Our team is always seeking the latest news in the field of education. As advocates for a high-quality education for ALL students, we know we have to stay up-to-date on everything that’s going on in the education spheres of our nation…from the White House to the local public school district, from new legislation to the small acts of bravery and kindness made by a single teacher, from the milestones and celebrations to the hazardous injustices affecting many of our nation’s students.

Here are the stories that we are focused on this week.

Civil rights commission calls for schools to combat racial disparities in discipline via Washington Post

“The report, released Tuesday, finds that students of color are disciplined more often and more harshly than their white peers — and also concludes they are no more likely to commit offenses in the first place.”

New Push For Program That Would Bolster Private Schools via Huffington Post

Opponents say that when a student leaves a public school for a private one, the public school no longer receives per-pupil funding for that student, even as its fixed costs ― like building infrastructure ― remain the same.

DeVos dismissed as “fake news” the idea that the bill is an attack on public education.

6 Reasons Black Male Educators Leave the Field via Citizen Education

Seeing a National Teacher of the Year finalist like Nate Bowling walk away recently forced us to consider deeply what it means for his school and a system. Some say the system is broken, some say it is doing exactly what it is designed to do. What we can agree upon is that it has never adequately served black and brown children — and what’s rarely mentioned is that it has never served black and brown educators adequately either.

The Whiter, Richer School District Right Next Door via The Atlantic

Waterbury’s predicament points to an unstable aspect of the public education system in the United States: The foundation of its funding comes from local property taxes. As a report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy shows, roughly 36 percent of K–12 funding comes from these taxes. That means inequality is often baked into district lines; wealthier communities will have more money to spend on their students. It’s an often mentioned but under-discussed problem, particularly among the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

Did any of these articles particularly speak to you? We would love to know your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below: