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NJ Spotlight--Murphy Calls for Free Tuition at Community College, but at What Price?
Guadagno dings rival for panoply of expensive proposals, saying they’ll hit the middle class, not just millionaires and hedge-fund managers
Staying on an economic message that has been the bread-and-butter of his campaign, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Phil Murphy set a goal yesterday for New Jersey to begin offering tuition-free community college.
John Reitmeyer | September 19, 2017
Star Ledger--Phil Murphy: I'll bring tuition-free community college to N.J.
UPDATE: While Murphy initially said his tuition-free plan would cost as much as $400 million, a Murphy spokesman later clarified that the most it would cost would be $200 million.
TRENTON -- Democratic nominee for governor Phil Murphy on Monday formally announced a plan to offer tuition-free community college to all New Jerseyans.
"We simply do not have the workforce that we need," said Murphy, standing on the sidewalk of the Trenton Junior College & School of Industrial Arts and flanked by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. "We can and we must open the doors of opportunity, wide, for all residents."
Claude Brodesser-Akner| Updated on September 19, 2017 at 7:31 AM Posted on September 18, 2017 at 2:26 PM
Associated Press (via Seattle Times)--Common Core used widely, despite continuing debate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of the states that first endorsed the Common Core academic standards are still using them in some form, despite continued debate over whether they are improving student performance in reading and math.
Of the states that opted in after the standards were introduced in 2010 — 45 plus the District of Columbia — only eight have moved to repeal the standards, largely due to political pressure from those who saw Common Core as infringing on local control, according to Abt, a research and consulting firm. In Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to repeal the standards in 2014 less than six months after defending them in a speech. She said Common Core had become too divisive.
Twenty-one other states have made or are making revisions — mostly minor ones — to the guidelines. Illinois kept the wording while changing the name. In April, North Dakota approved new guidelines “written by North Dakotans, for North Dakotans,” but some educators said they were quite similar to Common Core. Earlier this month, New York moved to revise the standards after parents protested new tests aligned to Common Core, but much of the structure has been kept.
“The core of the Common Core remains in almost every state that adopted them,” said Mike Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/common-core-used-widely-despite-continuing-debate/
Maria Danilova| Originally published September 19, 2017 at 12:34 am Updated September 19, 2017 at 12:48 am
Education Week-- State School Chiefs Offer 'Playbook' on Improving Teacher Preparation
Schools chiefs from more than a dozen states have compiled a new "playbook" on how to improve teacher preparation, which includes advice for states on reforming teacher licensure, evaluating preparation programs, and using data to follow teacher education graduates.
It also points out states that are models for this work.
"We have high expectations for teachers once they get in the classroom, we should also train them in a way that enables them to reach those expectations," Chris Minnich, the executive director for the Council of Chief State School Officers, said in a Sept. 12 media call. "It's exciting to see state chiefs taking the lead on what that looks like."
CCSSO brought together a network of leaders from 15 states that have made improving teacher preparation a policy priority. "This was the promise of the network's members to future teachers: Those who invest their time, money, and dreams into becoming a teacher will be prepared in programs that will shape them into effective educators," the playbook says.
Liana Loewus on September 15, 2017 12:30 PM
