Education Week - February 5, 2014 - 1

EDUCATIONWEEK
VOL. 33, NO. 20 * FEBRUARY 5, 2014
AMERICAN EDUCATION'S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD * © 2014 Editorial Projects in Education * $4
edweek.org: BREAKING NEWS DAILY
State Votes
Could Sway
K-12 Policy
Campaigns Start in Earnest
By Andrew Ujifusa
State elections involving three dozen
governors and more than 6,000 legislators
this year could have major consequences
for a variety of education
policies, with the Common Core State
Standards, school choice,
collective bargaining, and
early education among
the topics most likely to
get time in the spotlight
and on the stump.
In some states, the 2014 elections may
prove pivotal for the fate of controversial
education measures enacted as a result
of Republicans' strong showing in 2010.
The GOP took control of 12 additional
state legislatures and six more governorships
that year.
SNOW DAY: Marshall Hahn parks his snowmobile at Warrod High School in northern Minnesota last week. Although the senior had no trouble getting
to campus, recent bouts of very cold and snowy weather in many states have kept students out of school, often for days at a time. PAGE 6
DIGITAL DIRECTIONS
Unfazed, Houston
Embraces 1-to-1
Student Computing
Texas District Is Hoping
To Avoid Others' Missteps
By Benjamin Herold
Undeterred by high-profile problems
experienced by other large school systems
attempting to put digital devices in
the hands of their students, the Houston
Independent School District began distributing
more than 18,000 laptop computers
to high schools last month.
Officials from the 210,000-student district
point to several elements of their
plan as reasons for optimism: Unlike the
troubled iPad initiative in Los Angeles,
for example, Houston will give students
laptops instead of digital tablets; rely on
"Web 2.0 tools" rather than a pre-loaded
digital curriculum; and offer extensive
training for students and staff members
before the devices are deployed.
Instead of paying for the leased devices
with bonds, the Houston district
will also fund its 1-to-1 program, dubbed
PowerUp, with repurposed savings, operating
dollars, and grant funds.
The Houston initiative is the largest,
but not the only, student computing effort
in an urban district to take a significant
step forward in recent weeks, a sign
that districts may be overcoming the
skittishness that emerged in the wake of
PAGE 11>
Teachers' Job Protections Debated
As California Trial Gets Underway
By Stephen Sawchuk
Los Angeles
When a teacher fails to meet even basic job duties
yet remains in the classroom, is that the fault
of byzantine laws governing teacher dismissal-or
the failure of administrators to adhere to them?
That's just one of the questions that emerged
here during the first week of testimony in a sweeping
lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court
that is challenging key dimensions of teachers' job
protections and drawing national notice as a potential
harbinger of similar challenges elsewhere.
In Vergara v. California, filed in May 2012 on behalf
of nine students and their families, the plaintiffs
argue that five statutes governing teacher tenure,
dismissal, and seniority in the Golden State
violate students' equal-protection rights by making
it too difficult to rid schools of "grossly ineffective"
teachers. The suit names Gov. Jerry Brown, state
Superintendent Tom Torlakson, and the state education
department and school board as defendants.
All California pupils are at risk, the plaintiffs
contend, but minority students and those living in
poverty are in reality the hardest hit.
"These statutes work together in a kind of vicious
cycle. The system harms students every day," Theodore
J. Boutrous, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said
during his opening statement.
The trial is the latest volley in a nationwide effort
to reshape the fundamentals of the teaching
profession. All but a handful of states are working
to institute teacher-evaluation systems that
include consideration of student learning. Efforts
to that end have been unsuccessful so far in CaliPAGE
12>
Eight-year-old Clara
Campbell, right,
a plaintiff, rests
against her mother
while Marcellus A.
McRae, front left at
the podium, a lawyer
in the case, speaks
at a press conference
in Los Angeles to
kick-start the trial in
Vergara v. California.
The lawsuit may be
a harbinger of legal
challenges in other
states.
The list of state elections includes 36
gubernatorial contests and legislative
races in all but four states (Louisiana,
Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia).
There are also seven elections for state
PAGE 22>
New Tools Gauge
Lessons' Fidelity
To Common Core
By Catherine Gewertz
Arlington, Va.
The 53 teachers gathered around
tables here have been called to a new
kind of jury duty. But they won't be deciding
whether a fellow citizen is guilty of
a crime: Their charge is to pass judgment
on stacks of instructional materials.
Amid papers and coffee cups, they
pore over a 90-page curricular unit on
constitutional freedoms. In Socratic
rounds of discussion, they explore the
high school unit from dozens of angles,
looking for fidelity to the common core.
How clearly does the unit state its
purpose? Does it expect students to
read texts that are rich and complex
enough? Does it offer sufficient support
for students who are struggling?
Does it provide good, clear ways to assess
how well students are learning as
they go along?
These teachers are trying to answer
one of the most vexing questions in the
age of common-core instruction: Which
materials fully reflect the new standards
for English/language arts and mathematics?
They've come to this suburb of
the nation's capital from more than 20
states to learn and practice a new rating
system for lessons and units that
PAGE 14>
Nancy Pastor for Education Week
Tim Gruber for Education Week
2014
ELECTIONS

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Education Week - February 5, 2014

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