bellevue Education Association said it continues to negotiate with the Bellevue School District over how and when to bring more kids back to in-person learning.

Charlie Baker administration blasts Massachusetts teachers unions for trying to ‘divert’

Mar 12, 2021 | Boston Herald | teachers unions | States, Northeast, Massachusetts

Long-simmering tensions over the state’s decision to force a full return to school before vaccines are widely available for educators reached a boiling point as teachers unions excoriated the Baker administration for accusing them of trying to take shots “away from the sickest, oldest and most vulnerable.

Some LAUSD parents not happy about secondary schools reopening guidelines

Mar 12, 2021 | ABC7 Los Angeles | teachers unions | Towns, States, West, California

“My two boys are supposed to go school to sit in class and watch Zoom while their vaccinated teacher is teaching them from the comfort of their home. I couldn't believe it. They have had so much time to get this right. Not weeks, months. To look at best practices,” said Joel Delman, a father of two LAUSD students.

Teacher’s union continues opposition over school reopening law

Mar 12, 2021 | Carolina Journal | teachers unions | States, South, North Carolina

Even as a bill to reopen schools across North Carolina garnered unanimous bipartisan support and was fast-tracked through the legislature, North Carolina’s teacher’s union released a statement blasting Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and lawmakers from both political parties for the compromise.

How a Roanoke micro-school is faring one year into the pandemic

Mar 12, 2021 | WFXR | innovation | Towns, States, South, Virginia

What started as a couple of kids and a private tutor eventually turned into 11 students ranging from Kindergarten through second grade and two teachers.

House backs bill to make state pay parents who pull their kids from school because not in-person

Mar 12, 2021 | Idaho Press | school choice | States, West, Idaho

Idaho would be required to pay parents who pull their kids out of public school because the school isn’t providing in-person instruction at least four days a week, under legislation that passed the House today on a 55-15 vote. Freshman Rep. Codi Galloway, R-Boise, the bill’s sponsor, told the House, “It seems almost silly to talk about early literacy intervention if our kids aren’t going to school, and that is the case for many in this state.

WV Legislature close to passing unprecedented bill funding religious-, private- and home-school educ

Mar 12, 2021 | Gazette-Mail | school choice | States, South, West Virginia

The bill that would initially offer money to any parents who remove their children from public schools, and would later grow to subsidize any family that never intended to use public schools at all, has almost passed the West Virginia Legislature.

South board doubles down on voucher bills opposition

Mar 12, 2021 | Journal Review | school choice | Towns, States, Midwest, Indiana

South Montgomery’s school board is doubling down against a pair of bills that would expand Indiana’s private school voucher program and take millions of dollars away from public schools.

Commentary: Kansas Legislature takes first step in re-imagining the educational future

Mar 12, 2021 | Wichita Eagle | innovation | States, Midwest, Kansas

The past year has highlighted how important it is to bridge the opportunity gaps in our educational system. As these gaps were exacerbated by pandemic-related school closures, working parent, single parents, students, teachers, and thousands of other Kansans worked through various levels of frustration attempting to navigate uncharted waters.

Green Bay diocese schools report increased voucher interest

Mar 12, 2021 | WLUK | school choice | Towns, States, Midwest, Wisconsin

Catholic schools in the Green Bay diocese say they're seeing a rise in interest in the voucher program this year.

After last-minute allowance for some private schools, House passes school choice bill

Mar 12, 2021 | Louisville Courier Journal | school choice | States, South, Kentucky

After three hours of discussion and a frenzy of attempted amendments, the Kentucky House passed an omnibus school choice bill Thursday evening.

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