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How States and Schools Are Working to Grow Young Voters

States are tweaking voter registration laws for teenage voters and schools are busing students to the polls. Will these efforts help young people get in the habit of voting?




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Next Stop for Widespread Teacher Activism? North Carolina

Thousands of North Carolina teachers will take leave on May 16 to protest at the state capitol, forcing some school districts to close.




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Educators Who Ran for Office Share Their Lessons Learned (Video)

Watch a discussion between three educators who ran for their state legislatures about their experiences on the campaign trail.




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A RedForEd Wave: Teachers in North and South Carolina Leave Classrooms in Protest

A sea of red swept the capitals of North and South Carolina on Wednesday, as thousands of teachers turned out to demand higher pay and more school funding.




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The Latest in a Season of Protests: N.C. Teachers Will Rally on Wednesday

Thousands of teachers will head to the state capital on Wednesday to call for a nearly $10,000 raise over four years and an increase to per-pupil spending.




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Two More Statewide Teacher Protests Are on the Horizon

Teachers in North Carolina and Oregon plan to walk out of their classrooms in protest in May.




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Hidden Segregation Within Schools Is Tracked in New Study

When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.




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North Carolina Awards $12 Million Dollar Grant to Improve Literacy Instruction

A $12.2 million dollar grant from the state Department of Public Instruction will go to a program based at North Carolina State University to provide additional training literacy training to teachers in 16 high-needs districts across the state.




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How America's Leaders Have Failed Educators on COVID-19

Principals and superintendents are caught between politicians’ demands, an anxious public, and experts’ contrary advice about the path forward during the pandemic. The unspoken message: You’re on your own.




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'We Need to Face Reality': Oklahoma Teachers' Union Ends the Walkout

The Oklahoma Education Association has ended the nine-day statewide walkout, saying legislators are unwilling to consider any additional revenue-raising measures.




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Who Shows Up for Teachers? Coalition-Building in the Era of Educator Activism

"Teaching is a political act," argues teacher-turned-politician John Waldron. And it's going to take more organizing to rescue public education.




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Election Night Brings Highs and Lows for Oklahoma Teachers

About a dozen teachers running for state legislative seats gathered with their supporters in Tulsa for a watch party on election night. The results were better for some than others.




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I Was an Angry Teacher Fighting for Better Education Policy. Now, I'm Shaping It

What goes on behind all the closed doors in politics? Most teachers never get a chance to find out, writes teacher-turned-politician John Waldron.




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The War on Teachers Comes to Oklahoma

The West Virginia teachers strike is over, but the fight for teacher pay rages on, write Lawrence Baines and Jim Machell.




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How Schools Will Overcome the 'Coronavirus Slide:' Ideas From 5 Superintendents

With many school buildings closed for the rest of the academic year—and more to follow—district leaders turn their attention to making up for what may be deep learning losses.




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Will Child-Care Services Help Recruit Teachers? Oklahoma District Aims to Find Out

A small school district in Oklahoma plans to offer low-cost daycare services to its employees next year in an effort to better compete with larger districts when it comes to recruiting and retaining teachers.




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Aging Buildings. Poor Ventilation. What Will It Take to Keep Coronavirus Out of Schools?

Spending millions to guard against COVID-19 spread, district leaders also must convince parents school buildings are safe.




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High Court Backs Oklahoma Tribe's Reservation Status, With Potential School Implications

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a large swath of land in Oklahoma is still an American Indian reservation, a decision that may have ramifications for education.




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Where They Are: The Nation's Small But Growing Population of Black English-Learners

In five northern U.S. states, black students comprise more than a fifth of ELL enrollment.




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Schools Lean on Staff Who Speak Students' Language to Keep English-Learners Connected

The rocky shift to remote learning has exacerbated inequities for the nation's 5 million English-learners. An army of multilingual liaisons work round the clock to plug widening gaps.




