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New Jersey Spotlight--New Jersey Hit with Major Lawsuit Arguing It Must End School Segregation
Legal action — led by former justice of state Supreme Court — looks to strike down law requiring students attend schools in their own communities
The New Jersey law that requires most children to attend public school within their communities has led to some of the worst school segregation in the nation, prompting a coalition to sue the state to overturn that law and potentially reshape the state’s system into one that is very different, and integrated.
Colleen O'Dea | May 18, 2018
NJ Spotlight--Op-Ed: An Open Letter to State Senate President Steve Sweeney
I'm not begging you for more money for Jersey City schools; I'm begging you for better policy
You think Jersey City schools’ dependence on state aid is unfair and unsustainable. As a Jersey City public school parent, a former member of the city’s board of education, and a local activist for increased funding from the city to the schools, I agree with you.
Ellen Simon | May 18, 2018
The Record--Segregated schools? Group challenges where NJ kids go to school, arguing system is biased
In a lawsuit that seeks to end what activists say is de facto segregation in New Jersey’s public and charter schools, a coalition of civil rights and other groups has sued the state to alter the long-standing practice of sending students almost exclusively to districts where they live.
Nicholas Pugliese, State House Bureau, Published 10:32 a.m. ET May 17, 2018 | Updated 6:21 p.m. ET May 17, 2018
New York Times--Why the Teacher Walkout Movement Won’t Reach Every State
DURHAM, N.C. — The nationwide teacher protest movement spread to a sixth state on Wednesday as thousands in North Carolina rallied at the Capitol for higher pay and more money for schools. It was the first mass walkout for teachers in the state.
In the months since the movement began, teachers have walked out in deep-red states and purple states; in states with booming economies and ones that are struggling; in states where school funding scrapes the bottom, and others where the numbers are closer to the national average.
Dana Goldstein| May 16, 2018
Education Week--Schools See Steep Drop in Librarians, New Analysis Finds
American schools—particularly those serving black and Latino students—have seen a precipitous drop in their school librarians since the Great Recession.
The nation’s public school districts have lost 20 percent of their librarians and media specialists since 2000, from more than 54,000 to less than 44,000 in 2015, according to an Education Week Research Center analysis of federal data. Many districts lost librarians even as student populations grew by 7 percent nationwide. For example, over the past decade in Denver public schools, student enrollment increased by 25 percent, but the number of librarians decreased by 60 percent.
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/05/16/schools-see-steep-drop-in-librarians-new.html
Sarah D. Sparks and Alex Harwin| May 16, 2018 | Corrected: May 17, 2018
