current events

Gov.-elect Jay Inslee is naming Renton Schools Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel as his new chief of staff, reaching outside the ranks of Olympia insiders and Capitol Hill staff to fill a position vital to his success in running state government.

Bills expanding the reach of Detroit's Education Achievement Authority to become a statewide school reform district are progressing in the Michigan Legislature's lame duck session. The House and Senate education committees Thursday adopted amended versions of the bills, but are working out details about how failing schools could leave the EAA.

A crowd of more than a thousand students, parents, and teachers packed First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem last night to hear mayoral hopefuls pitch their plans to improve the city's fractured educational system. The candidates continued to distance themselves from many of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's educational policies with denouncements of school closings and co-locations.

The Camden N.J. Board of Education expressed its support for the KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy proposal, reversing its prior position on the matter. The board's approval of the KIPP plan was due to two board members - Sean Brown and Kathryn Ribay - changing their votes on the proposal.  Ribay said she would only support the proposal if the promise of negotiating a contract was put in writing. And so, a contract negotiation clause was added to the resolution.

Citing chronically poor student performance ratings, West Virginia's Board of Education again voted to fire Jorea Marple as state schools superintendent Thursday after fielding harsh criticism over her dismissal. Two former board members and at least seven active or retired teachers were among the 19 speakers who praised Marple, denounced her firing or called for her reinstatement during the meeting's 90-minute public comment period.

Update: The hearing scheduled for Nov. 28 on Andrea Hernandez's request to stay at John Jay High School was cancelled, after Northside ISD filed a motion to move the case from state to federal court. The district issued the following statement: "Since the Jay High School student and her father are alleging a violation of the student's federal constitutional rights, Northside ISD asked that the case be heard in federal court. The case scheduled to be heard today in State court has been canceled and now will rest with a Federal judge to make a ruling.

Three lucky people in North Carolina are $1 million richer after winning part of the Powerball jackpot Wednesday night. According to the North Carolina Education Lottery, sales from the $587.5 million Powerball jackpot tickets will boost education in the state. From those sales, an estimated $16.8 million will go to education programs in North Carolina.

The first of two D.C. Council hearings on a plan to close 20 public schools schools started Thursday, while opposition to School Chancellor Kaya Henderson's proposal has started emerging from various quarters.

Two small school districts in western Indiana are working to carry out a merger plan after it won approval from voters in this month’s election.

The West Virginia Board of Education voted to terminate State Superintendent of Schools Jorea Marple during a routine board meeting in a 5-2 vote.