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Supreme Court Won't Hear Challenge to Union Exclusive Representation

The justices declined to take up a major challenge to exclusive-bargaining arrangements for teachers' unions and other public employee labor organizations.




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How One School Avoided a COVID-19 Outbreak and Shutdown

Strict protocols and limited community spread helped a Maine high school stay open for in person instruction when its first coronavirus case turned up.




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New investigator picked for Bangor High School racism probe




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Yonkers, N.Y., District Commits to More Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights said that some students were placed in self-contained special education settings without an individualized justification for doing so.




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N.Y. Private Schools Didn't Have to Report Abuse to Police. A New Law Changes That.

Private schools in New York soon will be required to report suspected sexual abuse of students in their schools to law enforcement, bringing the independent schools under the same rules as public schools.




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Educational Opportunities and Performance in New York

This Quality Counts 2020 Highlights Report captures all the data you need to assess your state's performance on key educational outcomes.




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Schools Are Required to Teach Mental-Health Lessons This Fall in Two States. And That's a First.

Students returning to schools in Virginia and New York this fall will be required to participate in mental-health education as part of their health and physical education courses.




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New York Denied ESSA Waiver to Test Students With Disabilities Off Grade Level

The state will be required to test all students using grade level tests, except for those with significant cognitive disabilities.




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New York Takes Final Step to Separate State Test Scores From Teacher Evaluations

The New York state legislature passed a bill that would make the use of state test scores in these evaluations optional, leaving the decision up to districts and making it subject to collective bargaining.




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A Teacher's Diary of a Week of School Closure

It's hard to keep the coronavirus crisis in perspective, especially when that perspective keeps shifting, writes New York City teacher Colin Lieu.




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New York City Schools Will Stay Closed for Academic Year, Mayor Says

Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed back on the Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement, however, saying "no decision" had been made about reopening schools in New York City or elsewhere in the state.




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State targets emerging virus clusters in western, central NY




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NYC virus rate stays below school-closing threshold, for now




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Mayor: No in-person learning for upper grades until new year




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Nebraska School Cook Who Served Kangaroo Meat to Students Is Fired

A school cook in Nebraska was canned after he mixed kangaroo meat into chili made for students.




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Why Is Fidelity Always Seen as the New Four-Letter Word?

Fidelity is often seen as a bad word in school, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this guest blog by George Toman, the concept of fidelity is explained and defended.




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New Public Data Tool Lets You See What Curricula Schools in Nebraska Are Using

Nebraska's education department released an interactive instructional materials map last week, showing what curricula districts have adopted for English-language arts, math, and K-8 science.




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Paraprofessional With 'Gentle Spirit' Dies at 27 From COVID-19

A former high school athletic standout and homecoming king, Pedro Garcia III “could connect with anybody,” no matter the language, said a teaching colleague in Cozad, Neb.




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Home Schooling Is Way Up With COVID-19. Will It Last?

The shift could have lasting effects on both public schools and the home-schooling movement.




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Winter sports practices, extracurriculars allowed to resume




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Ohio lawmakers OK revamp of eligibility for school vouchers




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Georgia high school tests won't count toward student grades




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Holcomb announces pick for new Indiana education secretary




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Alabama superintendent wants schools to remain in-person




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Teacher vacations one reason to close schools in New Mexico




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Arizona winter high school sports delayed to January




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No More Snow Days, Thanks to Remote Learning? Not Everyone Agrees

An increasing number of schools are replacing snow days with remote learning, but some plan to stick with the snow day tradition for now.




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Teachers call for full remote learning, absent new protocols




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Theater Educators Struggle to Keep Shows Going Amid COVID-19

Convinced that the show must go on, many high school theater troupes are turning to livestreamed productions, outdoor performances, and radio plays.




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We Americans Risk Losing the Ability to Govern Ourselves. Better Civics Education Can Help

The ability to discern fact from fiction and to recognize reliable news is fundamental, writes News Literacy Project’s Charles Salter.