Obama: I Will Keep Fighting for Preschool and College Access PK12: President Barack Obama used his very last State of the Union address to press for action on unfinished pieces of his agenda—including universal prekindergarten and offering two years of free community college to most students. See also Washington Post.
The President Wants Every Student To Learn Computer Science. How Would That Work? NPR: Adding a new, complex, technical subject to the curriculum won’t be easy. We hear from students, teachers, entrepreneurs and educators about the challenges.
Video excerpt of last night’s SOTU focused on education, via Slate.
New LA Unified superintendent signs $350,000 contract KPCC: The new superintendent’s $350,000 salary is $50,000 more than what predecessor Ramon Cortines was paid, and it’s roughly $47,000 more than her salary as chief deputy superintendent of schools. The nine-page contract provides King with a school district car and driver, and security if necessary. Outside consulting or employment must be approved by the school board. See also LA Times, LA Times.
Study: Low-scoring teachers tend to work in schools with high poverty rates Tribune: Overall, the consortium concluded there was a bigger difference between teacher scores “within schools than there is across schools,” noting that even the city’s highest-poverty schools also had teachers that logged high scores on the district’s evaluation system.
Conservative activist James O’Keefe targets Common Core with new hidden-camera video Washington Post: Video purportedly captures textbook sales rep saying companies embraced national academic standards because of their profit potential; she says comments were misconstrued, taken out of context.
