CER Daily Media Clips for April 13, 2021   Blue States Are Failing Their Students by Not Reopening Schools. Here’s How They Got It So Wrong Apr 13, 2021 | TIME | other education issues | National More than a year into the pandemic, the majority of K-12 students in blue states are still not attending school in person full-time. The failure to resume the normal rhythm of schooling in historically progressive states amounts to the most significant failure of public policy in a generation. Read More...     Teachers Union Switches Stance, Now Endorses CDC Guidance on School Reopenings Apr 13, 2021 | US News & World Report | teachers unions | National The head of the powerful American Federation of Teachers blessed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recent revision of social distancing in schools after initially saying it didn't take into account the unique challenges facing the country's urban schools and was made after mounting pressure from interest groups rushing to reopen schools for in-person learning. Read More...     Arizona and Florida Point the Way to Better K-12 Education | Opinion Apr 13, 2021 | Newsweek | school choice | National Arizona and Florida have done the most to take up this challenge to diversify schools. Both states have seen strong gains in overall academic performance—as well as large achievement gains for low-income students, students with disabilities and minority students. Back in the early 1990s, both states had student bodies that were more than 60 percent white and scored very poorly on national exams. Today both have “majority-minority” student populations and much higher academic achievement. How'd they do it? Read More...     Opinion: Great Schools Are the Solution to Educational ‘Segregation’ Apr 13, 2021 | Wall Street Journal | charter schools | Towns, States, Northeast, New York New York could replicate Success Academy’s winning model, but standing up to the bureaucracy will take courage. Read More...     Catholic school creates program for public school students who fell behind due to COVID Apr 13, 2021 | The Republican | catholic schools | Towns, States, Northeast, Massachusetts In the fall, a group of students will leave their public middle school and head to Arlington Catholic High School for the first time. They’re not considered freshmen. But they’re also not in eighth grade anymore.They’re in-between. The program, which the school is referring to as a bridge program, was created out of need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of students in Catholic and private schools in Massachusetts have been in-person learning since September, while some public school students have yet to step foot back in a classroom in more than a year. Read More...     L.A. Unified proposes a 2-week school year extension for student learning loss, trauma Apr 13, 2021 | Los Angeles Times | school districts | Towns, States, West, California Los Angeles school officials will consider a plan to extend the next school year by adding one week at the start in August and another week in January after winter break to address learning loss and trauma suffered by students during the yearlong pandemic-forced school closures, Supt. Austin Beutner announced Monday. Read More...     Pa. Senate education leaders need to give local taxpayers a break on cyber-charter costs | Opinion Apr 13, 2021 | Capital-Star | charter schools | States, Northeast, Pennsylvania School board members across the commonwealth are seeing red because the dollars they are sending to cyber- charter schools are spiraling out of control, putting intense pressure on local property taxes. Read More...     FEA rolls out another ad hammering union dues bill Apr 13, 2021 | Florida Politics | teachers unions | States, South, Florida The Florida Education Association launched another ad in a continuing campaign to defeat a pair of bills that teachers say would weaken their unions. Read More...     Coronavirus Caused Majority Of Urban Schools, Schools With More Students Of Color To Go Virtual Apr 13, 2021 | Wisconsin Public Radio | accountability | States, Midwest, Wisconsin Wisconsin's urban schools were more likely to have students learning all or mostly virtually, compared to less than half of suburban schools and less than 20 percent of rural schools for the 2020-21 school year, according to a new report. Read More...     Chicago Teachers Union prepares for possible walkout Wednesday over reopening plans Apr 13, 2021 | Chicago Tribune | teachers unions | Towns, States, Midwest, Illinois Chicago Teachers Union members could refuse to report to high schools starting Wednesday if they still don’t have a deal with the school district for reopening high schools.   Read More...     