In The News

Teachers in Tacoma Public Schools could be facing the first layoffs from their ranks in many years. The cuts, if they happen, will target only career and technical education (CTE) teachers, and likely no more than 10 of them. But that’s nearly 10 percent of the 108-person CTE teaching staff employed by Tacoma schools.

After graduating from UC-Berkeley in 2002 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, Kevin Wang turned down industry jobs to teach in the Bay Area. A few years later, he got a masters degree in education from Harvard and then went to Microsoft to work as a software developer. But he couldn't stop teaching.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been pressing his idea of a "homegrown workforce" to feed New York City's tech industry, and it is one he is trying to foster in the city's public schools. The Academy for Software Engineering, for instance, a high school in Manhattan devoted to computer science, opened in September, and the school received 1,400 applications for its next freshman class of 125.

Democrats on the legislature's Education Committee voted Monday to advance three bills that would either change the certification requirements for taxpayer-financed virtual charter schools or delay their operation in Maine. They feel the state should not subsidize the for-profit entities.

The North Allegheny School Board approved wiring upgrades and security measures for its buildings. Projects include replacing network infrastructure equipment, upgrading data wiring for all seven elementary schools, and installing wireless coverage in each district building.

Manchester, New Hampshire's school technology director said that by the start of the next school year, students and staff should see a new Wi-Fi network in place at all campuses across the district, as well as an upgrade to the school library system.

The Flatiron School, launched last year, is teaming up with Skillcrush, a New York-based digital literacy start-up, to offer a two-week intensive program for high school students hoping to hone their developer chops.

This school year, students from P.J. Jacobs Junior High School in Stevens Point, Wis., joined 335 students who are part of MySciLife, using technology to literally "live" as a science concept—such as trying to be a cell, a rock, or an animal—and interact with other students from 15 classrooms in seven states across the United States.

District 158 in Algonquin, Ill. will be putting more tablets in students’ hands after recently revealing plans to expand its digital curriculum program to early elementary and middle school classrooms. The school district’s “one-to-one” digital curriculum replaces traditional textbooks and allows students to access online programs and lessons through their own tablet, provided by the district.

Administrators at the Monterey County Office of Education are putting the finishing touches on the $1.5 million remodeling of its Blanco Circle offices in Salinas that will house the new Millennium charter school. Set to start classes in August, Millennium has 116 students enrolled—58 freshmen and 58 sophomores—and its principal.