During February, twelve policy analysts published reports about what occurred in Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
PreK–12
Georgia: Michael Moore shares the report from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute that districts will get $167 million less in state funding.
Indiana: According to Janet Alsup, the Indiana State Board of Education’s approval of the new A–F School Grading Plan was controversial due to the lack of educator and public input and its heavy emphasis on standardized test scores. The public, however, has the opportunity to comment on the new rules.
Louisiana: Jalissa Bates shares Louisiana’s teacher recruitment campaign motto: “Be Irreplaceable. Be a Teacher.”
New York: Derek Kulnis notes that the US Department of Education denied New York’s request for testing waivers “designed to accommodate students with disabilities as well as for students who are still learning English.” Derek also reports that New York State’s graduation rate rose above 80 percent.
Ohio: Robin Holland reports that ECOT (the Electronic School of Tomorrow), a charter school, was terminated by school board members.
Oklahoma: Claudia Swisher documents the history of the Reading Sufficiency Act and the efforts of Oklahoma legislators to make sure third-grade students read at grade level.
P12/Higher Education
Michigan: Robert Rozema shares US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s support for arming teachers and request for Congress to hold hearings on school shootings.
South Dakota: Lisa Hazlett describes the controversy surrounding the proposed ending of collective bargaining for the Council of Higher Education, which represents faculty members of South Dakota’s six public universities. Lisa also discussed bills limiting the collective bargaining rights of public school administrators.
Higher Education
Connecticut: Stephen Ferruci shares the proposed merger of Connecticut’s twelve community colleges into one Community College of Connecticut with twelve branches, an idea opposed by faculty, students, and administrators.
Indiana: Janet Alsup reports that Indiana is considering SB 387, which would allow teacher candidates to receive an initial teaching license without passing the appropriate content exam provided by Pearson. She notes that teacher education institutions hoped the waiver process would originate with them rather than the state department of education.
Kentucky: Kim Creech analyzes the negative impact that Senate Bill 153, a performance-based funding bill, has on the humanities in institutions of higher learning. In particular, she notes the proposed shutdown of the University Press of Kentucky.
Louisiana: Bernard Gallagher describes Dual Enrollment: Promises and Problems.
Wyoming: Todd Reynolds writes that Governor Matt Mead signed an executive order calling for 67 percent of Wyoming residents between the ages of 25 and 64 to hold a post-secondary certificate by 2025 and for 82 percent to do so by 2040.