Become a more informed educator in minutes....

For years, many rural Texas school districts, often barely scraping by on lean operating budgets, have relied on their local representatives in the Republican-led state legislature to fend off school voucher programs. Some of these GOP lawmakers, along with many of their liberal colleagues from larger cities, have argued that giving families taxpayer dollars to send their children to private schools, or to educate them at home, would drain money from public schools. On the back of a multimillion-dollar political offensive led by Gov. Greg Abbott, and heavily funded by billionaire out-of-state allies committed to spreading school choice nationwide, that wall of resistance is now on the verge of collapse. Similar dynamics have been on display in other states where rural opponents, sometimes aligned with labor groups and teachers unions, have sought unsuccessfully to head off the school choice push. In Arkansas, lawmakers sent a phased-in school voucher plan to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last year after proponents overcame years of opposition from rural Republicans allied with Democrats. In Oklahoma, Tom Newell, a former Republican state legislator who works for a foundation that advocates for school choice, says rural resistance has also steadily diminished in that state too, enabling lawmakers to equip parents with education tax credits that became effective this year.

 

The 74 (Online)

The March 5 primary saw a high passage rate for school parcel taxes, but a lower rate for school construction bonds. While 91% of voters approved parcel taxes in 10 out of 11 districts, only 60% of school facilities bonds were passed in 24 out of 40 districts. However, experts believe that the passage rate for bonds will increase in the November elections, which historically have an approval rate of over 80%. The last state school construction bond proposal, named Proposition 13, was defeated in the March 2020 primary due to confusion among voters. The state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom are currently negotiating a school facilities bond proposal for the November ballot. With declining student enrollment, the focus would be on renovations and repairs, rather than new construction.

 

EdSource

With a majority of California third graders unable to read at grade level, proposed legislation would mandate teachers use the phonics-based science of reading. Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and 13 co-authors have proposed a bill that would update the state’s English curriculum with the science of reading, research that has found the best way to teach reading is through phonics, phonemic awareness, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The bill calls for more instructional materials and curriculum for classrooms to align with the science of reading. It also emphasizes the need for increased professional development for teachers, and more progress monitoring for students struggling with reading.

 

The 74 (Online)

Joe Trawick-Smith, a partner at the nonprofit Education Research Strategies, which provides consulting services to school districts, offers three tips for districts confronting budget shortfalls that may result in layoffs or staffing reductions. Designating a clear set of priorities for the district is a critical step in the budgeting process, and it can make decisions about where in the district to trim staff clearer, he suggests. Don’t try to preserve pieces of every program, Trawick-Smith adds, before recommending that officials communicate budget realities to community members "early and often."

 

Education Week

State lawmakers are increasingly championing new mandates to force the issue of teacher pay raises. Nationally, despite states pumping more funding into public schools, average teacher pay has barely moved for decades. New education dollars have instead gone toward additional staff, healthcare costs, and rising pension obligations. The typical starting salary for public-school teachers was $43,000 in 2021-22, with significant regional variation. The overall average salary of a public-school teacher meanwhile was $66,397, about the same as it was in 1990, when adjusted for inflation. Last year, Arkansas set starting teacher pay at $50,000, a five-figure increase in many districts. In South Dakota earlier this month, Gov. Kristi Noem signed into law a minimum teacher salary of $45,000, which will rise with inflation. Other states considering new pay policies include Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina, and Virginia.

 

Wall Street Journal

President Joe Biden is to forgive roughly $6bn for 78,000 public service workers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a track designed for employees of government agencies or nonprofit organizations. The move brings the Biden administration’s total loan forgiveness to $144bn for approximately 4m borrowers.

 

Chalkbeat