Sunday Reading: Education News Round-Up

From the Seattle PI:
Teacher convicted of raping student wants to teach again
Mary Kay Letourneau, a former Washington State teacher, said she is trying to get her name removed from the sex-offender registry and wants to return to teaching. All together now - no and no.

From Seattle Education blog:
Census Bureau Reports Majority of STEM College Graduates Do Not Work in STEM Occupations
The U.S. Census Bureau reported today that 74 percent of those who have a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering and math — commonly referred to as STEM — are not employed in STEM occupations. In addition, men continue to be overrepresented in STEM, especially in computer and engineering occupations. About 86 percent of engineers and 74 percent of computer professionals are men.

States with the largest percentage of STEM workers: Maryland (18.8 percent), Washington (18.3 percent) and Virginia (16.5 percent). The rates of workers in Maryland and Washington are not statistically different from each other.

(I would have thought California would have the largest percentage of STEM workers.)

From Diane Ravitch:
Michigan PTA Wants Halt to State Online Assessments

 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED: That Michigan PTA
● Calls for the immediate cessation of the M-STEP assessment process and administration for the year 2014-2015;
● Calls for not utilizing M-STEP’s results to negatively impact school district funding and funding allocations.
● Supports a balanced, localized, nationally normed assessment system.

From Business Insider:
An elite group of students accepted to all 8 Ivy League schools have one thing in common

But a handful of students have gotten eight Ivy acceptances for the class of 2019. These students have one specific thing in common — they're all the children of immigrants.  (Or, they are immigrants themselves.)


Aside from their Ivy League acceptances, these students also scored a number of "yes" letters from equally impressive and competitive colleges. Three of the high school seniors got accepted to Stanford University — the most competitive college in the country — and at least one was accepted to MIT.

The essay that one student wrote that got him accepted to all the Ivies.

The Ivy League schools are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University. 

From the NEA Today:
Voters Rank Top Problems Facing Education. Lack of School Choice Isn’t One of Them


From The Oregonian:
5 percent of Portland Public Schools students opt out of Common Core tests

The portion of Portland Public Schools students opting out of new Common Core aligned tests has climbed to five percent, according to data released by the district Friday. 

As of Wednesday, about 1,200 of the district's approximately 25,000 test-takers have submitted exemption forms.

I note that Oregon, like Washington, takes the SBAC.

From the NY Times:
Kansas Schools Fight Plays Out Against Backdrop of Debate on Judiciary

Just a year ago, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers needed to provide additional aid to poorer districts, and the Legislature passed a law to do that. The ruling stemmed from a years-old lawsuit filed against the state by school districts and parents arguing that education was underfunded.

But months later, when schools calculated their budgets, it became clear that the legislation would cost more than lawmakers had anticipated. So they scaled back on the additional aid to poorer districts by revising the so-called equalization formula, and passed it as part of the new block grant bill, which Mr. Brownback is expected to sign.

Sound familiar?