State & National News
Arizona Proposition 208: Voters OK New Tax On High Earners To Fund Schools
11/5/2020- ‘Arizona voters have approved a new tax on high-earning residents that could bring in nearly $1 billion of new revenue annually to the state’s underfunded school system.’
Oklahoma Higher Education Officials to Request $88.8M Budget Increase
10/5/2020- ‘The State Regents for Higher Education will ask lawmakers for more than $859 million next year, an $88.8 million increase over the current fiscal year budget.’
Tennessee charter schools to receive $5 million in support grants
10/4/2020- ‘Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Education announced $5 million in grants to be distributed across the state.’
Washington is buying $24M worth of computer technology for students
11/2/2020- ‘Washington state will use $24 million from its share of the federal CARES Act stimulus package to make a bulk purchase of 64,000 computer devices for students learning remotely, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office announced late last week.’
California to consider shorter Smarter Balanced tests this spring
11/4/2020- ‘Teachers, administrators and parents wondering about the status of California’s annual standardized tests can expect to get clarity this week.’
Research & Analysis
Results of the 2020 Statewide Elections
In a year of historic voter turnout, voters across the country cast their ballots for important education leadership positions and on ballot measures that impacted education systems. ECS provides an overview of the results on our elections resource page, and here, they provide a more detailed breakdown of the results and how they could impact education going into 2021.
State ballot measures’ impacts on K-12 schools
Ballots in the 2020 presidential election also included a variety of state measures that could impact education. “The biggest trend is that a lot of them had to do with raising money for education,” said Damion Pechota, a policy analyst at Education Commission of the States.
The Mastery vs. Seat-Time Debate Takes Center Stage Under Remote Learning
COVID-19 has forced educators to reexamine some of their core practices, and in some cases, circumvent them altogether. Measuring learning by how much time students spend in a classroom could be next for an overhaul. But making that transition won’t be easy.
Policy Roundup compiled by NAfME’s Matt Barusch.