Emma Brown | The Washington Post

“The Senate education committee voted 16 to 6 in favor of confirming John King Jr. as U.S. Education Secretary on Wednesday, cementing education as a rare area of bipartisan compromise in an otherwise deeply divided Congress.

King’s nomination now goes to the full Senate for final approval.

King, 41, has been serving as acting secretary since his predecessor Arne Duncan stepped down at the end of 2015. A former teacher, principal and charter-school founder, he led New York’s state education department from 2011 until 2014, when he joined the U.S. Education Department.”

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New York Daily News

“What if I told you there is a city in America where an all-out war is being waged on public schools that effectively educate low-income black and Latino children? That there is an effort to deprive these children of the funding they require and deserve? And that the assault is legal, legislative — and spearheaded by a series of white-led organizations?”

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New York Post

“New York City’s bad public schools are growing worse — and the proof comes from the exam to win entry into the top high schools.

This year, just 3.6 percent of black students scored high enough to attend a school like Bronx Science, Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech — down from 4 percent the year before. Just 5.3 percent of Hispanic students made it, down from 5.6 percent.

And the 2015 black-Hispanic numbers were themselves down from the 2014 level.

In contrast, 54 percent of Asians did well enough on the 2016 test, and 29.3 percent of white students, to win admission.”

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The New Yorker

“One of the most intriguing moments in Sunday night’s Democratic debate came when CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton, ‘Do you think unions protect bad teachers?’ In the Democratic Party, few subjects are as incendiary as education. On one side of the issue are the reformers, such as Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, who support charter schools, regular testing, and changing labor contracts to make it easier to fire underperforming teachers. On the other side are the defenders of public schools, such as Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, who are seeking to impose limits on the charter movement, modify testing requirements, and stand up for teachers.”

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The 74

“What organizers like to call ‘society’s true rock stars: educators’ — and an ever-expanding orbit of tech innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and media types focused on teaching and learning — are again set to converge next week in Austin for the sixth annual South By Southwest Education (SXSWedu) Conference & Festival.

It’s a dizzying and deep four-day gathering that kicks off Monday with a keynote address by famed autistic author and animal science professor Temple Grandin on the different ways people think when solving problems and culminates Thursday with a presentation by LRNG CEO Connie Yowell on the $25 million effort (thank you MacArthur Foundation) to close the opportunity gap for young people by creating a connected, digital catalog of in-school and out-of-school learning and career experiences. LRNG was tapped just last week to be part of the White House’s summer jobs initiative.”

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Newsday

“NYC’s Department of Education — and Mayor Bill de Blasio — have stridently argued over the last few weeks that concerns over potential increases in school violence are unfounded. And yet, it seems, they’re not willing to prove it.

When the city came under fire for supposedly under-reporting incidents of school violence last month, it became clear that fueling that was a discrepancy in how school incident data are reported and categorized. The city maintains a data set, and then reports it to the state, which puts it all online, by school. But the state’s system categorizes incidents differently from the city, and the city’s data set is not online.”

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Fox 5 NY

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) – There have been two school slashings in Brookyn this week and some parents are questioning the city’s new policy on reporting violence in the classroom.

One of the attacks happened at Legal Studies High School in East Williamsburg. The school safety agent who tried to intervene was bit in the hand.

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HuffPost Education

“The film ‘Spotlight’ deservingly took home the top Oscar Sunday night for its portrayal of the Boston Globe’s hugely consequential investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests. The story was published in 2002, and the investigations into clergy sex abuse mushroomed around the world.

Fast forward 14 years and change the topic from church to school, because sex abuse by teachers and school staff is frighteningly alive and well in America. And, quite tragically, it might just be the only ‘equity’ we see in the system. Sexual predators find ways to hide among children, and they don’t care if they’re rich or poor or black, brown or white.”

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New York Daily News

“The era of fighting to improve education in New York, including for low-income kids, is over.

Welcome to the age of inertia. The only question: How much will the state Board of Regents water down standards and retreat from holding adults accountable for student performance?

Panel members, including a chancellor, set education policy. They are appointed not by the governor but by the state Assembly. But the Assembly is dominated by allies of the teachers’ unions — and those unions are verging on a takeover.”

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