CPS firmly committed to reopening high schools next week despite CTU’s threat to stay remote Apr 13, 2021 | Chicago Sun-Times | teachers unions | Towns, States, Midwest, Illinois High school teachers and staff returned to in-person work Monday but could revert to remote teaching this week if a deal isn’t reached with CPS.   Read More...     Supporters rally to save Invest in Kids tax-credit scholarship program Apr 13, 2021 | The Center Square | school choice | States, Midwest, Illinois Supporters are rallying to protect Illinois’ tax-credit scholarship program. Under the “Invest in Kids” program, a state tax credit is available to individuals or businesses for donations made to authorized organizations. Those organizations then use the money to fund tuition scholarships for eligible students to attend a school of their choice. Read More...     One out of six Baton Rouge school teachers stayed home Monday as part of a protest Apr 13, 2021 | The Advocate | teachers unions | Towns, States, South, Louisiana About 16% of the teachers and instructional staff in East Baton Rouge Parish public schools opted to take Monday off, many in protest of a proposal from the new schools superintendent to shorten the summer break by two weeks and force many of them to change vacation and other plans. Read More...     Public educators express concern over school voucher program Apr 13, 2021 | WTHR | school choice | States, Midwest, Indiana Public educators are lining up against a plan to expand Indiana's school voucher program. Some lawmakers want to boost spending on the program by 25 percent and make it available to higher income-earning families. Read More...     Hillsborough school leaders ask state, new charter school rep about IDEA Public Schools Apr 13, 2021 | WFTS | charter schools | Towns, States, South, Florida Charter schools are a big reason funding is disappearing from Hillsborough County Public Schools, as well as many other districts across Florida. Read More...     Rooted School, a New Orleans charter with flexible learning plans, flagged for class credit issues Apr 13, 2021 | New Orleans Advocate | charter schools | Towns, States, South, Louisiana Nearly a dozen seniors at Rooted School, a charter school in New Orleans set to graduate its inaugural class this year, will have to make up credit hours before graduating after the school landed in hot water with district officials for having unusually flexible course offerings and other irregular academic policies. Read More...     Perspective: Enrollment declines and implications for North Carolina’s public schools Apr 13, 2021 | EdNC | enrollment | States, South, North Carolina COVID-19 has fundamentally disrupted many of the regular patterns and structures of daily life. As a consequence of these disruptions, many families have changed their decisions about where to send their children to school. Read More...     Thousands of San Diego kids go back to school, finally Apr 13, 2021 | The San Diego Union-Tribune | school districts | Towns, States, West, California Tens of thousands of San Diego-area students returned to classrooms Monday as their districts, some of the largest, were among the last in the county to open campuses for in-person instruction — to a mix of delight and nervousness among parents and educators. Read More...     Commentary: More Vermonters are choosing independent schools Apr 13, 2021 | Bennington Banner | school choice | States, Northeast, Vermont If the Auditor’s office wants to probe the costs and benefits of independent schools in Vermont, that’s great. Transparency and accountability are good things. But how about a fair, side-by-side comparison with the public school system, and not just on costs, but also on student outcomes? Parents are making those comparisons themselves today, and we’re seeing the results. Read More...     TPS joins lawsuit over charter schools funding Apr 13, 2021 | KTUL | charter schools | States, South, Oklahoma The vote to join the lawsuit was unanimous, and so was the decision not to speak to the media since TPS is now part of pending litigation. But Dr. Gist had plenty to say about the topic just a few weeks ago. Read More...     Educational reform hearing looks at better online learning, help for needy families Apr 13, 2021 | WHTM | online learning | States, Northeast, Pennsylvania It’s no secret this year has been challenging for education. State senators talked about how to make things better for Pennsylvania kids for generations to come on Monday. They covered everything from better online learning to getting more help to the neediest families. Read More...     Two plans, one inevitability: Florida to expand nation’s largest school choice program Apr 13, 2021 | The Center Square | school choice | States, South, Florida Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature will significantly expand the state’s school choice voucher program before the 2021 legislative session concludes April 30. Read More...

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