TOP NEWS Orlando Sentinel State education leaders voted to make it tougher for students who can’t pass required exams to earn high school diplomas. One alternative test was eliminated, scores needed on the ACT or SAT were raised, and the PSAT was added in. Read more>> Sponsored Sponsored by Istation Authentic Spanish literacy lessons and assessments from Istation Español enhance learning with computer-adaptive activities that include Latin culture and literature. Plus, schools get the formative data that drives intervention and differentiates instruction. Learn more and request a free demo account. Read more>> AL.com Gov. Kay Ivey directed five state agency heads to begin work on the recommendations for improving school safety. Ivey set a June 15 deadline for a proposed timeline on implementing six of the 10 recommendations that she said could be done without legislative action. Read more>> The Times-Picayune A Louisiana congressman is pushing a bill that would quantify the number of police officers on school campuses across the U.S. The bill directs the U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Education to compile data on how many of the nation's nearly 100,000 public schools have resource officers. Read more>> WVUE A Louisiana bill that originally allowed teachers to fully participate in student-initiated prayer underwent major changes, limiting what teachers can do before passing in the House. An amendment limited teachers’ participation to only being allowed to bow their heads during prayer. Read more>> WUNC Republicans on the House Select Committee on School Safety say they are poised to introduce bills for more than $20 million in funding for new initiatives, which includes an anonymous bullying reporting app, a school resource officer grant program and more. Read more>> The Gazette U.S. Department of Education officials announced they approved Iowa’s plan for school accountability and support to meet new education standards under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Read more>> From DA Magazine Alison DeNisco Statewide teacher strikes and walkouts in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado and Kentucky left students out of school for days while superintendents scrambled. Read more>> Education Dive The California State Board of Education has approved a change to its accountability system that would allow alternative schools—such as dropout recovery schools—to report one-year graduation rates instead of the percentage of students who earn a diploma within four years. Read more>> OPINION WFMY School safety is part of many teacher rallies and lawmaker talks. In Florida, there is a new mandate for cops in every school. What does that mean? From longer response times to taking officers out of gang units, Florida agencies are expecting the newly approved school mandate to adversely affect their community policing. Read more>> Traverse City Record-Eagle Nobody denies that learning to read is one cornerstone in a quality education. But the purpose of testing—to measure progress and inform instruction—has shifted to determining who gets punished for low scores. The question is the best way to build coherent programming to support all the children in Michigan schools in learning to read. Read more>> The 74 Funding for Title I hasn’t kept up with inflation or enrollment growth, let alone given states sufficient resources to help provide low-income students with an equitable education. To get serious about education equity, Congress should, at least as a starting point, double Title I funding. Read more>> INDUSTRY NEWS Apex Learning/ASSIST Education ASSIST Education and Apex Learning enhanced their partnership with the addition of adaptive content and digital tutorials into the ASSIST Integrated Education Management System for K12 schools. Read more>> iCivics/Annenberg Public Policy Center An educational game that teaches news literacy and the precepts of journalistic standards will be released during the fall 2018 election season. It is designed for secondary school students through adults and will focus on teaching players strategies to approaching the news. Read more>> PhET/Smart Sparrow The partnership between PhET Interactive Simulations and Smart Sparrowwill enables science educators and learning designers to create customized learning experiences around research-backed interactive science simulations and get new insights into how students are learning. Read more>> ✭ Visit the District Administration's PR Portal ✭ CONSTRUCTION WATCH Omaha World-Herald Five new schools will rise over the next several years after voters approved a $409.9 million Omaha Public Schools bond measure. In 2014, the school board decided to split a nearly $1 billion bond issue into two parts with the first part of $421 million approved in 2014. Read more>> The News & Observer The Wake County school board voted to ask county commissioners to provide $2.4 billion over the next seven years to fully fund 15 new schools and 10 major renovations and to partially pay for other projects. Read more>> | 