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I Don’t Feel Tardy: The Ultimate ‘Back to School’ Survival Guide for 2013
The Earth’s seasons will be rendered meaningless next Tuesday when Los Angeles Unified School District students are faced with the premature end of summer — Aug. 13, 2013 is the official first day of instruction for the “fall” session in the nation’s second-largest school district. L.A. Unified waits for no equinox. KPCC
Obama Administration Aloof as Lawmakers Tangle Over ESEA
Not since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 has Congress been so outwardly engaged in K-12 policy, yet most advocates remain pessimistic that there will be a new version of the flagship federal education law anytime soon. A big part of the reason: The Obama administration has little incentive to see a bill to revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act advance in the current legislative climate, in which lawmakers seem more likely to erode, rather than support, the president’s policy priorities. EdWeek
U.S. Education Department Seeks Advice on Testing-System Reviews
The U.S. Department of Education, which paused peer review of state assessment systems in December, now wants the public’s input on how to improve its process. EdWeek
Test Scores Sink as New York Adopts Tougher Benchmarks
The number of New York students passing state reading and math exams dropped drastically this year, education officials reported on Wednesday, unsettling parents, principals and teachers and posing new challenges to a national effort to toughen academic standards. New York Times
Gov. Jerry Brown Should Sign Assembly Bill 1266
California is probably about to become the first state to spell out in the law what school districts must do so that transgender students aren’t discriminated against. Stuff like letting them join the sports team or use the bathroom or locker room that matches their “gender identity,” which may not necessarily reflect their anatomy at birth. Sacramento News & Review
Gates Pours Millions in New Grants to Change Teaching Profession
The Gates Foundation is spending millions of dollars in new grants that will further its already vast and controversial influence on public education. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to to develop teacher assessment systems, it is putting many millions more into that issue, as well as into the creation of new online “adaptive” courses, the implementation of the Common Core standards, and more. Washington Post
Building Fighting Teachers Unions
It’s difficult to overstate the challenges facing public school teachers–and the children, parents and communities they serve–as the next wave of corporate-driven “education reform” takes shape. Socialistworker.org