NAfME News
2019 CMA Foundation Award Winners Announced!
The Country Music Association Foundation, in partnership with NAfME, has awarded the 2019 State Music Education Association Advocacy Grant Awards to 5 state MEAs for their proposed advocacy initiatives.
The 2019 NAfME Hill Day, held on June 19, was a wonderful success for music education. For a recap of the day’s events, click the link above.
NAfME recognizes Florida MEA as 2019 Excellence in Advocacy Award Winner
The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) has awarded the Florida Music Education Association (FMEA) the 2019 Excellence in Advocacy Award in recognition of their efforts advocating for music education.
National News
Sweeping budget deal passes House despite weak GOP support
7/25/19- ‘The House with limited Republican support passed a massive budget deal Thursday that would free lawmakers to hit the campaign trail next year without fretting about fiscal turmoil keeping them tied down in Washington.’
‘Nation’s Report Card’ to Get Trimmed, Four Subjects Dropped
7/24/19- ‘In the next decade, the tests dubbed the “Nation’s Report Card” will include fewer subjects, fewer students, and longer testing times—but potentially more data for states and districts to use.’
State News
5 States Still Don’t Have a Budget. Here’s Why.
7/17/19- More than two weeks after the start of the fiscal year in most states, five still don’t have a budget. In most cases, policy debates have held things up — and that’s causing instability in a few places.
Georgia, North Carolina join ESSA assessment pilot
7/18/19- ‘Georgia and North Carolina will join Louisiana and New Hampshire as part of a U.S. Department of Education (ED) pilot program that allows states to use different assessment methods as an alternative to traditional standardized tests, ED announced Wednesday.’
Virginia STEM Education Commission created
7/18/19- ‘A new executive order has established a commission that will develop a state science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, plan.’
AZ- Legislator, superintendent at odds over vouchers backlog
7/20/19- ‘A Republican state representative and Arizona’s Democratic superintendent of public instruction are sparring over a backlog of pending applications from families for private school tuition vouchers.’
NM- Governor fires public education secretary
7/22/19- ‘Just six months after appointing Karen Trujillo as New Mexico’s public education chief, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham fired her from the high-profile job Monday for not meeting expectations.’
OH- Changes coming to school funding, testing, vouchers, who can teach
7/23/19- ‘Ohio schools will get a state funding increase the next two years, but it will mainly come in the form of targeted student wellness funding and will vary significantly from district to district.’
Rethinking the Regents exams in New York
7/23/19- ‘Taking “the Regents,” one of the oldest academic exam systems in the country, has been a rite of passage for high school students in New York for generations. That may soon change as the state Board of Regents considers scrapping the high school Regents exam requirement as part of an effort to improve the state’s graduation rates and better define the significance of a New York high school diploma.’
Maryland House Speaker said education bill will be top priority
7/24/19- ‘Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones said funding a bill that overhauls the state’s education system is her priority for the upcoming Maryland General Assembly session.’
RI- State approves takeover of Providence public schools
7/23/19- ‘In an unprecedented move, the state Council of Elementary and Secondary Education has awarded Rhode Island’s new education commissioner sweeping authority to intervene in the city’s dysfunctional public schools.’
Research and Analysis
Charter School Effects on School Segregation
Charter schools have been a polarizing issue in US public education. There is a contentious debate about how greater school choice could affect stratification by race or ethnicity. Charter school advocates argue that decoupling school assignment from intensely segregated residential neighborhoods should have a net positive impact on school integration. Charter school critics, however, are concerned that choice could increase racial and ethnic stratification. In this study, The Center on Education Data and Policy provides the first nationally comprehensive examination of charter school effects on school segregation using longitudinal data on public school enrollment by grade level and race or ethnicity.