Clinton wants 50,000 new computer science teachers
Hillary Clinton wants to commit federal financial aid to support an expansion of computer science teacher training, with the goal of preparing 50,000 new computer science teachers in 10 years. Clinton is also advocating for national grants to help schools expand their STEM curricula, and for a massive $10bn in federal funding to be dedicated to “promising new programs” such as nanodegrees, accelerated learning and computer coding courses.

King gets personal on charter school discipline Presented by

With help from Caitlin Emma, Kimberly Hefling and Caroline Kelly

KING GETS PERSONAL ON CHARTER SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: Education Secretary John B. King Jr. today will call on the charter school sector to rethink school discipline — something he should’ve done earlier as a charter school administrator, he’ll say. That’s according to prepared remarks for King’s speech before the National Charter Schools Conference in Nashville, Tenn., this afternoon. In 1999, King co-founded [ http://politico.pro/1TprSI7] Boston’s Roxbury Preparatory Charter School — a high-performing urban charter school criticized for high suspension rates and its strict “no excuses” approach to discipline. (The school suspended [ http://bit.ly/1vu8u4R] nearly 60 percent of its students out-of-school during the 2012-13 school year.) Roxbury Prep became one of the highest-performing middle schools in Massachusetts. King went on to scale the school’s success as managing director of the charter school network, Uncommon Schools. “But today, with the benefit of all we have learned over the last nearly 20 years, the leaders of Uncommon are rightly rethinking discipline,” King will say. “Early on, we had begun to integrate school counseling, mentoring, and support groups, but we did not do it fast enough. We all must commit to accelerate exactly this kind of work.”

— Rethinking discipline provides charter schools with an opportunity for “professional reflection and growth,” King will say. And he’ll admit that he had an “internal debate” about raising the issue himself, worried he wouldn’t be able to capture its “complexity.” “What I know from those experiences, and what I’ve learned since, is that discipline is a nuanced and complicated issue,” King will say. “Yet the public discussion of these issues is often binary — pitting one extreme against another. It’s ‘zero tolerance’ or chaos. Authoritarian control or no discipline at all. So, I’ll say up front: I am not here to offer any hard-and-fast rules or directives. But, I believe the goal for all schools should be to create a school culture that motivates students to want to do their best, to support their classmates and to give back to their community, and to communicate in ways big and small to our students and educators that their potential is unlimited.”

— Charter schools have received “a lot of negative attention” when it comes to school discipline, King will say. “Not all of the criticism has been fair or accurate,” he’ll say. “But, as a whole, it is true that charter schools suspend a higher percentage of their students than do district schools. And students of color are more likely to be suspended in charter schools than in district schools.” A study released [ http://politico.pro/1VdJB8s] earlier this year by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of Los Angeles, California, found that charter schools suspend black students and students with disabilities at higher rates than other students. But, “it’s not all bad news,” King will say. “The overall suspension rate in charter schools as well as district schools has fallen since the 2011-2012 school year.” Some excerpts from King’s prepared remarks: http://politico.pro/296cjZZ. He’ll deliver the keynote address at 4:30 p.m. ET. Watch live: http://bit.ly/1ROfRy1.

— King’s remarks follow a number of efforts led by the Obama administration to help states, districts and schools nationwide address disparities in school discipline. For example, last year the administration launched a #ReThinkDiscipline campaign [ http://1.usa.gov/1gDTBlO] and the Education Department has supported the development of discipline resources for charter schools: http://bit.ly/293dsPV.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. Everyone’s favorite eighth grade graduation speaker/impressionist is back again — this time on Jimmy Fallon. Take a look: http://bit.ly/296TKTz. Send tips and feedback: [email protected] or @ mstratford. Share event listings: [email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

NEW CLINTON EDUCATION PROPOSALS: Hillary Clinton is unveiling several new education plans today as part of her “technology and innovation” agenda [ http://politi.co/296H4w4], according to a campaign aide. Clinton will visit a small business incubator in Denver to showcase some of her proposals that include:

— Student loan deferments for entrepreneurs. Clinton would allow “young entrepreneurs” to put their federal student loan payments on hold for up to three years — without accruing interest. The benefit would apply to the founders of companies and possibly “early joiners,” such as the first 10 or 20 employees, according to a campaign aide.

— New federal loan forgiveness program. Student loan borrowers who start new businesses that create jobs in “distressed communities” or those who begin a social enterprise that provides a “measurable social impact and benefit” would be eligible to have $17,500 of their student debt wiped out after five years, according to the campaign.

— Goal of 50,000 new computer science teachers in the next decade. To meet that objective, Clinton plans to “commit federal financial aid,” provide assistance to professional development programs, and support public-private partnerships, according to a draft of the plan obtained by Pro Technology’s Tony Romm.

— New spending on STEM and computer science. Clinton is calling for federal grants to help expand STEM education in high school curricula. And she is proposing to double the federal Investing In Innovation (i3) grant program, with a 50 percent set-aside for computer science education, according to the draft of the plan.

— Federal aid for coding academies. The proposal says that $10 billion of Clinton’s overarching higher education plan will be dedicated to opening up federal student aid to “promising new programs” such as nanodegrees, accelerated learning and computer coding courses. The draft plan calls for federal funding of those nontraditional learning programs “as long as they are accountable and have proven track records of success.”

— The proposals are part of an effort aimed at boosting young entrepreneurship — and also targeting millennial voters, many of whom flocked to Bernie Sanders during the primaries. An aide said that Kunoor Ojha, the new Clinton national campus organizing director who was hired away from the Sanders camp, will be traveling to colleges across the country to hear from younger voters on these issues.

