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The Biden administration is set to issue regulations governing two programs in the American Rescue Plan, as well as the federal law governing the privacy of student records and a pilot for new student assessments, among other priorities. The list of upcoming rules also includes those that would affect magnet schools, charter school facilities, and preschool special education grants. One involves the American Rescue Plan’s $800m earmarked to support homeless students, a group that’s been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The Education Department says its rules for the program will apply to three-quarters of the funding and will focus on the formula that state education agencies use to provide subgrants to local school districts. The other concerns the relief package’s $2.75bn in relief for private schools; the department says this must go to private schools enrolling “a significant percentage of low-income students” and to “schools most impacted by COVID-19.” The government also plans to issue rules for the testing pilot authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal Charter Schools Program that’s designed to help states establish or enhance per-pupil funding for charter school facilities, and the federal Magnet Schools Program that will help “magnet schools that incorporate evidence-based designs and strategies that have been shown to both increase diversity and improve outcomes for students.”

 

Education Week

California's Berkeley USD is expected to have its budget for the upcoming school year approved this week. It plans to spend $173.6m, $8.5m of which will be dedicated to high need students, up from $3m the previous year. The board is also set to pass the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), a three-year plan designed to improve student achievement, particularly among vulnerable students. The plan is driven by specific goals, such as reducing the share of Black students at the high school earning a D or F from half down to a quarter. The district will spend $17.3m next year on the LCAP. The budget devotes an additional $610,000 to expand the Office of Family Engagement and Equity, hiring a director and two additional engagement specialists for King and Willard middle schools. An additional $220,000 for Bridge, a program that prepares primarily low-income students of color for college, will allow an additional cohort of students to enter next year. 

 

Bereleyside

A new set of assumptions approved by the Teachers’ Retirement System of Kentucky (TRS) will add $3 billion in unfunded liabilities to its books, and require up to $200 million more annually from the state budget. The $20.5 billion TRS provides retirement benefits to 56,629 retired Kentucky educators, with 73,151 more educators actively enrolled. Actuarial changes approved Monday will reduce the agency’s funding level from 58.4% to 54%, raising its unfunded liability ratio from $14.78 billion to $17.73 billion, according to a board presentation.

 

Kentucky.com

Since assuming the superintendency in Columbia, South Carolina's Richland School District Two in 2017, Baron Davis has overseen several key initiatives to diversify the school system's teacher workforce and academic offerings, as well as to fortify and enhance its facilities. In an interview with K-12 Dive Mr Davis, the first African American to lead the district, discusses his strategy for recruiting and retaining male teachers of color. He outlines the Premier 100 initiative he helped implement, which sees the district look to HCBUs for recruitment purposes, and provides mentorship for new teachers. 

 

K-12 Dive

Additional federal stimulus funding and pandemic instructional experiences are leading school administrators to revamp teacher professional development opportunities for this summer and early next school year so efforts lead to high-impact student outcomes. Some of the ambitious plans for teacher PD will center on instructional strategies, multi-tiered systems of support, ed tech, social-emotional learning, and equity and inclusion. Michael Lubelfeld, superintendent of the North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park, Illinois, said his school district has reenergized its focus on what works best in education and has taken guidance from John Hattie’s research on influences for student achievement. Some of the district’s PD will include explicit teaching strategies, phonics instruction and teacher efficacy. The emphasis on thoughtful and effective professional development after a year of turmoil in education is also coming from state education agencies and the U.S. Department of Education, which recommends school district staff training on identifying students experiencing homelessness or students with disabilities and educator training on improving instructional design and effective use of technology to support student learning.

 

K-12 Dive

Hawaii Gov. David Ige has threatened to veto 28 bills passed by the Legislature this year, including measures that would award bonuses to public school teachers. Ige said legislatures don’t have the authority to limit how an education agency — in this case the Hawaii Department of Education — uses federal relief money. He also complained that local education agencies had agreed bonuses in conference committee “and it is unclear whether any meaningful community consultation occurred.”

 

AP News

The U.S. Department of Education has formally approved the New York State Education Department's Accountability and Report Card Waiver for the 2020-21 school year. The waiver, requested in February 2021, addressed the "unique circumstances" brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials concerned by the "disparities across the State in learning modality and device/internet connectivity access." School leaders said these disparities significantly impact the department's ability to accurately judge individuals and overall school district performances.

 

WBNG

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has confirmed that the Schools Development Authority is to be restructured or moved under state control, after a political patronage scandal led to mass firings and unsuccessful internal reforms. After much controversy, it could be the second time the authority has been broken up and reconstituted in its two-decade existence. What was then the Schools Construction Corporation was found to have mismanaged millions of dollars through poor planning, excessive professional fees and lax oversight.

 

New Jersey Herald

The cleaning and maintenance of Chicago Public Schools’ 600-plus buildings is coming back under district control in October, after officials agreed to ditch contractors Aramark and Sodexo, which had complete control of buildings upkeep, management and human resources arrangements. Executives pledged increased staffing, better transparency and improved response times. Officials also hope that a three-year, $375 million contract with new vendor Jones Lang LaSalle will help to fix longstanding problems.

 

Chicago Sun Times

The Loudoun County Public Schools board cut short the public comment section of a meeting Tuesday, after a large crowd of unruly attendees refused to obey several orders to quiet down, leading to one arrest. Many of the speakers were there to express support or opposition for the Virginia district's draft policy that would require teachers to address transgender students by their names and pronouns, as well as grant transgender students access to facilities and activities that match their gender identity. Chair Brenda Sheridan (Sterling) warned the crowd several times to lower their voices, and referenced a school board policy that requires members of the public speaking at school board meetings to “refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, profanity or other . . . breaches of respect for the dignity of the School Board.” Members later voted unanimously to end the comment session and eventually resumed meeting in a scheduled closed session, and later in a session viewable online by the public.

 

Washington Post

A state plan that could triple the number of federally mandated tests Illinois students take in the coming years is being challenged by educators and parents alike, who fear such an expansion is "the last thing kids need" after the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic. Though the Illinois State Board of Education last week delayed a vote on the proposal, an estimated $200 million plan to replace the annual Illinois Assessment of Readiness for students in grades 3 through 8 during the next 10 years with three, interim assessments delivered in the fall, winter and spring of each school year, remains on the cards. Officials are determining details of the plan, including the scope, timeline, and cost of the assessments, and once finalized, will be asking private testing companies to submit proposals meeting those specifications, explains ISBE spokeswoman Jackie Matthews.

 

The Southern Illinoisan

A fresh poll by Ipsos indicates that most parents in Canada believe that remote instruction failed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many indicated concerns that virtual education will have a lasting impact and the majority want a full in-person return this fall.

 

Global News