Weekly News Round-Up for May 4th

posted by: Melissa | May 04, 2018, 06:07 PM

Each week, NWPE brings its members a round-up of what’s happening in education. From big, eye-catching headlines to the stories most papers overlook, we find the news our members really want to see. This week, we have three walk outs: the teacher strike ending in Arizona, the proposed teacher walk out in North Carolina, and the student walk out for gun rights.

Arizona Teachers Return to Class: After striking for over a week, teachers in Arizona are returning to classes today. The decision to reopen schools came after an all-night legislative session led to an agreement on school funding, which the state’s governor signed on Thursday. The agreement does away with some, but not all, recession-era education cuts and includes funds for a substantial raise in teacher pay although it leaves exact decisions on how to spend the money up to each district. The bill is shakier on how this money would be raised. Lawmakers did not raise taxes in the state, and instead plan to rely on vehicle registrations.

North Carolina Gets on the Teacher Walk Out Bandwagon: Teachers in North Carolina are the latest to protest against poor wages in their state. Teachers in the state plan to rally in the capital on Wednesday, May 16^th. In response some districts have already agreed to close school that day. Teachers in the state make about $10,000 below the national average. While pay is in important factor, some recent analysts have concluded that it’s the cuts to pensions that make low pay feel much more unsustainable while underfunded pension systems make it harder for states to raise teacher pay. They advise states that want to stave off teacher protests should look at reforming their pension systems.

Another Student Walk-Out this Time Pro-Gun: On Wednesday, teens from over 500 schools walked out in support of the second amendment and in opposition to gun control measures. The protest, called Stand for the Second, was organized by a high school student from New Mexico, Will Riley in direct response to the pro-gun control protests earlier this spring. These protests left students in support of gun rights feeling as if their voices were unheard. Â Strike for the Second failed to attract the same number of supporters as those earlier protests did. Riley’s words can be read in his op-ed published by the Washington Examiner.

Happening Elsewhere:

The nation’s top teachers met with Betsy DeVos, and not all of them were thrilled with what she had to say

Teacher of the Year hands Trump messages from young immigrants, hopes he reads them

Illinois Senate votes to require LGBT history curriculum be taught in schools

Adobe offers schools Creative Cloud licenses for $5/year

Gov. Phil Scott's education cost savings plan blasted as 'exotic mortgage'

'All of that costs money': Solving SC's teacher crisis is going to be expensive

Semi-automatic rifle, shotguns, handguns seized from teen with Franklin High 'hit list'

Teachers union gains a foothold in L.A.'s largest charter school group

2nd N.J. teachers union prez suspended after undercover video

School backs off plans for 'modesty ponchos' at prom

3 black D.C. students face racist backlash in NASA competition, get grant