FAFSA CHANGES FOR HOMELESS STUDENTS: The Education Department plans to streamline and simplify how some homeless students apply for federal financial aid, Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said in a letter [ http://politico.pro/28ZDW1p] Tuesday to Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate HELP committee who has been pressing the administration to make the changes. Among the changes: students who indicate on the FAFSA that they’re homeless will automatically have the option to select that they’ve already received an unaccompanied homeless youth determination. In other cases, 22 and 23-year-old homeless students will face “a more streamlined process for determining their independent status.”

— Murray said in a statement she’s “very pleased that the department has announced a strong step forward to tackle some of the barriers that unaccompanied homeless students face in accessing higher education.”

— “Higher education is a lasting path out of homelessness, yet homeless youth face barriers to accessing the financial aid they need to complete their college education,” said Barbara Duffield, director of policy and programs at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. “The policy changes announced today remove many of those barriers, allowing homeless youth to focus on their studies and their future.”

NEW COMMITMENT FOR NATIONAL CASA: International women’s fraternity Kappa Alpha Theta said today that its foundation will raise $1 million over the next three years to help the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association launch an initiative aimed at ensuring better outcomes for children and teenagers in foster care — as well as those moving through the court system. The funding will help National CASA release an annual publication of best practices for policymakers and child welfare practitioners, with the goal of improving the lives of the nation’s most vulnerable youth. “With Kappa Alpha Theta’s support, we know a performance measurement system will bring our advocacy to new levels of effectiveness and help National CASA move the field of child welfare forward for the benefit of children who have experienced unspeakable trauma and tragedy,” said National CASA Association CEO Tara Perry.

COLLEGE STUDENTS WORK TO “EX OUT” EXTREMISM: A social media campaign designed by a group of students from the Rochester Institute of Technology won first place Monday at the State Department’s “Peer-to-Peer: Challenging Extremism” contest. The campaign is called “It’s Time: ExOut Extremism.”

— The RIT campaign is designed to combat online extremist propaganda. The “ExOut” campaign focuses on how extremism affects the lives of refugees, and also stresses that extremism should not be confused with Islam as a faith, because extremism can be motivated by “a range of personal, religious, political, or other ideological beliefs.” The campaign’s website can be found here: http://bit.ly/299WsXj

— The students, using a $2,000 budget, put together the campaign as part of a social media marketing class at RIT. Team member Olivia Hauck said students’ familiarity with social media gave them an advantage. “Years ago, you wouldn’t have been able to instantly implement these campaigns the way we’ve been able to,” she said. “If you’re looking to reach people online, who better to do that than those of us who are already using the technology?”

EVALUATING PRIVACY IN ED TECH: The nonprofit Common Sense Media’s education initiative this week launched a platform to evaluate the privacy and security of education technology software that’s being used in schools across the country. The platform was developed with help from more than 70 schools and districts nationwide. It looks at a vendor’s privacy policy, lists strengths and weaknesses of a particular software application, and shares experiences from schools and districts. More: http://bit.ly/28ZiMmW.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

— Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has been elected chair of the Southern Regional Education Board. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/28ZWpR4.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— A new pathways report from the National Student Clearinghouse analyzes students who earned their associate degree in 2009-2010, and finds that two-thirds of students who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree did so within three years: http://politico.pro/28Z1Db4.

— The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators is recommending changes to the Federal Work-Study program that include revising the campus-based aid allocation formula and expanding the definition of the community service requirement: http://politico.pro/28Wpt5Z.

— The Education Commission of the States looks at how states and districts can provide a “well-rounded education” under the Every Student Succeeds Act: http://bit.ly/299BNmb.

— Researchers from the University of California, Riverside, and Vanderbilt University find evidence that alternatively-certified teachers are more likely to leave the profession than traditionally-certified teachers, but more organizational supports for new teachers might help address that turnover. American Educational Research Journal: http://bit.ly/28Yhki0.

SYLLABUS

— Fact Checker: Trump campaign’s claim that State Department gave $55.2 million to Laureate Education after hiring Bill Clinton. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/28ZIMvH

— North Carolina State University chancellor says the state’s so-called bathroom bill is discriminatory and could damage the campus’s standing in the scholarly community. The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://bit.ly/28XSzGP

— ACLU challenges timeline for Nevada Supreme Court’s school choice arguments. Las Vegas Review-Journal: http://bit.ly/28YgQbL

— Testing opt outs triple in Lancaster County, double across Pennsylvania. Lancaster Online: http://bit.ly/28TdxDi

— Arizona students make modest gains on state test, but most still fail. The Arizona Republic: http://bit.ly/28WFE3l

— Coast Guard Academy sets record for female enrollment. Stars and Stripes: http://1.usa.gov/2903cX6

— New Ohio superintendent wants to hear what’s working with schools and what’s not. The Plain Dealer: http://bit.ly/28ZxVUr

— New Orleans charter ex-leader to run for L.A. mayor, newspaper says. The Times-Picayune: http://bit.ly/293HBi1

— Grand jury report: Better management needed of charter schools in Oakland, Calif. The Mercury News: http://bayareane.ws/2936fiE

— Wyoming science standards development lacks rancor of the past. Casper Star-Tribune: http://bit.ly/28YaPMo

Adventure of a Lifetime [ http://bit.ly/296Ub0e] with the Pro Education team: @ caitlinzemma ( [email protected]), @ khefling ( [email protected]), @ mstratford ( [email protected]) and @ mrmikevasquez ( [email protected]).



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