Starting this summer, the city will engage more than 2,000 K-8 students—and their teachers—in programs that combine summer learning with a wide array of enrichment opportunities, from science camp to sailing.
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How Betsy DeVos Could Break Up the Charter-School Coalition
Molly Hensley-Clancy | Buzzfeed
[On Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy] DeVos spoke [to charter-school advocates about] the need to ensure that poor students had the ability to attend not just charter schools, but private schools, too—just as her son had done. It was a heavy allusion to the necessity of a voucher system—one that would allow families to use taxpayer money to pay for private and religious schools.
But vouchers have long been considered politically toxic for many in the charter-school movement, who are already wondering how closely their schools—attended primarily by low-income, black, and Latino students—should link their fortunes to those of the Trump administration.
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The Adventures of Literacy Pig
Cara Giaimo | Atlas Obscura
Children’s literature is full of pigs. There’s Wilbur, the relatable runt who makes interspecies friends in Charlotte’s Web. There’s Babe, who learns to herd sheep with kindness. And don’t forget Olivia, who has had a whole series of picture book adventures in her signature red dress.
For the most recent generation of children, there is also Daisy (and even more recently, Daisy II): potbellied pigs who, like characters loosed from the page, spend much of their lives traveling from library to library, helping to teach children that reading is fun.
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The $2 Mistake That Cost West Virginia University Thousands
Jake Jarvis | Charleston Gazette-Mail
West Virginia State University was not the only college in West Virginia to recently lose federal funding for a program that benefits low-income, first-generation college students.
A $2 mistake on an application from West Virginia University means the school will lose more than $200,000 to fund its McNair Scholars program, which could mean the end of the 18-year program.
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Can Scientists Help End the Teacher Shortage?
Carolyn Jones | The Atlantic
Two years ago, LaTeira Haynes was working in a quiet laboratory at UC San Diego finishing up her doctorate in biomedical engineering. Now, she’s teaching a 9th-grade biology class in South Los Angeles that is so large she uses a microphone to be heard over the constant din of teenage chatter, rustling worksheets, and the zipping and unzipping of backpacks.
But to her, there is no sweeter sound.
“These students are here. They want to be here. I want to be here,” said the energetic second-year teacher, her hair pulled back and her hoop earrings flashing. “I have 47 kids in this class and 44 of them are here today. That’s huge.”
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The 3-D Prosthetics Printer
Alison Graham | Indiana Daily Student
