A first look at today's most important education news:
- The Cato Institute launches the “Public Schooling Battle Map,” an attempt to record and categorize the battles that have occurred around public education since 2005. (Cato)
- Governor Andrew Cuomo outlines his education priorities while presenting his proposed 2014–15 budget for New York State. He wants to allocate an additional $807 million in state school aid, partially to go towards teacher-merit-pay program and expansion of pre-K funding. (Chalkbeat)
- Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, argues that Cuomo’s proposed $1.5 billion over five years for pre-K with no tax surcharge is not good enough. This highlights the tension between Cuomo, a centrist who has repeatedly pledged to reduce taxes, and de Blasio, a steadfast liberal who made a campaign promise to fund pre-K in the Big Apple by raising taxes on the wealthy. (New York Post and New York Times)
- Also while outlining his budget proposal, Cuomo announced the creation of a panel that will study the way the state has implemented the Common Core and recommend any “corrective actions.” (Curriculum Matters)
- The Hechinger Report releases a two-part analysis of the problems associated with Chicago’s longer school day, primarily related to the policy’s “one-size-fits-all” nature.
- A survey conducted by Common Sense Media finds that nine out of ten American voters are both worried and uninformed about student data privacy. (Digital Education)
- An Education Week op-ed warns that although small schools have benefits (less bureaucracy, emboldened principals), they may also lead to greater segregation of students along class and racial lines.
- California lawmakers approve sweeping changes to the state’s school-funding rules; the new system provides more dollars to districts with needy students and gives local education officials more say over how to spend those dollars. (Los Angeles Times)
