Will the New Law on Teacher Retirement Benefits Affect You? Hereās How to Know
President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law on Jan. 5, prompting hundreds of thousands of educators across the country to wonder whether theyād benefit from the new policy.
Advocates for teachers and retirees have been pressing for years for the federal government to get rid of Social Security policy provisions that limit benefits for certain groups of public-sector workers, including many educators. Congress has granted their wish, including with a rare unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate.
Some educators might see hundreds of dollars more per month in retirement benefits than they would have before this law passed. Some could see a smaller bump. And some wonāt be affected at all.
Itās not always easy to determine which group you fall into. Hereās our best attempt to sort out the policyās implications.
What Makes an Effective School Cellphone Policy? An Overview
Studentsā cellphone use has been one of the hottest topics in K-12 in recent years ā "cellphone banā was even Education Weekās phrase of the year for 2024.
Most educators are tired of the constant distractions the devices cause in classrooms. To address concerns around mental health and academic performance, districts across the country are limiting when and where students can use their personal devices.
Here, Education Week reporter Lauraine Langreo gives a rundown of how schools, districts, and states are addressing studentsā cellphone use and the challenges that come with it.
What Outcomes-Based Contracting Means for the K-12 Space
In this video, EdWeek Market Brief Staff Writer, Emma Kate Fittes, talks about how interest in outcomes-based contracts has shown up in her reporting, and what findings from the research center say about the emerging procurement model.
What's in Store for School Funding in the New Trump Administration
President-elect Donald Trump is poised to push for a major overhaul of the federal governmentās role in K-12 education when he takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump, and conservative policymakers more broadly, say they want to shift much of the federal responsibility for K-12 school funding to states and local governments.
That could mean slashing federal spending, expanding private school choice, and potentially even eliminating the federal Department of Education.
His administrationās plans havenāt fully taken shape. Many of the more controversial proposals will face substantial political obstacles. And some observers have noted that, despite Trumpās fiery rhetoric, federal funding for K-12 schools stayed flat during his first presidency.
Even so, districts are already bracing for possible cuts and a new nationwide landscape of federal policy.
Here are three key school finance themes EdWeek will be following in the months ahead.
What 2025 Could Bring for English Learners
2024 is ending with lots of questions for the nationās growing English-learner population.
Itās been one year since the U.S. Department of Educationās office of English language acquisition took back oversight of Title IIIāthe primary federal funding stream for supplemental services for English learners. Over the past few years, the office has worked on highlighting best practices for districts in welcoming newly arrived students, awarding grants to help states grow their limited pools of bilingual educators, and sharing tactics to grow dual-language immersion programs.
This was also the first year in which high school graduates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia could earn a seal of biliteracyāa designation on their high school diplomas indicating their mastery of English and at least one other language.
But English learnersā language proficiency scores continued to trend lower than in pre-pandemic years, and anti-immigrant rhetoric from President-elect Donald Trump and his promise of mass deportations have left many communities questioning what policy changes lie in store in January and how these could affect schools.
Those are all developments Education Week will track in the coming year.
Reported by Ileana Najarro
Produced & Edited by Kaylee Domzalski
Filmed by Lauren Santucci
Photos by The Associated Press
#K12 #Schools #Education #DepartmentofEducation
How a Microschool Is Trying to Become a Model for Public Schools
This Denver microschool is working to show what public education could look like.
La Luz was founded in 2020 by Kyle Gamba, a former public school educator, who saw high levels of disengagement from students, despite teachersā best efforts, and believed there was a better way. La Luz is tuition-free, supported by grants, and serves the same population of students, while spending the same amount per student, as their local public schools. But instead of spending all day in a classroom, students are learning in the community.
The 40 students in the school spend each morning receiving two hours of traditional academic instruction in classrooms rented from Denver Public Schools before spending the rest of the day in experiential learning.
On Mondays, this tends to mean learning in nature at a nearby park, under the instruction of La Luz teachers, who are referred to as guides. The rest of the week is spent learning on site with a community partner, an experience that rotates every three to six weeks. Past rotations have included History Colorado, Denver Parks and Recreation, and CSU Spur, as well as the Denver Zoo. At each site, students are learning under the direction of La Luz guides, with support from the on-site organization.
Hereās a look at what one educator believes public school could be.
#K12 #Schools #Education #Microschools
Why Are Parents Suing Lucy Calkins and Fountas & Pinnell?
Parents in Massachusetts have sued the creators and publishers of some of the most popular balanced-literacy curricula on the market, saying the materials hindered their childrenās ability to learn to read.
But this new strategy in the āreading warsā has a longer history. Itās centered on one discrete teaching practice. Learn more with this latest explainer video.
Click the link below to read more about the lawsuit.
https://edw.link/94a
5 Things to Know About Trumpās Education Secretary Pick: WWE CEO Linda McMahon
President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education.
McMahon was the head of the Small Business Administration in Trumpās first term, later taking on roles in support of his political campaign, policy agenda, and presidential transition.
If confirmed by the Senate, McMahon will be charged with leading an agency Trump has pledged to abolishāa goal that Republicans have tried and failed to achieve in the past.
Trump said McMahon will be a good choice to dramatically downsize the federal role in education. Critics of the pick, including Senate Democrats and the largest national teachersā union, said she has insufficient experience in education to take on such an important role.
Read more at the link below.
https://edw.link/ej6
Can Trump Really Shut Down the U.S. Department of Education?
President-elect Donald Trump ran on a pledge to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. After his election victory, a flood of educators and activists have asked the same question: Can he really do that?
Watch this video to find out.
What Happened as a Government Class Watched Election Returns Live
Itās one thing to study the electoral process in class. Itās another experience entirely to witness the process live and in person with classmates over pizza.
Students in Noah Lipmanās Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics class from Highlands High School in San Antonio, Texas, continued a tradition Tuesday night that Lipman started in 2016. They partook in an election night watch party at a local restaurant, watching returns come in live with classmates and alongside local residents. This year, the class met at Big Louās Pizza.
The night allowed students a chance to see early results come in from a variety of TV networks, applying lessons from their class in real time. Itās an experience students and teachers alike say is worthwhile when helping students understand the importance of civic engagement.
Click the link below to read more.
https://edw.site/yvs
Hereās How All Students Can Learn to Enjoy Word Problems
Storytelling and mathematics donāt naturally go together. The best way to spark a discussion about a math topic in a classroom can be unpopular with many students: solving word problems.
In this video, David Dai, an 8th and 9th grade math instructor, urges teachers to leverage technology, especially artificial intelligence, to create word problems that are at grade level and can cater to students who donāt excel at reading.
Read more by clicking the link below.
https://edw.site/17s
Teaching Fractions? Try Visuals and Conversations, Not Tricks
Watch this video to get strategies for helping deal with misconceptions about teaching fractions, as well as how to effectively get students to take to the new information.
Click the link below to read more.
https://edw.link/s0j
